Bearcats Dominate Over Three-Day Competition

SALEM, Ore. – Willamette competed against Corban University in a dual meet this week at McCulloch Stadium. Men's Decathlon competition took place March 17-18, and regular competition on the 19th.

In the Men's Decathlon, Steeley Mucken dominated the competition to earn first place with 6831 points. Myles Crandall took second in this competition, and Isaiah Martushev fifth. In the Dec 100m, the Bearcats swept the top three, Mucken in first. In Dec Long Jump, Mucken once again took first, Crandall third, while Martushev was edged out by the competition from Corban and got fifth. In Shot Put, Mucken again secured first place, with a personal best (PB) of 13.96 meters. The Bearcats brought the same positioning from Dec Long Jump into Dec High Jump, however in the Dec 400m Mucken met his match and Crandall outran him, ending his first-place streak. Martushev took third in this race, leading to another top-three sweep by Willamette. Not to be outdone, Mucken secured himself first in Dec 110m Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault and Javelin. But, Crandall stepped up again in the Dec 1500m and achieved first, with a time of 4:47.70 minutes. Martushev followed in third, and Mucken closed out the race in fifth.

Moving to field events, Roan Bashioum earned first in Hammer Throw, recording a distance of 49.57 meters, while Austin Snodgrass landed himself second place. In Shot Put, Snodgrass secured first for Willamette with a throw of 15.21 meters (PB). Bashioum, Grant Sweitzer, and Wyatt Santucci took second through fourth, Santucci with a PB of his own, 10.27 meters. Judah Ali'ifua took first in Javelin, while in Discus Snodgrass got first too.

Pole vaulters Elijah Jones and Teague Myers took first and second, respectively. Jones cleared 4.25 meters for first place. In Triple Jump, both competitors from Corban outperformed the Bearcats, but Niko White persisted and earned himself third place with a season-best distance of 12.65 meters.

Treyton Marty led the pack in the 1500m for most of the race, but runners Thomas Bernadicou and Adam Lewis passed him in the last lap; all Bearcats took the top three, Bernadicou coming in first at 4:05.11 minutes. In the 110m Hurdles, Mason Williams outran Carson Naehr in a close competition for first place. The 400m saw many PBs for the Bearcats. Dustin Harzmann earned first place in 50.99 seconds, freshman Tim McMahon on his tail at 51.50 seconds (PB). Liam Bergevin and Kayden Gonzales also saw PBs in this race as they secured fourth and fifth.

In the 100m, Matthew Nivala took second place and Marcus Nalls third. Jay Chew flew past competition in the 800m, running it in just under two minutes with a PB of 1:58.09. Lewis and Sage Soto rounded out the top three, Marty in fourth. The 200m was a neck-and-neck contest, Cole Beneventi and Nasir Campbell racing side by side; in the end, Campbell matched his PB to secure first, Beneventi barely edged out while taking second place. Owen Phillips, Major LeProwse, and Brandon Todd were third through fifth, resulting in an all-Bearcat top-five.

The 4x400m Relay was intense: the team started strong in first-place position for the first leg, but the second leg of a Corban team caught up right at the exchange zone. The Bearcats kept close throughout the third and fourth legs, however Corban had too great a lead, resulting in the Bearcats taking second place.

The Bearcats travel for their next competition to Corvallis, Oregon, to compete in the PNW Invitational on March 21.