First-year Saints make impact on the track

Spring is the time when Oregonians are known to get their running shoes out and begin looking forward to running with no rain — or at least not as much.

For the Mt. Hood track and field teams, this is a hit-and-miss theory. The men’s and women’s teams were busy heading into spring break and had a home meet last week, the Mt. Hood Multi Meet, on Thursday and Friday, in pouring rain and 55 degree temperatures. Freshman Courtney Andre finished third with 3,553 points in the first heptathlon of her collegiate career and sophomore Kristi Kachel placed fifth with 2,938 points.

The teams also competed at the Saints Open March 15 when the Saints unveiled their new track surface at their first home meet in two years with many outstanding performances.

The best performances of the day were by sophomore McKenzie Warren, the NWAACC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week for March 20.  Warren broke her own school record in the discus with 145’02 and was close to her record in the hammer with a throw of 162’05, beating many athletes from four-year schools.   The Lady Saints were also led by freshman Marley Yates with her victory in the high jump with a jump of 5’3 ¼, runner-up performances by sophomore Megan Nelson in the javelin (132’11), freshman Xayna Robinson in the triple jump (35’1) and Andre’s third place in the 400-meter hurdles (1:07.74).

The men’s team was led by freshman Devon Larson with his cheetah-like quickness.  Larson placed second in the 110 hurdles (16.12) and seasoned sophomore Justin Schlaht finished third in the javelin (176’8).

Larson begun running in the fall to prepare for this track season. He said he struggled initially, hating the system of preparing as a collegiate track athlete.

“I hated the system, then I began to understand and now I see the benefits of my hard work,” he said. “I felt real light out there.” Larson also competed in the long jump, and men’s 200-meter run.

The men’s 200-meter dash team also did the best of all community colleges. The team consisted of freshman Janaree Porter, freshman Auston Burns, freshman Brock Otis and Larson.

The next meet will be Saturday at the Shotwell Classic at the University of Pudget Sound in Tacoma.