By Charlie McGuire, Athletics Communications Assistant
NEWBERG, Ore. – The Willamette University women's track & field team posted three wins at the Rich Allen Classic, hosted by George Fox University on Saturday, March 16. The Bearcats added a number of top ten finishes on the day as well.
Lavender Bel (Fy., Puyallup, WA/Graham-Kapowsin HS) won the 100 meters with a time of 12.80 seconds and finished eighth in the 100-meter hurdles with a mark of 16.70. Sophomore Mashani Coleman Toliver (Bellevue, WA/Sammamish HS) clocked a personal best time of 12.86 to finish second in the 100 meters and season best in the 400-meter hurdles with a second-place time of 1:08.39.
Kenzie Lee (So., Kaneohe, HI/Mid-Pacific Institute) was fourth in the 200 meters with a PR time of 26.59. She was eighth in the 100 meters with a mark of 13.20.
Sophomore Katie Briggs (Las Vegas, NV/Faith Lutheran HS) was third behind Coleman in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:10.53. Sage Miller (So., Valley Springs, CA/Calaveras HS) clocked a season best in the 400 hurdles with a 1:11.83 to claim fifth and was ninth in the 100 hurdles with PR of 16.92.
Sophomore Anna Bikle (Woodside, CA/Half Moon Bay HS) won the 1500 meters with a season best time of 5:05.47. Leila Fischer (Sr., Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS) and Grace Kosmicki (So., Pocatello, ID/Highland HS) were fourth and fifth with almost identical times of 5:23.19 and 5:23.63, respectively. The Bearcats went 5-6-7 in the 800 meters. Katie Wingo (So., White Rock, NM/Los Alamos HS) set a PR to lead the way (2:28.65), followed by Bikle (2:28.82) and Fischer (2:41.66).
Willamette had a pair of top ten showings in the 5000 meters. Zoe Heino (So., Portland, OR/Mountainside HS) was eighth, crossing the line in 19:20.72 with classmate Aven Roberts (So., Missoula, MT/Hellgate HS) clocking a PR of 19:41.99 to take ninth.
The 4x400 relay combined for a time of 4:20.86. Coleman ran the lead leg with Lee and Briggs in the middle and Wingo was on the anchor.
In the field events Erica Snyder (So., Longview, WA/Mark Morris HS) led the way, winning the triple jump, going 34' 0.75". Whitley Stepp (So., Silverton, OR/Regis HS) was second in the high jump, clearing 5' 3.75" with Snyder taking third at the same height, based on number of jumps.
Tenley Grant (Jr., Longview, WA/Kelso HS) threw the hammer 139' 1" to place fourth. Senior Kaiona Apio (Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Woodway HS) had a toss of 112' 6" to place sixth in the javelin.
The Bearcats will next compete in the Willamette-Corban Dual Meet on Wednesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 21. The Hammer throw will be contested at Corban on Wednesday with the rest of the events coming to the Charles Bowles track at Willamette.
