University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field hosted one of the largest meets of the Linfield track and field season. A record crowd turned out for a day of great performance by the Wildcats.
Seven of the remaining Wildcats on the track and field team traveled to Eugene, Ore., on May 8 to run at the University of Oregon Twilight meet.
Sophomore Chelsea Machida, the Northwest Conference high jump champion, placed third with a jump of 5 feet, 3.75 inches. Her mark tied her previous season-best, which she set at the Oregon Preview early in the season.
Sophomores Catherine Street and Misty Corwin placed second and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault. Street leaped 13 1/4, which was just shy of her season-best. Corwin vaulted 11-6 1/2 — half an inch short of her season-best.
In the men’s long jump, senior Jeremy Lovell placed second with a bound of 21-11 1/2. Lovell’s mark was six inches short of his best mark set at the Northwest Conference championships this season.
Representing the Wildcats in the throwing events, senior Clint Moore placed second in the men’s discus with his throw of 157-7. His throw was nearly a foot short of his season best.
On the track, freshman Lester Maxwell ran a race consistent with his personal best. Already having a time of 1 minute, 55 seconds in the 800-meter run this season, Maxwell ran just near that this weekend with a time of 1:55.43 to place eighth.
As the only member of the team to set a personal record, senior Chris McIsaac ran the race of his career. McIsaac came into the men’s steeplechase with a seed time of 9:26. In a previous interview, he said he was aiming to drop 10 seconds off that time in the hopes of qualifying for nationals.
“I went into [the race] knowing what I had to do to get to nationals,” McIsaac said.
McIsaac did just that. Finishing in third place in a time of 9:16.95, he secured a spot as the 15th-fastest steeplechaser in the nation. Only the top 15, plus the next two or three depending on their speed, get to race at nationals.
McIsaac said that before his race, coach Garry Killgore gave him some food for thought: “Let it go, and let it happen.”
“I’ve really appreciated the support from everyone on campus,” McIsaac said. “I got a lot of messages before and after my race, even from people like Madeline Jepson from the Upward Bound program, who brought me some power food for before my race.”
McIsaac said he is in the midst of his season peak. Low mileage and short, high-energy workouts are keeping him fresh for the fast approaching national championships. He also sits in the fifth spot on the Linfield all-time list for the steeplechase.
McIsaac and the rest of the team will compete at the Willamette Last Chance meet in Salem, Ore., on May 18.
Nic Miles
Sports reporter
Nic Miles can be reached at
