(Corvallis, Ore.) - The Oregon State High Performance meet lived up to its reputation over the weekend on the Whyte Track and Field Center on the Oregon State University campus. The competitor list was made up of the very best athletes from all divisions across the Pacific Northwest and beyond, over 1,000 individuals lined up to compete on Friday and Saturday.
A select group of Sasquatch student-athletes, along with their coaches made the long trek to Corvallis and returned with an impressive number of season best marks, while improving their position on the NWAC rankings list.
Leading the way for the men’s team was Bradley Fillis, who was named the NWAC Field Event Athlete of the Week just last week after outstanding performances at the CWU Wildcat Invitation in Ellensburg on April 23rd.
Fillis started the meet off with a third place finish in the hammer throw, hitting just under his season best throwing 175 feet and 2 inches against a field of almost forty other hammer throwers, including the other top ranked throwers in the NWAC. It was an outstanding and very close series of throws.
Fillis concluded the weekend as perhaps the best three-event thrower in the meet by finishing fifth overall in the discus hitting 149 feet and 1.75 inches, and then adding a sixth place finish in the shot put with a toss of 50 feet and 1 inch. Bradley remains the top ranked conference thrower in the discus and shot, and sits at number two in the hammer.
Team Captain, Jon Watkins added a new season and personal best in the 200-meter on Friday afternoon running a very fast 22.51 seconds and finishing in eleventh place overall out of forty competitors. His time moves him into the top eight on the conference list. In the 400-meter, Watkins pulled off a top-five finish against a very accomplished field of one lappers. Watkins was just off his season best running 50.15 seconds.
On the distance side, Gideon Swanson ran super consistent splits over the 5k distance averaging seventy-five second laps that led him to a seventeen-second season and personal best time of 15:38.93 that moves him into the eighth spot on the NWAC 5k list.
Also hitting a season best was Anthony Carlascio who ran a very strong race right from the gun in the 1500-meter. His time of 3:55.26 was a second faster than his previous best and moves him into the number two spot in the conference. Anthony doubled up for the weekend by also running a 1:59.63 in the 800-meter.
Adding another top five finish for the men was Jaxson Nichols in the men’s high jump. Jaxson boomed over his first two heights cleanly and was jumping at a season best of 6 feet and 2.75 inches before going out. He remains in the fourth spot on the conference list in what should be a highly anticipated conference meet in this event with less than two inches separating the top five jumpers.
The men’s weight crew of Colby Anderson and Brooks Michaels both competed in the hammer throw and were just off their best marks for the season throwing 129 feet and 1 inch and 136 feet and 6 inches, respectively. Along with Fillis, Colby, and Brooks are ranked two, four, and five in the conference hammer rankings. Anderson also competed in the discus throwing 120 feet and 1 inch in that event.
On the women’s side Kiley Cutler competed in both the 400-meter hurdles where she was just off her season best time by one second. In the 100-meter hurdles Cutler ran a season and personal best of 16.48 seconds, good for the fifth best mark in the conference so far. She remains ranked third on the NWAC 400-meter hurdles list.
Against a very talented javelin field of almost forty throwers Maddie Gebers had a very solid throw of 133 feet and 5 inches, while finishing in seventeenth place. This marks the third time this season that she has thrown farther than the second-best mark in the NWAC. She remains the top ranked thrower in the conference.
Only two regular season meets remain on the Sasquatch schedule. The team travels to Missoula on Friday and Saturday, May 6th and 7th for the Tom Gage Classic on the University of Montana campus. The final meet before the conference championships will be the Whitworth Last Chance meet on Wednesday, May 11th.
It's been two years since a true NWAC Track and Field Championships. This year it will take place at Mt. Hood Community College on May 23rd and 24th in Gresham, Oregon. This will be the site of the championships through 2025 as recently announced by the conference office.
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#Men's Track and Field
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#Women's Track and Field