Sophomore Claire Ryan set The Evergreen State College record in the women’s hammer throw at the PLU Open, hosted by Pacific Lutheran University on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14.
She earned the school record with a mark of 42.25 meters, or 138 feet, 7 inches, on the fifth of her six throws. Ryan finished in fourth place out of 14 competitors and was just 11 inches out of second place.
Ryan and two other Geoducks, sophomore Paul Hull-Stewart in the men’s hammer throw and freshman Dani Buttrell in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, qualified for the 2026 Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships with their performances. A total of eight Evergreen athletes have qualified for the conference championships this season in a total of nine events.
The Geoducks excelled at the PLU Open despite lots of snow and rain.
“The athletes were stronger than the conditions, and we are so thrilled to add more conference qualifiers,” Katie Burnett, Evergreen assistant cross country and track and field coach, said in a release. “It snowed, it rained, and snowed some more, but that wasn’t enough to stop our team from getting out there and competing.”
Hull-Stewart tied his personal record at 131-1 in the men’s hammer throw. He ranks third on Evergreen’s all-time list. Hull-Stewart also earned the same mark at last year’s PLU Open.
In the women’s steeplechase, Buttrell achieved a time of 12:49.17. She placed third in the event and moved into fifth place all-time for the Geoducks.
Freshman Mercedies Dupont won the women’s 400-meter dash and claimed fourth place on Evergreen’s all-time list. Freshman DeAndre Wright moved into sixth place all-time for the Geoducks in the men’s long jump with a distance of 18-8.
Sophomore Austin Major completed the men’s 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:04.58 while taking second place in the event. He moved into sixth on Evergreen’s list. Senior Evan Williams was third out of 22 runners with a time of 15:43.25 in the men’s 5,000-meter run as he advanced into sixth place all-time for Evergreen.
Joining Ryan in the women’s hammer throw was sophomore Katie Gresham, who earned a mark of 110-4 to grab seventh place on the Geoducks’ all-time list. Also moving into seventh place all-time for Evergreen was freshman Will Niskanen in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Niskanen completed the race in 10:51.88 while taking second place in the event.
Freshman runner Isabelle Lane reached the finish line in the women’s 400-meter dash in 1:16.76 to gain 10th place on Evergreen’s all-time list and place fifth in the race.
Saint Martin’s also competed at the PLU Open. Freshman Kekaihulali Halpern finished third in the women’s 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:45.94. Freshman Tyler Scott placed second in the men’s 1,500-meter run at 4:09.91.
Freshman Zander Peck, a Rainier High School graduate, won the men’s javelin with a throw of 185-2, about 14 feet further than the second-place thrower. Senior Ryan Doidge set a personal best in the men's pole vault, finishing as the event runner-up at 15-3. Sophomore Gage Pedro took third in the men’s hammer throw at 162-6.
Freshman Janess Blackburn, another Rainier graduate, continued her impressive start to her collegiate career, winning the women’s discus with a throw of 141-10. In her previous outing at the Ed Boitano Invitational, she set the school record at 147-0. Senior Alyssa Duncan finished in second place at the PLU Open in the women’s triple jump at 32-11.
