By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Hope Duenas (So., Covina, CA/Covina HS) and Keaton Beckmann (Fr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) each won one event and took second place in another event, as the Willamette University Bearcats opened the 2018 season by hosting the Willamette Opener at Charles Bowles Track on Saturday, March 3. Duenas won the women's discus throw and placed second in the women's hammer throw. Beckmann bested the field in the men's long jump and finished second in the men's 200-meter dash.
In the women's discus, Duenas registered a winning throw of 133' 0", just three inches from her career-best distance that ranks 10th all-time at Willamette. Duenas sent the hammer 151' 0" to take second place on Saturday, while moving into fifth on Willamette's all-time list. The winner of the women's hammer at the Willamette Opener was Mariah Gronbach from Western Oregon University with a throw of 153' 6.5".
Beckmann won the men's long jump with a distance of 22' 1" on each of his first two attempts. He grabbed first place by 5.5 inches over Alani Troutman of WOU, who took second at 21' 7.5". Beckmann placed second in the men's 200-meter dash in 22.81 seconds. He edged out teammate Connor Giannini (So., Veradale, WA/Gonzaga Prep.), who was third in 22.87 seconds. Nathan Martin of Corban University won the men's 200 in 22.31 seconds.
Michael Montague (So., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) of Willamette placed third in the men's 5,000-meter run. His time was a personal record at 15:27.48, breaking his previous top time of 15:33.48 at last year's Portland Twilight.
Other Top Performances for the Bearcats
In addition to placing third in the men's 200-meter dash, Giannini also finished third in the men's 100-meter dash. His time in the 100 was 11.49 seconds.
Jewell Sparks (Sr., San Francisco, CA/Lick Wilmerding HS) took second place in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 59.26 seconds. She just missed her personal record of 59.21 seconds, set at the Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational on April 1, 2017.
Hannah Swanson was third in the women's 1,500-meter run. She completed the race in 4:43.91. In the women's 5,000-meter run, Emily Evans (Jr., Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage HS) was second in 19:26.70- and Kyla Shade (So., Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) was third in 19:43.70.
Brian Peck (So., Reno, NV/Reno HS) set a personal record while taking second in the men's 110-meter hurdles and tied a personal record while placing fourth in the men's long jump. He completed the 110 hurdles in 26.50 seconds to lower his top time from 16.54 seconds at the Willamette Invitational on March 25, 2017. In the long jump, he tied his best leap at 19' 9.75". He registered the same distance during the Willamette vs. Corban Dual meet last season.
Josh Martin (So., Medford, OR/St. Mary's School) placed second in the men's hammer throw with a top mark of 137. 0.75". He was less than three feet out of first place, which went to Nick Sieber of Western Oregon at 139' 9.50"
Saige Swan (So., Crescent City, CA/Del Norte HS) set personal records on his way to earning third place in the men's hammer throw and second place in the men's discus. In the hammer, his top distance was 127' 10.25", breaking his previous top result of 127' 7" at the Willamette Opener a year ago. In the discus, he registered a top throw of 143' 7.50", as he advanced just over four feet from his last top mark of 139' 6" at the 2017 Northwest Conference Championships.
Willamette's Elijah Hall-Crockett (So., Phoenix, AZ/Cesar Chavez HS) placed third in the men's triple jump. His top distance was 41' 7.25". Kolton Rohde of WOU also threw 41' 7.25", but finished behind Hall-Crockett in fourth place.