By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Oliver Anderson (Sr., Salem, OR/Home Schooled) of Willamette University earned fifth place in the men's triple jump with a mark of 44' 1.5" during the second day of the Oregon State High Performance on Saturday, April 29. Also for Willamette on Saturday, Katherine Thornton (Jr., Reno, NV/Reno HS) placed ninth in the women's 100-meter hurdles in 15.16 seconds.

Anderson recorded his top mark of the triple jump on his first throw of the prelims. His combined distance of 44' 1.5" was less than three inches from fourth place and just 4.75 inches from third place. Kaleb Mcarthur (Fy., Independence, OR/Central HS) of Willamette placed 11th in the men's triple jump with a top result of 40' 6.75". Mcarthur was 13th in the men's long jump on Friday at 21' 0".

Later on Saturday, Anderson took 22nd place out of 73 runners in the men's 100-meter dash. He completed the race in a season-best time of 11.10 seconds.

Thornton's time of 15.16 for ninth place in the women's 100-meter hurdles set a personal record. She broke her previous top time of 15.27 seconds in the finals of the 2023 NWC Championships on April 22. On Friday at OSU, Thornton took 10th place in the women's 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.67.

Annabelle Smith (Fy., Blissfield, MI/Blissfield HS) was 21st in the women's 100-meter dash on Saturday with a personal record time of 12.62 seconds. Her previous top time was 12.68 seconds at the Willamette Opener on March 4, 2023. Smith was 20th in the women's long jump on Friday with a leap of 16' 5".

Willamette is scheduled to compete at the Oregon Twilight on Friday, May 5 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.