The Bucs opened up their first official outdoor meet last Friday taking first place wins in the hammer, pole vault, 4×100 relay, 400 meter hurdles, and 10,000 meter run at the Willamette Open in Salem, Oregon. Freshman Kierstie Shellman won the pole vault with a season best, clearing 10’11.75”.

“It was a great opener for the team and now I have a good foundation to build on, it’s a great place to start off the season,” Shellman said. “I’m working on a lot of different things in practice and I hope that can translate into higher marks and more consistency.”

Senior Rebekah Daniels won the hammer with a throw of 150’0.25”.

“I’m content with my win in hammer but I know I have a lot to work on,” Daniels said. “It wasn’t my best performance, the first meet is always kind of rocky getting back in the competition but it gets easier.”

The 4×100 relay won with a time of 49.9. Senior Celeste Northcott won the 10,000 meter run with a time of 39:57.19 followed by freshman Kristen Schoenike with a time of 41:23.74. Sophomore Emily Moore was the winner of the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.76.

“I was very happy with my 400 hurdles performance,” Moore said. “I didn’t expect to run nearly as fast as I did.”

Moore cut over four seconds off of her personal best in the race. She also competed in the javelin, shot put, the 4×400 relay, and the 100 meter hurdles. Despite her win in the 400 meter hurdles, Moore hopes to improve her other times and marks.

“I expect to drop some more time in the track events and add some more distance in the field events, “Moore said.

The weather held up in first outdoor meet of the season and the team was excited to get out and compete.

“It felt really good to get outside,” Moore said. “We were expecting it to rain and it didn’t rain at all so it was good track weather.”

Sophomore Christina Dobbins was the only Whitworth woman to travel to the UW Last Chance Meet. She competed in high jump taking sixth with a jump of 5’1.25”. Dobbins will travel to Naperville, Illinois this Friday for the NCAA Division III Indoor National Meet to compete in the high jump. The team will drive out to Spokane Falls Community College on Saturday, March 16 for the next outdoor meet.

Contact Tiara Pajimola at [email protected]