CORVALLIS, Ore. – After taking a few student-athletes to the Willamette Opener a few weeks ago to start the outdoor season, the Western Oregon University men's and women's track and field teams will be taking a much bigger group this time around when they compete in the Oregon State/PNW Invite this Saturday in Corvallis.
While WOU only took a handful of athletes to Willamette to open the outdoor season, it was an impressive showing with Kaylee Wright and Austin Goldstein each hitting provisional marks in the javelin.
The Wolves will be traveling 40 student-athletes for this week that includes: Krystal Andres, Gabe Arce-Torres, Carson Austin, Hailey Blue, Gabe Burchfield, Emillia Carpenter, Rilee Carstensen, Katie Chapman, Macy Clemens, Samuel Cole, Owen Collins, Justin Conklin, Justin Crosswhite, Amity Deters, James Duane, Moana Gianotti, Austin Goldstein, Aaron Hanible, Halle Hargett, Marlon Harrison, Jessy Hart, Devin Hasher, Amari Hendrix, Maya Hopwood, Jenelle Hurley, Logan Jackson, Emily Johnson, Madeline Lambing, Lindie Larson, Josie Lavato, Dominique Loggins, Liliana Lyness-Morales, James Mazzeo, Dustyn Mckenney, Lyndee McLauchlin, Eli Nafziger, Kalulusno Ngaida, Ana Popchock, Brennen Sorah and Caleb Southworth.
Andres posted PR marks during last year's outdoor season reaching a distance of 116-10 in the discus at the WOU Pop Up Meet and then a mark of 122-11 in the javelin at the Titan Invitational. She competed in both events at the GNAC Outdoor Championships.
Arce-Torres competed in the 200, 400 and 800 during last year's outdoor seasons. He ran in the 200 at the GNAC Outdoor Championships. He recently finished up the indoor season running in the 60, 200 and 4x400 at the GNAC Indoor Championships, coming in fifth in the 200 with a time of 22.62.
Austin ran in the 800 and 4x400 during last year's outdoor season and competed once during this past indoor season in the 600 at the Portland Indoor #2.
Blue began her WOU career this past indoor season and competed in the GNAC Indoor Championships in the 60 hurdles. She also entered in the long jump towards the beginning of the season at the Spokane Invitational.
Burchfield put together a solid indoor season and moved into the WOU top-10 all-time record books in the heptathlon when he compiled 4,208 points at the GNAC Indoor Championships to place seventh. He also came in sixth in the triple jump (41-3.75) and eighth in the high jump (6-0.75). Burchfield opened his outdoor season at Willamette throwing in the shot put.
Carpenter finished up her indoor season strong as down the stretch she set new PR marks in both the shot put and weight throw at the GNAC Indoor Championships. Carpenter placed third in the weight throw with a mark of 45-9.25.
Carstensen competed in the 100 and 400 hurdles, along with the 4x400 relay during last year's outdoor season. She competed in the 400 hurdles during the GNAC Outdoor Championships.
Chapman had a strong indoor season setting PR marks in the 800 (2:26.50), mile (5:15.85) and the 1,000 (3:12.21). She was part of the DMR that came in fourth at the GNAC Indoor Championships and later competed in the mile as well. This will be her first chance to compete in the outdoor season.
Clemens entered in several events to close out the indoor season at the GNAC Indoor Championships. She placed seventh in the pentathlon and came in ninth in the triple jump. She also competed in the long jump. This will be her first chance to compete in the outdoor season.
Cole capped his indoor season strong placing in the top-three in both throwing events at the GNAC Indoor Championships. Cole came in second with a new PR mark of 54-2 in the weight throw and then hit a distance of 48-6 to place third in the shot put. Last outdoor season, Cole came in fourth in the hammer and sixth in the shot put at the GNAC Outdoor Championships.
Collins also finished up his indoor season strong at the GNAC Indoor Championships coming in second in the shot put with a mark of 49-3.75 and fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 52-4.75. Both of his new marks were PR's. In last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Collins placed fourth in the shot put, fifth in the discus and sixth in the hammer, which is still his PR in the event of 161-0.
Conklin moved into the top-10 in the WOU record books to close out the indoor season when he came in second in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.49. He also placed sixth in the high jump. This will be the first outdoor season for Collins.
Crosswhite is back for another run in the outdoor season after competing in both the 800 and 1,500 at the GNAC Outdoor Championships. Crosswhite came in second in the 1,500 and placed seventh in the 800. He set a new PR and WOU all-time top 10 mark in the 1,500 when he crossed at 3:50.61 at the Oregon State High Performance. A week prior to that, Crosswhite moved into the top 10 in the 800 with a time of 1:51.97 at the Oregon Relays.
Deters opened the outdoor season at Willamette competing in both the shot put and javelin. She finished the indoor season competing in multiple events at the GNAC Indoor Championships coming in sixth in the pentathlon and eighth in the high jump. She also competed in the long jump. Deters' 3,055 points in the pentathlon moved her into the top 10 WOU record books. Her earlier mark of 5-4.25 in the high jump also ranks in the top 10 set at the UW Invite.
Duane competed in one event during the indoor season which was in the 60 hurdles at the GNAC Indoor Championships. This will be his first outdoor season.
Gianotti finished the indoor season strong at the GNAC Indoor Championships winning the shot put with a mark of 44-11.5 and coming in second with a new PR distance of 52-3.25 in the weight throw. During the GNAC Outdoor Championships last year, Gianotti won the shot put with a new PR distance of 45-0.5, placed fourth in the discus and fifth in the hammer.
Goldstein opened his outdoor season strong at Willamette hitting a new PR and provisional mark of 198-10 in the javelin to win the event. During the GNAC Outdoor Championships, he came in second in the javelin with a throw of 187-1.
Hanible completed his indoor season strong at the GNAC Indoor Championships coming in with a pair of new PR marks. Hanible placed sixth in the 400 with a PR time of 50.53 and then placed seventh in the 60 hurdles with a new PR of 8.74. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Hanible competed in the 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles and both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. He set a new PR in the 400 hurdles with a time of 55.31 to come in fourth.
Hargett started her WOU outdoor career strong at Willamette coming in second in the javelin with a throw of 122-1.
Harrrison finished the indoor season with a strong second-place finish in the triple jump at the GNAC Indoor Championships with a mark of 42-10.25. He then placed second in the event at the SPU Final Qualifier. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Harrison placed fifth in the triple jump.
Hart came away with some solid results to finish off the indoor season, coming in seventh in the 400 and was part of the 4x400 that placed fifth at the GNAC Indoor Championships. She also ran a new season-best time of 59.13 in the 400 at the SPU Final Qualifier. This will be her first outdoor season.
Hasher competed in the high jump throughout the indoor season and placed sixth in the event at the GNAC Indoor Championships. He also placed fifth in the event during last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships.
Hendrix competed in the 60, 200 and 4x400 during two different meets in the indoor season. He ran in all three events at the GNAC Indoor Championships and also started the year competing in all three at the Spokane Invitational.
Hopwood ran in the 60 and 200 at the GNAC Indoor Championships, coming in eighth in the 60. She also ran in the 60 at the SPU Final Qualifier coming in third. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Hopwood came in sixth in the 100 and was part of the 4x100 that placed third.
Hurley put together a GNAC Indoor Championships to remember. She added to her school record in the pentathlon coming in first with 3,457 points. Hurley then placed second in the long jump with a distance of 17-11.75, sixth in the high jump with a mark of 5-1.75 and was part of the 4x400 that came in fifth.
Jackson competed in the triple jump throughout the indoor season and also entered in the 60 and 200. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Jackson competed in the 100, 200 and the 4x100.
Johnson competed in the 3,000 throughout the indoor season and also saw time competing in the GNAC and NCAA West Regional during the cross country season. This will be her first outdoor season.
Lambing competed in both the 4x400 and the DMR during the GNAC Indoor Championships, helping the Wolves placed fourth in the DMR and fifth in the 4x400. She also entered in the 400 during the season. In last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Lambing competed in the 400 hurdles.
Larson competed in both the mile and DMR during the GNAC Indoor Championships, helping the Wolves place fourth in the DMR. She also entered in the mile and the 1,000 during the season. During the cross country season, Larson competed in both the GNAC and NCAA West Regionals. In last year's outdoor season, Larson ran in the 800 and the 1,500.
Lavato entered in both the 60 and 200 during the GNAC Indoor Championships and ran in the 60 throughout the indoor season. This will be her first outdoor season.
Loggins put together another strong run at the GNAC Indoor Championships coming in second in the 60 with a time of 7.02. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Loggins won the 100 with a time of 10.73 and was part of the 4x100 that placed fifth.
Lyness-Morales competed in both the shot put and the weight throw during the GNAC Indoor Championships. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, she placed eighth in the shot put and also competed in the hammer.
Mazzeo competed in the 60, 200 and the long jump at the GNAC Indoor Championships. This will be his first outdoor season.
Mckenney competed in the 800 twice and the mile once during the indoor season. During the cross country season, he ran in both the GNAC's and the NCAA West Regional. Mckenney competed in the GNAC Outdoor Championships last season in the 800.
McLauchlin placed fifth in the javelin during the GNAC Outdoor Championships last year with a new PR of 137-3. She opened her outdoor season at Willamette placing third in the javelin.
Nafziger entered in the 60, high jump and long jump during the indoor season. He opened the outdoor season placing third in the javelin at Willamette. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Nafziger placed seventh in the javelin with a new PR of 168-0. He also competed in the high jump.
Ngaida tallied a pair of sixth-place finishes at the GNAC Indoor Championships in the high jump and triple jump. This will be the first outdoor season for Ngaida at WOU.
Popchock put together a strong indoor season and it continued at the GNAC Indoor Championships. She placed third in the 60 hurdles tying her school-record mark of 8.83. Then hit a new PR in the triple jump to climb further up the top 10 with a mark of 37-2.25 to win the event. Popchock also ran another PR in the 60-meter to climb further up the top 10 when she crossed at 7.82 to just miss qualifying. During last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships, Popchock was part of the 4x100 that placed third and part of the 4x400 that came in fifth. She then placed fifth in the triple jump and seventh in the 100 hurdles.
Sorah put together a solid heptathlon at the GNAC Indoor Championships. He placed sixth with 4,259 points to move into the top 10 in the WOU record books. Sorah opened the outdoor season at Willamette competing in both the shot put and the javelin.
Southworth competed in both the 400, the DMR and the 4x400 at the GNAC Indoor Championships. He was part of the DMR that finished second and just missed qualifying in the 400. He also ran in the 600 throughout the indoor season. This will be his first outdoor season.
Live results will be available for the Oregon State/PNW Invite that will start with events at 10 a.m. Click here for live results
