Track and field off to the races

The Willamette Open on March 5 gave Mt. Hood’s track and field squad the opportunity to sharpen its tools before it hosts the Saints Open on Saturday. Head coach Doug Bowman’s men and women competitors squared off against the likes of Western Oregon University, Colorado College and the running club from the University of Oregon. Being the only school participating from the NWAC in Salem, the Saints represented their conference well.

The men’s 100 meter dash saw three freshmen Saints finish in the top ten, with Chad Figueroa placing third with a time of 11:41, followed by Joshua Turner in fourth and Lexington Reese tenth, with times of 11:43 and 12:00, respectively. Figueroa also ran 23:41 in the 200 meters, good for fifth overall. Distance runners Jonathan Zacarius, Dean Nizer and Jacob Barnett placed 14th, 18th and 20th, respectively, in the 1500 meter run, while Luke Lowe ran the 5,000 in 16:34 for a 17th-place finish. Joshua Turner took first out of four participants in the triple jump with a distance of 13.99 meters. On the infield, Saints throwers Brian Salgado and Kobie Ham placed third and fourth with respective shot put marks of 14.06 meters and 14.02. Ham also took third place in the hammer throw with a distance of 45.99 meters, followed by Saints teammates Salgado in sixth, Alec Fappas in 10th and Joshua Spears in 11th.

The women’s 100 meter dash featured three Saints all finishing within 14 one-hundredths of a second. Mikhayla Baravik ran a 14:04, immediately followed by Kayla Watkins at 14:06 and Taylor Rispler with a 14:18, good for 11th through 13th place. Rispler and Baravik finished the 100 meter hurdles in third and fourth place, with times of 19:53 and 22:60. Rispler worked the infield javelin as well, tossing a best of 37.57 meters, good for third overall. Kayla Watkins placed behind her in eighth, with a mark of 31.67 meters.

Mt. Hood welcomes league rivals Clackamas, Clark, Lane, SW Oregon and Treasure Valley this Saturday in Gresham, where the Saints will be able to perform in front of friends and family.