Callahan breaks own javelin record at Cougar Open meet

Another MHCC track and field record fell last week at the Cougar Open at Clackamas Community College as sophomore Tyler Callahan broke his own javelin record he set in 2011.

Callahan threw for 68.15 meters (223’ 7”), breaking his former record of 215’ 11”.

Callahan took the gold with a throw that was a staggering 50 feet farther than any other competitor.

According to head coach Matt Hart, Callahan is now the top-ranked javelin thrower for community colleges in the nation.

“At (the beginning of the season), I didn’t feel that I was doing very good,” said Callahan, who missed the majority of last season due to health reasons, participating in only one meet.

Callahan said he has been having to fight off the rust this year, but is now finding his groove.

“I was stuck at 209 feet for a while,” he said.

He added that this time, “I was much more relaxed and had fun with it.”

Callahan said too many times he goes into his throws with too much of an analytical approach.

As a team, the Saints peppered the meet with various top five finishes.

In the women’s 100-meters, the Saints took all three top spots, led by freshman Kristi Kachel, 13.20, followed very closely by sophomores Molley Scoles, 13.21, and Whitney Warren, 13.65.

Both Kachel and Warren went on to take first and second, respectively, in the women’s 200-meters, with Kachel finishing with a time of 27.77, and Warren with a time of 28.30.

In the women’s 400-meters, sophomore Christa Collmer placed second with a time of 1:01.

In the women’s hurdle events, freshman Charlene Manning placed second in the 100-meter hurdles, 16.11, and Scoles finished first in the 400-meter hurdles, 1:05.

Both Scoles and Manning also took part in the women’s 4×100-meter relay team, which placed first at the meet, 50.56, as well as in the 4×400-meter relay, which also took home first, 4:09.

In the women’s jumps, freshmen Kachel and Manning placed first and second in the long jump, with a distance of 4.88 meters and 4.71 meters, respectively.

Manning also placed third in the high jump with a height of 1.45 meters.

The women’s throws were once again a dominating force at the meet, with a first and second place finish by freshman McKenzie Warren and sophomore Tori Dixson in the shot put (12.32 meters and 11.97 meters), both of whom also placed first and second in the same order in the discus (41.92 meters and 35.68 meters).

Warren was also the winner of the hammer throw with a toss of 48.31 meters.

In the men’s sprints, sophomore LT Avants placed second in the 400-meter, 50.25, and both the men’s 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relay teams placed first at the meet, finishing with times of 44.07 and 3:28, respectively.

In the throws, freshman Quinton Cody placed third in the discus, 42.98 meters, followed by Callahan in fourth with a throw of 41.41 meters.

The track and field team had another meet, the Titan Twilight, Thursday at Lane Community College, but results were unavailable by press time.

The Saints next scheduled meet is the NWAACC Multi Championships April 29-30 at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.