Bearcats Compete in Track Events at Portland Distance Carnival

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Four members of the Willamette University men's track and field team competed at the L&C Portland Distance Carnival on Saturday, May 11 at Eldon Fix Track on the Lewis & Clark College campus. The meet was primarily used as one of the final chances for athletes to qualify for national championship meets, so most of the events featured a small number of entries.

Myles Crandall (Fy., Monmouth, OR/Central HS), Matthew Nivala (Fy., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) and Simon Kidder (Sr., Bend, OR/Summit HS) all ran in heats of the 200-meter dash. Crandall placed seventh overall in 22.79 seconds and was the third fastest NCAA Division III finisher in the event. Nivala took eighth place and set a personal record with a time of 22.89 seconds. Kidder was timed at 23.46 seconds. The 200-meter dash was one of the larger events with 26 entries.

Nivala was one of two runners in the 110-meter hurdles. Nivala won the race in 15.57 seconds.

Crandall also competed in the 400-meter dash. He was fifth with a time of 50.21 seconds.

Kidder was second out of four runners in the 400-meter hurdles. Kidder registered a time of 57.08 seconds, just 0.17 away from his career-best time.

In the 1,500-meter run, which featured 22 entries, Willamette's William Hennum (Jr., Henderson, NV/Liberty HS/SW Oregon CC) placed ninth in a personal record time of 3:59.77, as he broke the four-minute mark for the first time in competition. His previous best time was 4:00.37 at this year's Northwest Conference Championships.

Willamette is set to compete at the GFU Last Chance Meet on Thursday, May 16 at Stoffer Family Stadium in Newberg, Oregon.