By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Six Willamette University track and field athletes each took first place in one event at the Pacific Preview on Saturday, March 9 at Hanson Stadium. The meet was hosted by Pacific University.
Winners for Willamette were Adrian Schnee (Fr., Kalispell, MT/Glacier HS) in the women's high jump, Hope Duenas (Jr., Covina, CA/Covina HS) in the women's discus throw, Connor Giannini (Jr., Veradale, WA/Gonzaga Prep) in the men's 400-meter dash, Michael Montague (Jr., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) in the men's 1,500-meter run, RoShaan Rogers (Gr., Roseville, CA/Woodreek HS) in the men's 400-meter hurdles, and Saige Swan (Jr., Crescent City, CA/Del Norte HS).
Schnee won the women's high jump by clearing 5' 1". She won on fewer misses, as she cleared 5' 1" on her first attempt. Savannah Proske form Northwest Christian cleared 5' 1" on her second attempt and placed second. Schnee also placed second in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.67. Brianna Jury of Northwest Christian won the 400 hurdles in 1:07.03.
Duenas registered a toss of 130' 7" to take first place in the women's discus. Brooke France of Pacific was second at 125' 7". A total of 14 athletes competed ni the women's discus.
In the men's 400-meter dash, Giannini prevailed with a personal record time of 50.61 seconds. His previous top time was 51.15 seconds at the 2017 Willamette Invitational. Giannini won by over a second on Saturday, as Antonio Campos of Northwest Christian placed second at 51.67.
Montague won by a bit over four seconds in the men's 1,500-meter run. He attained a time of 3:59.35. He broke the four-minute mark in only his second competitive 1,500 for the Bearcats. Teammate Keith Carlson (Sr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) placed fifth at Pacific, as he earned a time of 4:07.29. Twenty-four runners competed in the 1,500.
Rogers led the field of seven runners in the men's 400-meter hurdles, as he was timed at 57.06 seconds. Ethan Ferte from Clackamas Community College was second in 58.75 seconds.
The men's hammer throw was won by Swan with a top distance of 160' 5". He set a personal record with the throw, improving by more than 11 feet from 148' 9" at the Willamette Opener a week ago. He has increased his top mark in the hammer by 22' 3" since the start of this season. At Pacific, second place out of 16 competitors went to Collin Alteneder of George Fox University with a top throw of 147' 0".
Swan also took third place in the men's shot put on Saturday. His top distance was 43' 2.50". The event was won by unattached athlete Dayne Gordien with a toss of 53' 0". Josh Huffman of Pacific was second at 43' 10.75".
The Bearcats will be back in action on Wednesday, March 13 and Thursday, March 14 during the Willamette vs. Corban Dual at Charles Bowles Track. All of the events will be held at the track on Thursday starting at 3:30 p.m. (PDT), except for the hammer throw, which will be held at Corban University on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Big Moment of the Meet for Willamette
Saige Swan won the men's hammer throw with a personal record
toss of 160' 5". His has added 22' 3" to his top throw in the hammer.
this season. He entered the year with a career best of 138' 2" and
surpassed that by more than 10 feet at the Willamette Opener with
a distance of 148' 9". He added another 11' 8" on Saturday.
