MONMOUTH, Ore. – Kirby Neale stole the show at the John Knight Twilight with her mark of 55.93 meters in the hammer throw, winning the event and placed second overall in the GNAC this season.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
 
Women
 
Neale beat out Madeline Middlebrooks from University of Oregon by 0.15 meters to win the hammer throw at the John Knight Twilight, hosted by Western Oregon University. Her throw broke the school record and reached the national provisional mark, along with being the 13th longest mark in D-II this year.
 
"The meet's highlight for SMU track and field was Neale's throw in the hammer, breaking the school record and national provisional mark," said head coach Jim Brewer. "Coach Midles has been doing a phenomenal job with our hammer throwers and we are very fortunate to have him."
 
Alexi Whatley took home first place in her event as well, 400 meter hurdles, with a time of 1:05.08 minutes, half a second faster than second place. Megan Teigan earned fifth overall in the same event with a time of 1:06.91 minutes and Keirnan Hawthorne placed seventh at 1:07.35 minutes.
 
Yadira Lopez made her first ever attempt at the 10,000-meter race on Thursday, finishing second overall with a time of 38:57.30 minutes. Sophomore Larissa Kolasinski took home third place for the Saints in the 10,000 meter at 39:40.30 minutes.
 
Grace Hamre earned second overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.50 seconds, and sixth overall in the 400-meter dash at 59.84 seconds.
 
Saint Martin's won the 4x400 meter relay with a team of Teigan, Hawthrone, Whatley and Hamre, finishing at 4:10.82 minutes, 15 minutes quicker than the second-place team.
 
Jona Spiller, Claire Palmiter and Deanna Avalos placed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the javelin throw at marks of 42.65, 40.66 and 40.44 meters.
 
As a whole, Saint Martin's earned 91 total points, placing second on the leaderboard out of 12 teams. The Saints finished above fellow GNAC competitiors Western Oregon (4th) and Concordia (5th).
 
"I am really proud of how well our women competed today," said Brewer. "Placing second of out twelve teams is a great accomplishment and demonstration of all their hard work."
 
Men
 
On Thursday, Josiah Shelman earned the Saints 10 points with his victory in the 10,000-meter race at a time of 33:26.10 minutes, just edging out two runners from Clackamas Community College.
 
Craig Boyle passed on his first two heights before clearing his first attempt at 4.20 meters en route to winning the pole vault. Chris Rickard earned third overall in the same event with his leap of 4.05 meters.
 
Latrelle Swayne excelled in the 100-meter dash with a fourth-place finish at 11.55 seconds. Junior Andrew Keir earned two points in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.17 seconds.
 
Kauanoe Vanderpoel and Mitch Wilkens combined efforts in the hammer throw brought home nine points with marks of 54.54 and 53.76 meters respectively.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's Men's Track and Field finished eighth overall with 47 points out of a competitive 14 team field featuring University of Portland and University of Oregon.
 
"Josiah Shelman got us off to great start at the event after finishing first in men's 10k." Brewer said. "The weather conditions were not ideal today but the Saints kept a positive attitude, made the most out the opportunity presented, and had some great things happen as a result."