MONMOUTH, Ore. – Victories from sophomore Olivia Woods and senior Nicole Maurmann on the women's side and sophomore Aaron Whitaker and senior AJ Holmberg for the men led the Western Oregon track & field teams as they hosted the 2017 John Knight Twilight at McArthur Field.
 
The Wolves collected 108 points on the men's side to finish second while the women placed fourth with 73 points.
 
Woods took the top spot in the 400m with a time of 57.06, leading a trio of WOU runners in the event. Junior Megan Rose finished second (58.16) and junior Suzanne Van De Grift took third (58.32) while Freshman Grayson Burke ran a solid of time of 59.30 for fifth to help the Wolves secure 28 points.
 
Maurmann took the 1,500m in wire-to-wire fashion with a time of 4:43.79.
 
For the WOU men, Whitaker edged out teammate junior Cody Warner for the win in the 400m. Whitaker grabbed 10 points with a time of 49.41 with Warner clocking in at 50.03.
 
Holmberg led a 30-point surge for the Wolves in the 800m posting the win at 1:54.52, just ahead of sophomore Dustin Nading in second place at 1:54.60. Senior Michael Chin followed a close third (1:55.26) and sophomore Parker Marson took fifth (1:58.75). Freshman Curt Knott won his heat and placed seventh overall with a time of 1:59.44. Sophomore Dominick Marshall finished just outside the scoring in ninth place (2:00.05).
 
Junior Codi Blodgett placed second in the 100m with a time of 11.27, his third top two results in the event this season.
 
Junior Alan Ekanger registered a third-place result in the 3,000m steeplechase with a mark of 9:51.03 in his outdoor event debut.
 
In the field events, freshmen Connor Reinke and Alani Troutman tied for fourth clearing 1.80m, while Kolton Koenig-Rhode placed fourth in the triple jump with a wind-aided 12.97m. Junior Kegan Allen took ninth in the hammer with a throw of 47.44m and tenth in the hammer at 44.49m. Brandon Bowen, junior, earned two points with a ninth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 14.71m. Freshman Mitch Kruse grabbed sixth in the long jump (6.22) in his field debut.
 
Senior Kathryn Pitts wasted no time with her best triple jump effort in the first round, a 10.78m effort to place third. A personal best from freshman Mariah Gronbach earned her five points in the discus with a fifth-place finish at 40.65m. In the hammer, junior Sylvia Dean (46.99m) and sophomore Alecia Falck (45.00m) finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Freshman Halie Korff took seventh in the javelin with a mark of 39.59m.
 
Next up for Western Oregon will be events in Southern California – the Mt. SAC Relays (April 12-13), the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 14) and the Long Beach State Invitational (April 14-15).