West Coast Invite Complete Results

SALEM, Ore. --- Reid Buchanan and Danny Martinez both qualified for the NCAA First Round in the 10,000 meters and the Pilots posted a handful of PR's at the West Coast Invitational, which took place at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., on Thursday. The Pilots swept several races, finishing on top of the field in the women's 400 meters, men's 800 meters, men's 10,000 meters, and women's javelin.
 
Buchanan, competing in his first 10,000 ever, finished on top of the field with a time of 29:18.72. Martinez cruised to a PR of 29:27.29 as both runners punched their ticket to the NCAA's First Round, which is scheduled for later this month.
 
"Tremendous job by Reid," said Portland coach Rob Conner. "I only suggested he try the 10,000 two weeks ago and he was all about it. He is a cross country All-American, so I figured he could handle the distance. He ran very controlled and looked easy.
 
"Danny has done a great job with his training over the last month," Conner continued, "and he chopped 35 seconds off of his 10,000 from just one month ago at Mt. SAC. That's pretty impressive."
 
The 10,000 was also Robert Krebs first track race of 2016, as he likely posted a qualifying time of 29:42.73, which was good enough for third place behind his two teammates. Reuben Kiprono shaved a remarkable 30 seconds off of his PR, coming in fourth with a time of 29:51.48.
 
Portland Sprinters Jack Welch, Dani Castillo, Skye Chen-Johnson, Madeleine Hutson, and Christina Francisco started off the afternoon placing in the top portions of their heats in the 100 meters and the 200 meters. Welch clocked in for the 100 at 11.42 and the 200 at 22.71. For the 100 meters, Castillo crossed the line at 12.95, with Chen-Johnson right behind her at 13.52. Hutson and Francisco, competing in the women's 200 meters, finished with times of 26.50 and 26.55, respectively.
 
Lorea Ibarzabal, Andrea Theriau, Madeleine Hutson, and Hannah Souders then took the track to compete in the 400 meters. The Pilot women all placed top-four overall, finishing in that order, with times of 57.39, 59.99, 1:00.37 and 1:01.17.
 
The men also performed well in the 800, with Said Guermali, Cobie Chavez-Killinger, and Trent Mazeilli leading the Pilots through their heat. Guermali achieved a new personal record, finishing at 1:52.69, followed by Chagez-Killinger and Mazeilli, who were neck-and-neck at 1:53.13 and 1:53.34.
 
"That was a breakout performance for Said," noted Conner. "He dropped :04 off his season's best."

The distance runners then took the track, with an exceptional performance coming from the women in the 1500 and 5000. Lindsay Tompkins and Tori Zellerhoff placed third and fourth in their heat with times of 4:44.19 and 4:44.24. Grace McConnochie and Courtney Cox also placed in the top portion of their heat in the women's 5000 at 17:18.55 and 17:21.27.
 
In the men's 1500, Sophomore Logan Orndorf ran a personal record of 3:49.05, with senior Ben Forsee right behind him, also with a new personal record of 3.51. Conner was very pleased with Forsee and Orndorf's performances, saying "I couldn't be happier with Logan and Ben in the 1500. Those were huge PR's."

This was also the third weekend in a row for Kaylie Van Loo taking first in javelin, as the junior claimed a distance of 159' 2.50".
 
Brent Knutzen and Pauline Reiley also achieved new personal records at this meet in their respective events. Knutzen crushed the 800 meters with a new time of 1:55.47, and Reiley threw a new distance of 125' 3.75".
 
The Pilots will next host their final regular season home meet this Sunday at Lewis and Clark College for the Portland Twilight. This is the last opportunity to qualify for upcoming regional and national meets.