Portland, Ore. - Willamette Men's Track finished in third place at the 2025 Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships thanks to a series of strong performances.  The Bearcats finished with three individual champions, with Kaleb McArthur winning the Long Jump and Triple Jump, and Roan Bashioum placing first in the Hammer Throw.  For his efforts, McArthur was named the Men's Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet.

On the track, the Bearcats scored most of their points in the hurdle events and the long sprints.  In the 110-meter High Hurdles, Willamette took places 5-8 with Matthew Nivala leading the way in a time of 15.88.  Nivala was followed by Mason Williams (16.05), Jonas Cherry (16.78), and Myles Crandall (17.57).  

Crandall led the way for Willamette in the 400m Hurdles, placing third at 54.71, and was followed in fifth place by Williams and eighth place by Cherry.  Willamette also scored points in the 400-meter run when Finn Gibson finished in sixth place with a time of 50.50 and was followed by teammate Dustin Harzmann in seventh at 50.92.

Willamette also performed well in the relay events on the final day.  The 4 x 400 Relay team of Cole Beneventi, Harzmann, Gibson, and Crandall finished in second place overall in a time of 3:19.46, just .24 behind the first-place team.  The 4 x 100 team of Cahlil Hooper, Beneventi, Crandall, and Marcus Nalls placed third overall in a time of 42.46.

In addition to the event wins by McArthur and Bashioum, Willamette had a good weekend in the field events.  Austin Snodgrass had three top-five finishes, placing third in the Discus (46.48m), fourth in the Hammer (46.99m), and fifth in the Shot Put (14.12m).  

Elijah Jones took second place in the Pole Vault by clearing a height of 4.52 meters and Niko White finished in third place in the Long Jump with a distance of 6.86 meters.  Steeley Mucken added a third-place finish in the Javelin with a throw of 61.42 meters. 

Willamette scored a total of 111 points in the championship, 56 points behind second-place Whitworth and 4½ points ahead of fourth-place Pacific Lutheran.  Select Willamette student-athletes will continue to compete over the next few weeks until the qualifying list for the National Championships is released.