By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NEWBERG, Ore. -- Willamette University men's track and field athletes Myles Crandall (Fy., Monmouth, OR/Central HS) and Matthew Nivala (Fy., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) are competing in their first-ever decathlon this week at the GFU Final Qualifier at Stoffer Family Stadium. They are off to a good start, as Crandall was in fourth place and Nivala held fifth place at the end of the first day on Wednesday, May 15. In the opening five events, Crandall scored 2,996 points and Nivala accumulated 2,844 points.
The decathlon at GFU will conclude with the final five events on Thursday, May 16. The first event of the second day will be the 110-meter hurdles at 12 p.m. PDT. Other decathlon events on Thursday will be the discus throw, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500-meter run.
Crandall and Nivala both earned their top score of the first day in the 100-meter dash, which was the initial event. They finished the race with nearly identical results, as Nivala registered a time of 11.50 seconds to place fourth and Crandall was timed at 11.51 seconds in fifth. Nivala received 753 points and Crandall was awarded 750 points.
In the long jump, Crandall was third among the eight decathletes with a top distance of 19' 11.75". Nivala took fourth place in the long jump at 19' 10.75". During the shot put, Crandall attained a top mark of 31' 11.50" for fourth place. Nivala's top distance in the shot put was 25' 11".
The high jump ended with Nivala clearing 5' 6.50". Crandall's top successful high jump was 5' 3". In the final event of the first day, the 400-meter run, Crandall placed third in 52.43 seconds for 706 points. Nivala was fifth with a time of 55.09 seconds.
Leading the decathlon after five events was Caleb Smith from George Fox with a score of 3,433 points. Blake Smith of GFU was second at 3,261, and Tom McMillan from the Bruins was third at 3,142. Crandall was fourth with his score of 2,996 and Nivala was fifth at 2,844. David McCormick form Corban was sixth at 2,243 points.
Caleb Smith and Blake Smith each won two events on Wednesday. Caleb Smith took first place in the high jump at 6' 1.50" and was first in the 400-meter dash in 51.34 seconds. Blake Smith won the 100-meter dash in 11.18 seconds and also placed first in the long jump with a mark of 21' 5.50". The shot put was won by McMillan with a toss of 36' 10.50".
On Thursday, action at the GFU Final Qualifier will include field events and track events in addition to the second day of the multi-event competitions. The Bearcats are set to compete in six additional men's events, while Willamette is entered in four women's events on Thursday. No one from Willamette is competing in the heptathlon.
