Kaylee Mitchell Breaks 10 Minutes In First Try At Steeplechase; Montana State's Duncan Hamilton Wins Tight Race In Men's Steeple

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Makena Morley ran an outdoor personal-best time of 15:33.81 and was one of nine women to run under the facility record Friday night at the OSU High Performance Meet at Whyte Track and Field Center in Corvallis, Ore.

Morley built a 10-second lead by the fifth lap and then held on as Weber State's Lexie Thompson closed in 70.2 seconds to finish second in 15:37.34. It was a huge lifetime best for Thompson, who trimmed 37 seconds off her PR. 

Morley needs 15:20 to meet the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standard. 

LIVE RESULTS | PHOTOS of Day 1 by Kim Spir

Camila Noe of Montana State (15:58.61) and Alison Pray of Southern Utah (15:59.63) also broke 16 minutes. 

Caleb Webb of Portland lowered his PR by 10 seconds in the 5,000 meters, winning the men's invitational race in 13:46.51. Yacine Guermali from Gonzaga was second in 13:50.74.

Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State broke the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase when she ran 9:57.40 in her first try at the event in a Beavers uniform. 

Mitchell took the lead within the first lap and then closed in 74.5 seconds to beat teammate and previous school record holder Grace Fetherstonhaugh by six seconds. 

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:43.38, barely holding off Santa Clara's Zach Litoff (8:43.43) and Weber State's Tracen Warnick (8:43.74). 

Hamilton, already ranked fifth in the country, ran a tenth of a second faster on April 16. For Litoff, it was a four-second personal best. 

Kristen Neidrach from BTC Elite won the women's 1,500 meters invitational in 4:22.28, holding off Portland's Laura Pellicoro (4:22.75). BTC's Carrie Dimoff was third in 4:23.99.

Portland's Cathal Doyle won the men's invite 1,500 in 3:43.52. 

Peter Hogan of Gonzaga won the 10,000 meters in 28:53.70. That knocked 44 seconds off his best time in the event and it also broke James Mwaura's school record. 

Hannah Branch of Utah Valley won the women's 10,000 in 33:49.90, smashing the school record. 

Julian Heninger of BTC Elite outkicked Western Oregon's Justin Crosswhite to win the men's open 1,500, 3:50.28 to 3:50.61. Luke Ramirez of Portland State was third in 3:50.77.

Earlier in the day, fifth-year senior Lindsay McShane broke her own facility record in the final home opportunity of her career. She threw 207-5 (63.24m) on her third attempt but had five throws in the series that were all good enough to win. 

Brock Eager of Ironwood TC threw smashed the facility record for men with his throw of 229-1 (69.83m). 

Eastern Washington's Savannah Schultz won a jump-off against teammate Morgan Fossen as they both cleared a facility record 13-4.50 (4.08m). Schultz cleared 13-6.50 (4.13m) to win the jump-off.

Weber State's Kate Sorensen broke the track record in the 400-meter hurdles with 58.17 seconds, a season-best. Kylee O'Connor of the Santa Barbara Track Club was second in 59.63.

Ann Wingeleth won the women's long jump with 19-2.50 (5.86m).

Drew Quach from George Fox University jumped 23-11.50 (7.30m) to move to No. 2 in school history and win the men's long jump.

Oregon's Kiana Phelps won the women's discus with 172-10 (52.70m).

Montana's Brent Yeakey and Matt Ward went 1-2 for the Griz in the men's discus. Yeakey threw 180-9 (55.09m) for the win. 

Arianna Daniel of Southern Oregon won the women's 200 meters in 24.57w. 

Isaiah Payne of Seattle U took the men's 200 in 21.77.

SATURDAY (Day 2) Highlights - PHOTOS by Kim Spir

A quartet of elite Canadians ruled the women's 800 meters and Madeleine Kelly broke the track record with her winning time of 2:00.59. Lindsey Butterworth (New Balance) was next in 2:00.97, Lucia Stafford was third in 2:02.89 and Addy Townsend was fourth in 2:04.42. 

Behind the Canadians, the University of Portland's Laura Pellicoro was fifth in 2:05.06 for a two-second PR and the second-fastest time in Pilots history. 

Weber State's Kate Sorensen completed a hurdles double by winning the 100-meter event in 14.02 seconds.

Lucy Steinmeyer of North Dakota won the women's 400 meters in 54.19 seconds to break yet another track record and moved up to No. 2 on the program's all-time top 10 list. 

Former Western Washington athlete Alex Donigian, representing Armenia, won the men's 100 meters in 10.58. He hopes to represent the country at the Olympic Games.

Zach Holland, competing unattached and attending Umpqua Community College, won the men's javelin competition with 229-8 (70.01m).

Oregon's Jaida Ross won the women's shot put with 51-11.75 (15.84m). 

Zack Short of Idaho got off a big throw of 64-0.25 (19.54m) to win the men's shot put competition.