Portland, Ore. - Men's Track & Field got off to a strong start to the NWC Track & Field Championships, winning two field events and running well in Saturday's prelims to place nine runners in Sunday's finals, including seven across the two hurdle races.  Roan Bashioum was the conference champion in the Hammer and Kaleb McArthur won the championship in the Long Jump.

The Bearcats performed well in the field events in addition to the wins by Bashioum and McArthur.  Elijah Jones placed second in the Pole Vault by clearing 4.52 meters and Steeley Mucken took third in the Javelin with a throw of 61.42 meters.  Niko White was not far behind McArthur in the Long Jump, placing third with a distance of 6.86 and Austin Snodgrass placed fourth in the Hammer with a throw of 46.99.

On the track, Willamette had a great afternoon in the hurdle events as seven runners advanced to the finals.  Myles Crandall ran the fastest preliminary time in the 400m Hurdles at 54.51, and will be joined in Sunday's final by teammates Mason Williams and Jonas Cherry.  That trio also qualified in the 110 m High Hurdles, along with Matthew Nivala.  The two other Bearcats to qualify during the preliminary rounds were Finn Gibson and Dustin Herzmann in the 400-meter run.

A couple of distance events ran finals on Saturday and Adam Lewis finished ninth in the 3000m Steeplechase in a time of 9:53.16, followed closely by teammate William Hennum in eleventh.  Jay Chew and Joshua Evans each ran personal bests in the 10,000-meter run.

The second day of the NWC Track & Field Championships begins at 10:00 am on Sunday, April 27th, at Lewis & Clark College.