By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
TACOMA, Wash. -- Willamette University's Oliver Anderson (Jr., Salem, OR/Home Schooled) took second place in the men's triple jump and soon afterward earned fourth place in the men's 100-meter dash, at the 2022 Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships on Saturday, April 23 at Baker Stadium. Katherine Thornton (So., Reno, NV/Reno HS) of Willamette placed fifth in the women's 100-meter hurdles and was seventh in the women's 400-meter hurdles.
Anderson set a personal record while earning All-NWC recognition with his second place finish in the men's triple jump at 44' 0.50". His previous top mark was 43' 5.75" at the Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational on April 2. The NWC triple jump title was won by Ethan Kassebaum from George Fox University with a combined distance of 45' 6.50".
In the men's 100-meter dash, Anderson was fourth in 11.07 seconds. Solo Hines of Whitworth University took first place at 10.94 seconds. Second, third, and fourth were very close, with Dylan Jackson of Linfield University at 11.04 seconds, Kellen Meade of Pacific Lutheran University at 11.06, and Anderson just 0.01 behind Meade.
Thornton placed fifth in the women's 100-meter hurdles in 15.49 seconds. She was seventh in the women's 400-meter hurdles 1:10.14.
Sami Riggs (Jr., La Verne, CA/Bonita HS) ran to fourth place in the women's 400-meter dash, clocking a time of 59.99 seconds. It was the fourth time this spring that Riggs completed the 400 in under one minute. Simon Kidder (So., Bend, OR/Summit) earned fifth place in the men's 400-meter hurdles at 58.83 seconds.
In the men's discus, Eric Kaszycki (Jr., Santee, CA/Santana HS) had a throw of 139' 2" to place sixth, as he set a personal record by more than five feet. His previous top mark was 133' 9" during the Willamette vs. Humboldt State Dual on April 28, 2021.
In the men's team standings, George Fox won the NWC Championship with 241 points, while Pacific Lutheran was second with 153 points. Whitworth University placed third at 139, Linfield University was fourth at 116, Pacific University finished fifth at 59, and the University of Puget Sound was sixth with 39 points. Willamette took seventh place at 36, just three points behind Puget Sound. Lewis & Clark College was eighth at 20 points and Whitman College placed ninth with two points.
The Bruins also topped the women's team standings with a score of 283.5 points. Pacific Lutheran followed in second at 149, Whitworth was third at 136, and Pacific held fourth place with 79 points. Lewis & Clark and Linfield tied for fifth place at 57, while Puget Sound was sixth at 31.5, Willamette placed seventh at 19, and Whitman was ninth with six points.
