Thornton Places 3rd in Women's 400-meter Hurdles at NWC Championships
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Katherine Thornton (Fy., Reno, NV/Reno HS) of Willamette University took third place in the women's 400-meter hurdles during the second day of the 2021 Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships at Hanson Stadium on Friday, May 14. Thornton added her third place result to a fifth place finish in the long jump on the first day of the NWC competition.
Thornton's time in the 400-meter hurdles was 1:07.17 as she set a personal record. Her previous best was 1:08.46 during Thursday's preliminary heats. Bethany Gingerich of George Fox University won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.94 with a margin of nearly four seconds. Adrienne Gulley of Pacific Lutheran University placed second in 1:06.87, just 0.30 in front of Thornton. In the long jump, Thornton's top distance was a personal record of 16' 3.75".
Oliver Anderson (So., Salem, OR/Home Schooled) scored for Willamette in two events on Friday. He gained fourth place in the men's 200-meter dash in a personal record time of 22.61 seconds. He improved by 0.18 from his time in the prelims of 22.79 seconds. Davis Mihelich of GFU took first place in the 200 at 21.64 seconds. Kolby Blackler of Whitworth University was second at 22.34 and Chandler Morris from Linfield University was third at 22.53.
Anderson placed eighth in the men's triple jump at 42' 10.25". He registered his top distance on the first attempt.
Sami Riggs (So., La Verne, CA/Bonita HS) of Willamette placed sixth in the 400-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. She earned a personal record of 1:00.37 in the 400-meter dash, improving on her previous top time of 1:01.03 at this year's Willamette vs. Corban Dual #2. In the 200-meter dash, Riggs attained a time of 26.63 seconds.
Also providing a sixth place finish for the Bearcats was Jeremy Falk (Jr.,/So., Davis, CA/Davis HS) in the men's 400-meter dash. Falk registered a personal record of 53.63 seconds. His top time prior to Friday was 54.09 at the Willamette vs. Portland Dual on April 15 this season.
Keaton Beckmann (Sr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) placed ninth in the men's 100-meter dash for the Bearcats. Heis time was 11.68 seconds. Beckmann had to pull out of the meet following the 100-meter final due to an injury. Beckmann placed second in the NWC decathlon with a personal record score of 6,788 earlier this season.
Other Top Results for the Bearcats on Friday
Eric Kaszycki (So., Santee, CA/Santana HS) took 10th place in the men's discus throw with a top mark of 123' 6". Alex Matteson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) was 11th in the men's 5,000-meter run. Audrey Piacsek (Jr., Thorp, Washington, Ellensburg HS) placed 11th in the women's 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:07.39.
Team Standings
In the final men's team standings, George Fox claimed the NWC Championship with 251.5 points. Whitworth was second with 219.5 points and Pacific Lutheran University followed in third with 101.5 points. Linfield was fourth at 87.5, Lewis & Clark College was fifth at 54, Pacific University placed sixth at 47, the University of Puget Sound was seventh at 31, Willamette placed eighth at 19, and Whitman College was ninth with 1 point.
George Fox won the women's NWC Championship with a score of 264 points. Pacific Lutheran placed second with 146 points, while Whitworth grabbed third place at 133 points. Pacific was fourth at 71, Puget Sound was fifth at 58, Linfield took sixth at 51, Lewis & Clark finished seventh at 50, Willamette was eighth at 26 and Whitman was ninth with 10 points.