Freeby Wins Women's 1,500-Meter Run at L&C Tri Meet

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

PORTLAND, ORE. -- Michaela Freeby (Jr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) won the women's 1,500-meter run and the Bearcat men's team won the 4 x 100-meter relay in 42.55 seconds to highlight the efforts of Willamette University track and field athletes at the Lewis & Clark Tri Meet on Saturday, March 8.

Willamette, Lewis & Clark College and Whitworth University -- all from the Northwest Conference -- competed in the meet. The Bearcats won five women's events and five men's events. It rained periodically throughout the races and field events.

Freeby's winning time in the women's 1,500 was 4:41.93. She led a 1-3-4-5-6-7 finish for the Bearcats. A total of 12 runners competed in the event.

The Willamette men's 4 x 100-meter relay team included Matt Paparella (So., Glendale, AZ/Ironwood HS), Chris Luetjen (Sr., Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS), Tom Fiechtner (Sr., Poway, CA/Cathedral HS) and Dylan Jones (So., Santa Maria, CA/Ernest Righetti HS). All four are back after winning the NWC relay title in 2013.

In Saturday's relay race, Willamette's team finished in front Whitworth by 0.30, as the Pirates took second place in 42.85 seconds.

Joining Freeby as individual event winners for the Bearcat women's team were Kylea Johnson (So., Onalaska WA/Onalaska HS) in the 100-meter dash, Maura Forbush (Fr., Hollister , CA/San Benito HS) in the 400-meter dash, Maya Bowton (So., Spokane, WA/Ferris HS) in the pole vault, and Bekah Daniel (Jr., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) in the triple jump.

Johnson placed first in the 100-meter dash in 13.03 seconds. She won by 0.23 over Stephanie Barrong from Whitworth, who took second in 13.26 seconds.

Forbush won by 1.56 seconds in the 400-meter race, as she earned a time of 1:00.32. Cassianna Busch from Whitworth was second at 1:01.88.

The winning height for Bowton in the pole vault was 9' 6.25", as she won by four inches. Nikita Stillwell achieved second place for the Pirates at 9' 2.25".

In the triple jump, Daniel's top distance was 36' 7.50". She won by 1.25 inches over Willamette teammate Elisa Ahern (Jr., Lake Forest Park, WA/Shorecrest HS), whose combined distance was 36' 6.25".

Willamette's success in the women's 1,500-meter run was led by Freeby and also included five other runners among the top seven finishers. Emily Fagan from Lewis & Clark took second place at 4:47.90, but Annette Marinello (So., Corvallis, OR/Philomath HS) of Willamette was third at 4:48.92. Taylor Ostrander (So., Soldotna, AK/Kenai Central HS) placed fourth for the Bearcats at 4:51.32.

Hannah Bressler (So., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) was fifth for Willamette in the 1,500 at 4:52.55. Ami Boucher (Fr., Concord, CA/Northgate HS) placed sixth at 4:55.55 and Juliet Farnan (So., Lafayette, CA/Campolindo HS) took seventh at 4:56.48.

Two of the athletes on the Willamette men's 4 x 100-meter relay team won an individual sprinting event and the other two relay members took second place in a sprint.

Jones won the 100-meter dash in 11.30 seconds. He was followed by Luetjen and Casey Monahan of Whitworth, who tied for second in 11.37 seconds.

Fiechtner earned first place in the 400-meter dash, as he registered a time of 51.32 seconds. Paparella was second in 51.67 seconds. Parris Joyce (So., Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel School) from Willamette made it a 1-2-3 finish by taking third at 51.72 seconds.

Jeff Schreiner-McGraw (Jr., Philomath, OR/Philomath HS) was the winner in the men's 800-meter run. His time was 2:00.29, as he edged out Matt Gallagher from Lewis & Clark by one-fourth of a second. Gallagher's time was 2:00.54.

Kit Kingstad (Sr., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS) competed for the first time this spring for the Bearcats after qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 1,500-meter run last season. He won the event on Saturday at Lewis & Clark with a time of 4:02.73. Jarrod Nixon of L&C was second at 4:03.25.

Willamette will participate in the Lane Preview in Eugene, Ore., on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15. The meet will be hosted by Lane Community College.