Beavers open outdoor season this weekend

Friday, March 17

Portland, Ore.

All Day

Oregon State

Lewis & Clark

High jumper Ally Jackson cleared 5-5 at the MPSF Championships.

Photo by: Dave Nishitani/Oregon State Athletics

March 15, 2017 | Women's Track & Field

Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open schedule 2017 performance list All-time list

By: Athletic Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State track & field team will open the 2017 outdoor season this weekend at the Lewis and Clark Spring Break Open at Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium.

Competition starts at 9 a.m. with the long jump. Running events begin at 11 a.m. with the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The Beavers will send a large contingent to the meet, their first action since the Feb. 24-25 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships at Seattle.

"You are always excited to see where the athletes who didn't compete indoors are in their training," OSU coach Kelly Sullivan said. "We will have a pretty good contingent of competitors, across the board.

"Rain or shine, I think everyone is excited to do outdoor track. Our kids are in great spirits and are excited to compete.

"We have a pretty good number of athletes who have been training since September, who didn't compete in indoor. I'm excited for them to finally get to run, throw or jump, that's always fun."

The hammer and javelin throwers will compete at Lane Community College in Eugene on Friday. They will rejoin their teammates for the other throwing events at Lewis and Clark on Saturday. Neither event was contested during the indoor season.

Sullivan said the inclement weather has limited practice time at the Whyte Track & Field Center. He said the Truax Indoor Center has served the team well, but he is ready for some warmer, drier conditions.

"Eventually it will dry out," Sullivan said. "It's been challenging to practice, but fortunately Truax is a great facility to work in and eventually we will get some nice weather at some point."

Sullivan added that assistants Eric Schueffner (sprints, hurdles, jumps) and David Dumble (throws) have provided their athletes with consistent training and conditioning programs and have lent stability to their areas of expertise.

"Eric has been here a full year now, and David got here in September," he said. "It's been exciting to see how much consistent work those event areas are getting. Those athletes are excited, and are responding well.

"We actually have more athletes in the non-distance events than we do in the distance events," the program's original area of emphasis when it was revived in 2006 after an 18-year hiatus. "They are getting the right direction, consistently over time."

Several Beavers, including school record-holders Kerissa D'Arpino (sprints, hurdles) and Jasmin McKenzie (jumps, sprints) and Hawaii transfer Destiny Dawson (javelin, hammer), will compete unattached this spring until further notice to preserve a year of outdoor eligibility.

The Beavers completed a successful indoor season on Feb. 25 by taking 12^th place at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships at Seattle. They set seven school records and posted 31 all-time top-10 times or marks in their three indoor meets.

OSU stays in-state for its second outdoor meet of the spring, the Charles Bowles Willamette University Invitational, scheduled for March 24-25 at McCulloch Stadium in Salem.

For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@BeaverTFXC

Friday's entrants (Lane CC)

HAMMER: Rachel Picknell; Lindsay McShane; Sydney Guthrie-Baker.
JAVELIN: McKenzie Byrd; Kindel Baily; Lindsay McShane; McKenzie Allison; Kayla Fleskes; Amber Peschka; Saskia McNairy.

Saturday's entrants (Lewis and Clark)

200 METERS: Venessa D'Arpino; Kara Hallock.
400 METERS: Venessa D'Arpino; Gwyneth McMorris.
800 METERS: Morgan Anderson; Lexi Reed; Tarisa Olinski; Kim Solberg.
1500 METERS: Morgan Anderson; Juliana Mount; Kristiane Width.
100 HURDLES: Devin Collins; Kara Hallock; Alba Villaronga; Saskia McNairy.
400 HURDLES: Devin Collins; Alba Villaronga; Dakota Steen; Dani Duran.
1600 RELAY: OSU A (Alba Villaronga, Kara Hallock, Kim Solberg, Devin Collins); OSU B (Dani Duran, Saskia McNairy, Tarisa Olinski, Dakota Steen).
POLE VAULT: Gillette Field; Helen Ann Haun.
HIGH JUMP: Rachel Proteau; Ally Jackson; Amy Hilger; Saskia McNairy.
LONG JUMP: Rachel Proteau; Amy Hilger.
TRIPLE JUMP: Madelayne Varela.
SHOT PUT: Lindsay McShane; Sydney Guthrie-Baker; McKenzie Byrd; Kara Hallock.
DISCUS: Rachel Picknell; Lindsay McShane; Kayla Fleskes.

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