Waters Moves into 10th on Women's Hammer Throw List and also Wins Discus
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Samantha Waters (So., Kalispell, MT/Flathead HS) of Willamette University won the women's hammer throw and moved into 10th on the Bearcats' all-time list during the Willamette vs. Portland Dual, which began on Wednesday, April 14 and ended on Thursday, April 15. Waters also won the women's discus for the Bearcats. Willamette student-athletes competed in a variety of events, while the University Portland participated in most of the track events and Corban University competed in several field events.
Waters attained a top distance of 137' 3" in the hammer throw, as she replaced the previous 10th-best mark on Willamette's list set by Christina Edholm at 137' 2" in 2009. Waters also improved her personal record which was set at 136' 1" a week ago in the Willamette vs. Bushnell Dual.
In the discus, Waters grabbed first place on Thursday with a top throw of 104' 5". Avery Mickelsen (Jr./So., Ephrata, WA/Ephrata HS) of WU placed second in the hammer and the discus, with a top mark of 128' 10" in the hammer and a top distance of 98' 6" in the discus.
Keaton Beckmann from Willamette won two events. He took first place in the men's 200-meter dash with a personal record time of 22.05 seconds, breaking his previous top time of 22.45 during the 2019 Willamette vs. Corban Dual. The time also moved Beckmann into seventh place on WU's all-time list. Jeremy Falk (Jr.,/So., Davis, CA/Davis HS) of Willamette was second at the WU vs. Portland Dual in 24.17 seconds and teammate Andres Huante (So., Bloomington, CA/Grand Terrace HS) was third at 24.44 seconds
Beckmann claimed first place in the men's long jump at 22' 9.75". He was within two inches of his personal-best distance of 22' 11.75" set at the Willamette Opener in 2019. Oliver Anderson (So., Salem, OR/Home Schooled) placed second in the long jump at 19' 11". Anderson tacked on first place in the men's triple jump with a combined distance of 40' 8.75" while competing unopposed.
During the men's shot put, Beckmann added a personal record with a mark of 39' 2.50" while taking third place. His top distance prior to Thursday was 38' 9.50" at last week's Willamette vs. Bushnell Dual.
Eric Kaszycki (So., Santee, CA/Santana HS) won the men's discus for Willamette at 119' 0". Beckmann placed second with a throw of 106' 11". Kaszycki finished second in the men's hammer throw with a distance of 125' 10". Corban's Kenny Purnell won the hammer at 156' 9".
Abigail House (Fy., Oakland, OR/Oakland HS) of WU competed unopposed in the women's shot put. She registered a distance of 31' 11.25".
In addition to Beckmann's victory in the men's 200-meter dash, the Bearcats won five more events on the track.
Falk placed first in the men's 400-meter dash in 54.09 seconds, while Huante was second at 54.98 seconds. Katherine Thornton (Fy., Reno, NV/Reno HS) ran unopposed in the women's 400-meter hurdles and earned a time of 1:10.64. Leila Fischer (Fy., Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS) prevailed in the women's 1,500-meter run in 5:27.19. Teammate April Holland (So., Warrensburg, MO/Warrensburg HS) was second in 5:41.01.
Alex Matteson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:59.06. Ronan Davies (So., Juneau, AK/Juneau-Douglas HS) of WU placed second in 10;21.35. It was the first collegiate steeplechase competition for both runners. Audrey Piacsek (Jr., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS), running in her first steeplechase, crossed the finish line nearly tied with teammate Maggie Chapin (Sr., Buffalo, WY/Buffalo HS). Piacsek won the race in 12:32.33, with Chapin in second at 12:32.34.
Other Key Results for the Bearcats
Fischer recorded a time of 2:43.14 in the women's 800-meter run. Roscoe McDonald (So., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) ran for the Bearcats in the men's 800-meter run and completed the race in 2:03.81. Gabriel Regimbal (So., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS) of Willamette attained a time of 9:14. 55 in the men's 3,000-meter run.
Willamette won the men's team competition with 60 points, while Portland scored 33 points. In the women's standings, the Bearcats were first with 55 points and Portland finished with 38 points.