Willamette Throwers Succeed at Pacific Northwest Relays

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

OREGON CITY, ORE. -- Willamette University brought a select group of athletes to the Pacific Northwest Relays on Friday, April 6, with most of the competitors participating in the throwing events. Willamette's throwers succeeded in the men's and women's discus events with two second place finishes, plus two third place results and one fourth place finish.

Willamette also competed in the men' javelin throw, the women's pole vault, two running events and two distance relays.

The meet will conclude on Saturday, when Willamette will host the hammer throw at the Bearcats' throwing ring, located at 1850 Oxford in Salem, Ore., behind the Math Learning Center. The women's hammer will be held first, starting at 11 a.m. (PDT).

Wyatt Briggs (Jr., Scio, OR/Scio HS) of Willamette placed second in the men's discus with a throw of 137' 9" and placed third in the shot put with personal record of 45' 4.50". It was his second career-best result in the shot put within a week. His previous record was 42' 0.50", set at the Willamette Invitational on March 31.

In the discus, Briggs trailed only Tyler Tompkins from Southern Oregon University, who won the event with a toss of 140' 4".

The shot put was won by Max Perry of Southern Oregon at 52' 2", while Michael Ruppert from SOU edged out Briggs for second place at 45' 8". Max Faulhaber (So., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS) of WU placed eighth in the shot put at 40' 10.50".

Willamette's Jossalyn Wright (Fr., Aumsville, OR/Cascade HS) was second in the women's shot put, while teammate Kelsey Engstrom (Fr., Clinton, WA/South Whidbey HS) was third. Kassie Conditt from Oregon Institute of Technology claimed first place at 42' 8". Wright followed at 37' 3" and Engstrom achieved a distance of 36' 7.50". Wright and Engstrom both established personal records.

Wright added a fourth place finish in the discus, as she registered another personal record with a distance of 112' 4". She missed third place by just one inch behind Conditt. Hannah Mason of SOU won the discus at 128' 3", while Katie Higgins of Clackamas Community College was second at 115' 10".

In the women's pole vault WU sophomore Katie Mariman (Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) achieved third place with a successful vault at 10' 0". Tiffanie Nyssen of Warner Pacific College was the winner at 10' 11.75", while Lindsey Wessa of Northwest University placed second at 10' 6".

Nolan Mayther (Jr., Longview, WA/Kelso HS) of Willamette earned seventh place in the men's javelin throw with a toss of 162' 9". He missed fifth place by just under two feet.

Leading the field in the men's javelin was Ryan Brandel, competing for Team Reddaway, who attained a top throw 222' 11". His winning distance was 10 inches shorter than the Charles Bowles Track record he set last weekend of 223' 9" at the Willamette Invitational.

Katie Kalugin (Fr., Woodburn, OR/Woodburn) took second place and Julia Brand (Fr., Kaneohe, HI/Punahou School) was third for Willamette in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Amelia Maguin from Southern Oregon won the race in 16.20 seconds. Kalugin reached the finish line in 17.00 seconds and Brand completed the race in 17.42 seconds.

In the men's 200-meter dash, Neal Howard (Sr., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) achieved eighth place at 23.52 seconds. Elton Cody from WPC attained first place in 22.50 seconds to edge out Brett Johnson from Corban University, who placed second in 22.56 seconds.

The meet included 4 x 800-meter relay races. In the women's race, Willamette placed third in 10:34.78. In the men's race, the Bearcats finished fourth in 8:00.66.