By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
TACOMA, Wash. -- Saige Swan (Jr., Crescent City, CA/Del Norte HS) earned second place in the men's shot put, and Keaton Beckmann (So., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) placed second in the men's long jump, on the first day of the 2019 Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships on Friday, April 26 at Pacific Lutheran University. Also earning All-NWC honors on Friday by placing in the top three in an event were Hope Duenas (Jr., Covina, CA/Covina HS), who finished third in the women's hammer throw and Emily Evans (Sr., Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage HS), who was third in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Friday's schedule included finals in several distance events and field events. In addition, preliminary heats were held in the sprints and hurdles, as well as the men's 800-meter run. Finals in the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run and 5,000-meter run, as well as the sprints and hurdles, will be held on Saturday, April 27. The schedule on Saturday also includes four men's field events and four women's field events. Action will get underway at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) for field events and at 12 p.m. for track events.
Swan's top throw to take second place in the shot put covered 47' 6.25". The winning throw was 48' 9" by Josh Huffman of Pacific University. Third place went to Cody Mitchell of Linfield College with a distance of 47' 0.75".
In addition to placing second in the men's shot put, Swan attained sixth place in the men's hammer throw. His top throw of the day was 152' 2".
Beckmann registered a top mark of 22' 4.25" in the men's long jump to earn second place. Cameron Seymour of George Fox University won the event with a leap of 23' 2". Nicholas Mcgill of Whitworth University placed third at 21' 10".
In the women's hammer throw, Duenas was third at 138' 7", as she missed second place by four inches. Riley Moresco of George Fox took second at 138' 11". The winner was Brooke France of Pacific, who recorded a toss of 142' 11".
Evans registered a personal record time of 11:35.89 to grab third place in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Her previous top time of 11:36.34 was set at the Pacific Luau on April 13. On Friday, Evans just missed second place, which went to Ellie Shoop of Whitworth University at 11:35.37. Marissa Mount of Whitworth won the steeplechase in 10:51.77.
Willamette's Isabel Duxbury (So., Seattle, WA/University Prep) placed fourth in women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in in a personal record time of 11:46.27. She lowered her previous top time by 9.73 seconds from 11:56.00 at this year's Pacific Luau.
Michael Montague (Jr., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) of Willamette set a personal record while taking fourth place in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. His time of 9:26.15 was 0.01 out of third place, which was earned by Bo Frohock of Pacific Lutheran at 9:26.14. Montague was 0.37 behind the second place time of 9:25.78 recorded by Jonny Maier of PLU. Kyle Rapacz, also from PLU, won the steeplechase in 9:17.82. Montague reduced his personal record from 9:29.31. He set the previous mark at last year's NWC Championships.
Jeidah DeZurney (So., Brownsville, OR/Lebanon HS) from Willamette joined Duenas as a scorer in the women's hammer throw. DeZurney achieved a top distance of 136' 7" for fifth place, while setting a personal record by just over 12 feet. Her previous top mark was 124' 6" during the Willamette versus Corban Dual earlier this year.
In the final race of the day, Risa Shutz (So., Redmond, WA/Redmond HS) provided the Bearcats with seventh place in the women's 10,000-meter run, while reducing her personal record by more than a minute. Her time during Friday's race was 41:30.34. She held off Genevieve Serna of Lewis & Clark College by 0.04 to finish seventh. The previous best time for Shutz in the 10,000 was 42:33.74 in this year's Willamette versus Corban Dual.
RoShaan Rogers (Gr., Roseville, CA/Woodreek HS) of Willamette earned the top time of the prelims in the men's 400-meter hurdles. He won his heat in 55.96 seconds to set a personal record. His top time prior to Friday was 56.23 seconds as a freshman during the 2015 season. Connor Giannini (Jr., Veradale, WA/Gonzaga Prep) registered the third fastest time in the men's 400-meter dash prelims at 50.78 seconds.
Advancing to Finals for the Willamette Men's Team:
Connor Giannini (Jr., Veradale, WA/Gonzaga Prep), 200-meter dash, 22.42 seonds; 400-meter dash, 50.78 seconds.
Robbie Melhorn (Sr., Bangkok, Thailand/International School Bangkok), 800-meter run, 1:59.08.
Advancing to Finals for the Bearcat Women's Team:
Adrian Schnee (Fr., Kalispell, MT/Glacier HS), 400-meter hurdles, 1:07.27 (PR by 0.40).
Team Scores
Whitworth held a slim lead atop the mens team standings with 52.5 points. George Fox was second at 50.5 points, with Pacific Lutheran in third at 40 points. Willamette was fourth with 24 points, while Pacific was fifth at 21, Linfield was sixth at 18, Lewis & Clark was seventh at 18 and University of Puget Sound was eighth with 12 points.
In the women's team standings, George Fox was first with 60 points, Whitworth was second with 46 points and Pacific was third with 41 points. Pacific Lutheran held the fourth spot with 38.5 points, Willamette was fifth at 23, Linfield was sixth at 15, Lewis & Clark was seventh at 8.5 and Puget Sound was eighth with 2 points.
Bearcats Competing on Saturday
Saturday, April 27
10:30 a.m. - Women's Triple Jump (Flights and Final) - Alex Stacy (Flight 1)
12:00 p.m. - Men's 4 x 100-meter Relay (Final) - Willamette (Brian Peck, RoShaan Rogers, Connor Giannini, Orion Ewell)
12:05 p.m. - Women's 4 x 100-meter Relay (Final) - Willamette (Isabel Solano, Jenette Cabrera, Emma Blackburn, Sonja Cox-Raman)
12:10 p.m. - Men's 1,500-meter Run (Final) - Robbie Melhorn, Michael Montague
12:20 p.m. - Women's 1,500-meter Run (Final) - Isabel Duxbury, Hazel Carr, Kyla Shade
12:50 p.m. - Men's 400-meter Dash (Final) - Connor Giannini
1:00 p.m. - Women's Discus (Flights and Final) - Hope Duenas (Flight 2)
1:00 p.m. - Men's Javelin (One Flight and Final) - Keaton Beckmann
1:10 p.m. - Men's 800-meter Run (Final) - Robbie Melhorn
1:20 p.m. - Women's 800-meter Run (Final) - Hazel Carr, Grace Crookham-Guy
1:30 p.m. - Men's 400-meter Hurdles (Final) - RoShaan Rogers
1:40 p.m. - Women's 400-meter Hurdles (Final) - Adrian Schnee
1:50 p.m. - Men's 200-meter Dash (Final) - Connor Giannini
2:05 p.m. - Men's 5,000-meter Run (Final) - Michael Montague, Keith Carlson
2:25 p.m. - Women's 5,000-meter Run (Final) - Emily Evans, Kyla Shade, Hazel Carr
2:55 p.m. - Men's 4 x 400-meter Relay (Final) - Willamette (RoShaan Rogers, Matt Ihling, Connor Giannini, Keaton Beckmann)
3:00 p.m. - Women's 4 x 400-meter Relay (Final) - Willamette (Grace Crookham-Guy, Sonja Cox-Raman, Isabel Solano, Adrian Schnee)