By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University freshman Keaton Beckmann (Salem, OR/Sprague HS) has been named Northwest Conference Men's Field Student-Athlete of the Week for his efforts at the Chico State Invitational on Saturday, March 10. Beckmann took second place in the long jump and placed second in the 400-meter dash. He also placed sixth in the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles.

His top leap of 22' 9" in the long jump leads the nation in NCAA Division III. He placed second behind Zach Beltz from Southern Oregon University, which competes in the NAIA. The wining mark for Beltz was 23' 8.25".

Beckmann's second place time in the 400-meter dash was 51.06 seconds. First place went to Travis Thomas from Oregon Institute of Technology at 49.97 seconds. In the 110-meter hurdles, Beckmann was sixth in the prelims with a time of 16.43 seconds, but was unable to compete in the finals due to his other events and was eighth overall.

The Willamette track and field teams will host the Willamette vs. Corban Dual from Tuesday, March 13 through Thursday, March 15 at Charles Bowles Track. On Tuesday, the heptathlon and decathlon will begin, with the first event set for 3 p.m. (PDT). On Wednesday, the heptathlon and decathlon will continue through the final events. Also on Wednesday, the men's hammer and women's hammer will take place behind the Math Learning Center at 1850 Oxford Street.

All of the action on Thursday will be at Charles Bowles Track, with field events starting at 3:30 p.m. (PDT) and running events starting at 3:40 p.m. The final running events will be the women's 4 x 400-meter relay and the men's 4 x 400-meter relay, with the women's race starting at 6:10 p.m. and the men's race set for 6:15 p.m.