Track & Field | 4/18/2015 8:32:00 PM

PORTLAND, Ore. & NORWALK, Calif. – Twenty-three personal records as well as four season bests were set Saturday by Western Oregon University's track & field teams at the Beach Track & Field Invitational in Southern California and the Lewis & Clark Open in the Rose City.

At the Beach Track & Field Invitational hosted by Long Beach State University, four members of the Wolves' women's track & field team – junior Bailey Beeson, sophomore Rachel Crawford, freshman Kylie Reinholdt, and freshman Kathryn Kaonis – set new lifetime bests in their events with freshman Suzanne Van De Grift setting a season best in the 400 meter dash.

Beeson and Crawford set their lifetime best times in the 800 meter run, as Beeson was clocked at 2:13.67 and Crawford turned in a time of 2:17.80. Reinholdt would post the best time of her young collegiate career in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.11 seconds, while Kaonis unleashed a lifetime best throw of 32.03 meters (105-1) in the discus.

Van De Grift's time of 59.72 in the 400 meter dash was a season best and less than a second off her lifetime best time that she set during the 2015 indoor season.

On the men's side, sophomore Josh Dempsey set a lifetime best in the 800 meter run posting a time of 1:54.16. Freshman Kegan Allen would round out the men's lifetime best marks in the discus with a toss of 41.69 meters (136-9) to move into 10th place overall in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) rankings and is now less than one meter away from a provisional mark for next month's GNAC Championships.

Meanwhile, freshman David Ribich turned in a time of 3:55.96 in the 1,500 meter run that was good enough to win Section 5 and placed 30th overall out of 98 runners.

At the Lewis & Clark Open, 16 lifetime bests were set with the women's team posting nine and the men's squad setting seven.

On the men's side, sophomore Dustin Camarillo and freshman Chris Mudder led the way for the Wolves with the pair each setting two lifetime bests with Camarillo's coming in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.87 seconds before turning in a time of 15.81 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles that was good enough for a second place finish overall in the event. Meanwhile, Mudder posted lifetime best marks of 34.56 meters (113-4) in the discus en route to winning Flight #1 and 33.73 meters (110-8) in the hammer throw.

Freshman Rihei Grothman would set a lifetime best in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.17 seconds that finished just behind Camarillo, while sophomore Gabriel McKay posted a lifetime mark of 12.64 meters (41-5.75) in the triple jump to finish fifth overall.

Sophomore Frank Calzada would finish ninth overall in the shot put with a lifetime mark of 12.58 meters (41-3.25), while fellow sophomore Lucas Clark would finish sixth in the hammer throw with a lifetime best mark of 40.66 meters (133-4).

Sophomore Joe Soik posted a season-best in the 1,500 meter run after being clocked at 4:12.38, which was 0.03 seconds behind his lifetime best time that was set last season.

On the women's side, freshman Sylvia Dean led WOU with a pair of lifetime bests in the shot put and hammer throw resulting in a pair of Top 10 finishes. Dean would unleash throws of 10.94 meters (35-10.75) in the shot put en route to finishing sixth overall and 40.77 meters (133-9) in the hammer throw to finish eighth overall in the event.

Other lifetime bests came from sophomore Amanda Ditzhazy in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:20.89 that was good enough for sixth overall, while senior Nicole Anderson also set a lifetime best in the 800 meter run thanks to a time of 2:23.31 that was good enough for eighth overall after she won Section #2 with her time.

In the 400 meter hurdles, freshman Sara Madden posted a lifetime best with a time of 1:07.78 that resulted in a fourth place finish before the Wolves moved to the field events where junior Lauren Hiland posted a lifetime best mark of 5.10 meters (16-8.75) in the long jump.

The shot put would be the best event for Western Oregon, as Dean was joined by sophomore Leah Nickalson with lifetime best marks as Nickalson unleashed a throw of 11.53 meters (37-10) to finish third overall in the event. Along with Dean and Nickalson, senior Allison Cook and junior Emily Wetherell also registered season best marks in the event with throws of 11.29 (37-0.25) and 10.39 meters (34-1.25), respectively, to finish fourth and 10th overall.

Wetherell would also post a lifetime best mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 45.10 meters (147-11) that was good enough to finish third overall in the event.

Finally, freshman Sheila Limas De La Cruz would round out the Wolves' lifetime best marks in the hammer throw with a toss of 42.19 meters (138-5) that won Flight #1 and finished fifth overall.

Next up for Western Oregon will be the Titan Twilight hosted by Lane Community College on Thursday, April 23, beginning at 4 PM in Eugene, Oregon.