Castillo Sets Personal Record, Finishes 2nd in 1,500-meter Run at Linfield Open

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

McMINNVILLE, ORE. -- Willamette University runner Yonny Castillo (So., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley) set a personal record and took second place in the men's 1,500-meter run at the Linfield Open on Saturday, May 10 at Maxwell Field. A select group of Bearcats competed in the meet.

Castillo registered a time of 3:59.25, as he moved beneath the 4-minute mark. He improved his career-best time from 4:00.67, which he set nearly a month ago at the John Knight Twilight, hosted by Western Oregon University on April 11.

Pauric McLaughlin from Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) won the men's 1,500 with a time of 3:55.84. In addition to Castillo in second place out of 14 runners, the Bearcats also received a fourth place finish from Daniel Swanson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), who was timed at 4:03.97.

In the women's 1,500-meter run, Ami Boucher (Fr., Concord, CA/Northgate HS) from Willamette was third at 4:49.81, while Juliet Farnan (So., Lafayette, CA/Campolindo HS) of WU took fourth with a personal record of 4:51.86. Farnan's previous top time was 4:53.14 at the John Knight Twilight. Cheryn Trapp, competing unattached, won the 1,500 in 4:43.87.

The Willamette men's 4 x 100-meter relay team achieved a time of 42.56 seconds while competing unopposed. Willamette's relay featured 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).

Meka Townsend (So., Okanogan, WA/Okanogan HS) achieved a toss of 115' 10" in the women's javelin throw. Christina MacDonald from Oregon State University earned a distance of 140' 5" to take first place.

Taylor Ottomano (Jr., Poulsbo, WA/North Kitsap HS) was successful at 5' 0.50" in the women's high jump. Alexi Provost-Shean from Lewis & Clark College, who cleared 5' 2.50", won the event.

Up Next for the Bearcats:

Willamette will compete in the West Coast Invitational on Thursday, May 15 at the Charles Bowles Track. The meet will feature primarily athletes from Willamette and the NCAA Division I West Coast Conference.