The Wildcats had a record-setting day at the Linfield Jenn Boyman Invitational on April 7.

The weather was beautiful, and the Wildcats responded with one of their best team performances of the season.

Junior Melany Crocker won the 100-meter dash in 12.41 seconds, the third-fastest time in Linfield history. She also placed second in the 200-meter with a time of 25.94, the fifth-fastest time in Linfield history.

Freshman Halsie Peek placed second in the 100-meter with a time of 12.43, the fourth-fastest time in Linfield history. Peek also teamed up with Crocker in the Women’s 4X100 relay, which they won unopposed with a time of 49.26.

“I put faith in my coaches’ workouts so that I would peak at the right time of the season,” Peek said.

Many other Linfield track athletes seem to be peaking right now as well.

Sophomore Anna LaBeaume had a big day. She placed third in the discus with a toss of 38.70 meters, the ninth-best toss in Linfield history and the second-best in the NWC this year. LaBeaume did not stop there. She also placed second in the shot put with a toss of 12.30 meters and fifth in the hammer toss with a toss of 42.55 meters.

The record setters were not the only success stories on the women’s side. Senior Catherine Street won the pole vault, clearing 13 feet, 1.5 inches. Senior Misty Corwin took third in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet, 11.75 inches. Junior Rachael Dean took third place in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.22 and freshman Brooke Niemann placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:12.37.

On the men’s side, there were personal-best performances as well, led by freshman Colin Nelson’s victory in the 400-meter with a time of 50.30. His time was the second fastest in the NWC this year.

Senior Barrett Zetterberg set a personal record by taking second in the 400-hurdles with a time of 56.81.

Freshman Garrett Soumokil finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of six meters. He also took third in the triple jump with a career-best 13.18 meter total.

Also taking third in their respective competitions were sophomore Brandon Lemerande, junior Scott Gage and senior Sean Boedeker. Lemerande ran the 10,000 with a time of 36:40.44, Gage ran the 5,000 with a time of 15:31.53, and Boedeker tossed the javelin 52.94 meters.

The 5,000-meter race ended with three Linfield athletes in the top five. Joining Gage were sophomore Joe Gladow with a time of 15:41.42 and senior Eric Weinbender with a time of 15:44.07.

The Linfield 4X400 team of Clayton Cooper, Lucian Battaglia, Lester Maxwell and Colin Nelson took second place, narrowly losing to Concordia and posting a time of 3:25.26.

Linfield hosts the Northwest Conference Combined (decathlon and heptathlon) Championships April 9 and 10 at Maxwell Field. The full track and field team competes next at the Pacific Luau next Saturday at 10 a.m.

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Tyler Bradley/For the Review
Tyler Bradley can be  reached at [email protected].