Bearcat Competitive Spirit at John Knight Twilight

MONMOUTH, Ore. — Western Oregon University hosted the John Knight Memorial in honor of a previous coach. Despite a weather delay caused by lighting on Friday, the Bearcats came back strong in competition Saturday.

Track events began Friday with the 400m Hurdles, in which Lavender Bel took seventh place; Juniper Ammirati came in eleventh with a personal best (PB) of 1:07.56. Wendy Brannon also earned a PB, in the 200m, coming in at 27.33 seconds and taking 32nd overall. Anna Bikle and Anastasiia Lemesh were both in the 1500m, sticking together and coming in at thirteenth and fourteenth.

Amanda Mcarthur secured third place in Triple Jump during the first day of field competition. Also on Friday, Henri Osborne's distance of 40.34 meters (PB) in Hammer Throw earned her tenth place in the event.

On Saturday, Osborne competed again in Shot Put, earning sixth place, while in Discus Oliva Jacobson took fourth with a throw of 37.26 meters (PB). Rema Holmes unfortunately did not clear the bar in Pole Vault, but in High Jump Whitley Stepp cleared 1.55 meters for fourth place. Stepp also competing in Long Jump, placing in eleventh.

In the 100m Hurdles, Mashani Coleman Toliver secured third place, and Bel fifth. Ammirati earned another PB of 16.25 seconds. In the 100m, Bel took sixth while Coleman Toliver took seventh, with a PB of 12.53 seconds. The 800m saw Bikle race again and earn sixteenth with a season-best time of 2:21.82 minutes. To end the day, two Bearcats competed in the 5000m (Invite) that had been delayed to the end of Saturday from its original schedule on Friday. Elise Henderson took fourteenth overall, and Rachel Hamasaki 24th.

Some Bearcats compete next at the NWC Multi Championships from April 13-14 in Newberg, Oregon, while the rest compete later at the NWC Championships in Spokane, Washington on April 25th and 26th.