By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's track and field team placed in the top five in eight events at the Pacific Open on Saturday, March 30 at Hanson Stadium on the Pacific University campus. Steeley Mucken (Fy., Silverton, OR/Silverton HS) led the way by earning third place in the javelin throw.

Mucken's top distance was 188' 0". He recorded the mark on his first throw of the prelims. Later, he threw 182' 2" on his third attempt. First place in the javelin went to Ismayil Abdoulaye from Umpqua Community College with a throw of 196' 4". Carson Olmstead of Pacific Lutheran University was second at 192' 4".

Willamette earned fourth place in the hammer throw and the 4 x 100-meter relay. In the hammer, Roan Bashioum (Fy., Salem, OR/North HS) was fourth with a toss of 152' 2". He was just five inches behind Cody Wheeler of Whitworth University who placed third at 152' 7". Unattached athlete Daniel Coppedge won the hammer at 174' 11". Bashioum added a 10th place finish out of 30 competitors in the discus with a top mark of 121' 8".

In the 4 x 100-meter relay, Willamette's team of Simon Kidder (Sr., Bend, OR/Summit HS), Matthew Nivala (Fy., Salem, OR/West Salem HS), Myles Crandall (Fy., Monmouth, OR/Central HS), and Jack Hickey (Fy., San Mateo, CA/Aragon HS) were timed at 43.63 for fourth place. Lane Community College won the 4 x 100 relay with a time of 41.53 seconds.

The Bearcats registered fifth place finishes in five events. Nivala was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, as he achieved a time of 15.72 seconds. He was 0.28 out of second place. Mason Williams (Fy., Happy Valley, OR/ Clackamas HS) placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.75 seconds. In the 1,500-meter run, William Hennum (Jr., Henderson, NV/Liberty HS/SW Oregon CC) was fifth in 4:02.88.

Fifth place finishes in field events went to Kaleb Mcarthur (So., Independence, OR/Central HS) in the long jump and to Elijah Jones (So., Salem, OR/Central HS) in the pole vault. Mcarthur's top jump measured 21' 7.50" as he set a personal record. Jones cleared 14' 8.25" in the pole vault.

Also for Willamette, Liam Bergevin (Fy., Walla Walla, WA/Walla Walla HS) earned sixth place in the 800-meter run, Finn Gibson (Fy., New Paltz, NY/New Paltz HS) was seventh in the 400-meter dash, and Jonas Cherry (So., Browns Valley, CA/Marysville HS) was seventh in the 400-meter hurdles. Bergevin claimed a time of 1:57.61 in the 800, while Gibson registered a time of 50.60 seconds in the 400. Cherry was timed at 59.53 seconds in the 400 hurdles, while setting a personal record. His previous top time was 59.56 seconds at the Willamette Invitational one week ago.

Willamette tied for sixth place out of 16 teams with 43 points in the men's overall standings. Western Oregon University also achieved 43 points. Lane CC took first place with a score of 95.5 points.

The Bearcats will compete at the Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational at Linfield University on Saturday, April 6. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PDT.