Fast Break: Snodgrass breaks school record as track routs Lewis & Clark

A duck in a Willamette jersey about to score a goal on the soccer field while the crowd cheers behind them. Art by Wes Mowry-Silverman.

Hello, Bearcat Fan! Spring break is quickly approaching, thank god, and with it comes the inevitable arrival of conference play for our beloved spring sports. But for now we trudge through preseason and the odd limbo of the last two weeks of classes before a much-needed vacation. Let’s see how we fared!

Track and field competed in the Eldon & Chuck Throwdown on Saturday, a home dual meet versus Lewis & Clark, and took a resounding W against the River Otters — resounding to the extent that for the sake of brevity, I cannot feasibly discuss all of the first place finishes. Austin Snodgrass (’28) broke a 65-year-old school record in discus with a throw of 51.15 meters, jumping into the steeplechase pool to commemorate his achievement. 

On the women’s side of things, the ’Cats swept the top four spots in the 100-meter hurdles, with Mashani Coleman Toliver (’26) taking the top spot. In overall points, the men’s team outscored L&C 107 to 38, and the women’s outscored them 86 to 50. Congrats, track!

Softball went 3-1 in a weekend series at home against Puget Sound, losing the first game 2-1 and then sweeping the three remaining games of the series, including an extra innings battle on Sunday in which the ’Cats came away with a 7-6 win after going down 1-6 in the second inning.

Baseball went 1-2 in a series against Linfield at Roto-Rooter Park, winning the first 5-4 and then dropping the other two, one of which also went to extra innings, allowing the Wildcats the opportunity to score six straight unanswered runs in the 10th. 

Women’s tennis faced the Whits away over the weekend, losing both matches 1-6, the two points coming from No. 6 and No. 3 singles wins from Katie Briggs (’26) and Sofia Spencer (’28), respectively.

Men’s tennis also faced the Whits, but at home, losing to No. 1 Whitman 0-7 and Whitworth 1-6. The singular point came from a solid No. 4 singles performance by Hudson Snyder (’28).

Lacrosse split the weekend series also against the Whits, beating Whitman 11-7 and then losing to the Pirates 10-11 in a frustratingly close battle. Shelby Wilkinson (’29) scored three times and recorded five draw controls in the latter.

In the wider world of sport, the Breanna Stewart-led Mist won the Unrivaled championships 80-74 against the Phantom on Wednesday, capping off the league’s second season. Texas shocked South Carolina with a 78-61 win in the women’s basketball SEC championship game, shaking up the seeding for March Madness, which begins on March 20. NFL free agency began last Monday, which has already brought some chaos to the league, and star edge rusher Maxx Crosby was traded to the Ravens for a whopping two first-round picks on March 7.

In the coming weeks: Lacrosse faces the reigning George Fox Bruins on Saturday at home, and hopes to secure their first-ever win over the team. Baseball heads south to face Cal Lutheran on Friday, and softball stays in-state to face the Wildcats. Tennis matches up against Pacific, with the women’s side staying home and the men’s heading north. Track and field competes at the Rich Allen Classic in Newberg on Saturday, and golf essentially starts off their regular season at the Willamette Valley Cup. Yay Bearcats!