By Charlie McGuire, Athletics Communications Assistant
SALEM, Ore – The Willamette University men's and women's track & field teams started off the season, hosting the Willamette Opener on Saturday, March 5th, at the Charles Bowles Track in McCulloch Stadium. The Bearcats had a strong showing with the women tying for second and the men finishing third overall.
In the men's standings, Corban University won the team title, holding a 125-111 lead over the second-place University of Oregon Running Club with Willamette in third with 93 points. Western Oregon and Mt. Hood Community College were next with 36 and 32, respectively. Oregon State University combined for 92 points to win the women's title with Willamette and Corban each scoring 88 points to tie for second. Mt. Hood finished with 48 to finish in front of Western Oregon with 39. The UORC tallied 28.
The Bearcat women had some solid performances in the field events. Emma Blackburn (Los Altos, CA/St. Francis HS) placed second in the long jump, clearing 14' 6" on her very first attempt while first-year Kaiona Apio (Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Woodway HS) placed seventh in the javelin with a throw of 89' 7" meters.
First-years Abigail House (Oakland, OR/Oakland HS) and Tenley Grant (Longview, WA/Kelso HS) finished fifth and sixth in the shot put with throws of 31' 10.75" and 30' 10.25", respectively.
The Bearcats combined for 17 points in the discus. Avery Mickelsen (Sr., Ephrata, WA/Ephrata HS) and Leanne Machado (Jr., Pendleton, OR/Pendleton HS) had throws of 102' 7" and 98' 11", respectively, to place third and fourth. House and Tenley finished fifth and seventh with distances of 96' 1" and 92' 2". Mickelsen, Machado and House went two-three-four in the hammer throw, respectively, while Grant and Apio earned points in sixth and seventh. Mickelsen led the way with a toss of 121' 7".
On the track, the Bearcats went one-two in the 5,000 meters with first-year Leila Fischer (Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS) coming across with a time of 21:24.45, followed by classmate Melissa Duncan (Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon HS) at 21:38.24.
Katherine Thornton (So., Reno, NV/Reno HS) won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:15.52. In the 800 meters, Audrey Piacsek (Thorp, WA/Ellensburg HS) finished seventh with a time of 2:27.65.
The men's team also did well in the field events. Albert Ramon Jr. (Hesperia, CA/Northview HS) won the long jump, clearing 19' 9" on his third attempt and Oliver Anderson (Salem, OR/Home Schooled) captured the triple jump, going 41' 10.75".
Petey Swan (Fy., Crescent City, CA/Del Norte HS) claimed silver in the high jump with a height of 5' 9.75". Eric Kaszycki (Jr., Santee, CA/Santana HS) captured a silver as well, throwing the discus 126' 4". Kaszycki placed fourth in the hammer throw with a toss of 132' 1".
Andres Huante (Bloomington, CA/Grand Terrace HS) won the men's 800-meter run, coming across the line in 2:02.46, with Jordan Treber (Fy., Mount Vernon, OH/Mount Vernon HS) placing fifth in a time of 2:14.93.
Simon Kidder (So., Bend, OR/Summit HS) won the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 58.77.
The Bearcats earned third and fourth in the 5,000 meters. Junior Alex Matteson (Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) crossed the line in 15:47.44 while sophomore Gabriel Regimbal (Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS) posted a mark of 15:53.29.
Junior Carson Herrick (Newberg, OR/Newberg HS) was eighth in the 5,000 with a time of 16:47.76 and Ian Curtis (Eugene, OR/South Eugene HS) clocked a time of 17:31.21. Jeremy Falk (Sr., Davis, CA/Davis HS) added a seventh place showing in the men's 400-meter dash with a time of 56.19.
Willamette's teams are in action again next weekend. They are scheduled to travel to the Lane Community College Open on Saturday, March 12 at 10 a.m. (PST).
