Fast Break: Track and field places third in conference championships, softball wraps up their season

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! As graduation fast approaches, so too does my sense of impending doom and the end of season for all spring sports. Let’s see how they fared in their last week of regular season play (for the most part).

Softball ended their season by getting swept by the Bruins in four agonizingly close games. This year, the NWC has been turned upside down and remained blisteringly competitive, with the Lutes being crowned regular season champions, marking the first time the champion has been someone other than the Linfield Wildcats since the 2017 season. Congrats to the Bearcats on a great season!

Baseball also got swept in four games against Lewis & Clark, though fortunately, they have another opportunity to snap their losing streak against the Bruins over the weekend. The Basecats are last in the conference.

Lacrosse clinched a playoff berth with a win against Linfield 14-7 on Sunday, riding the momentum of their 15-6 win against Pacific earlier in the week. The No. 4 seed ’Cats face archrival and No. 1 seed George Fox at 4 p.m. on Friday in the NWC tourney.

Track and field competed at the NWC Championship over the weekend in Spokane, to great success. On the men’s side, some highlights include No. 1 finishes for Roan Bashioum (’27) in hammer throw and Austin Snodgrass (’28) in shot put, and a school record-breaking No. 3 place finish for the 4x100-meter relay team. On the women’s side, Erica Snyder (’26) finished No. 2 in pole vault, and Lavender Bel (’27) and Whitley Stepp (’26) took No. 3 in the 100-meter and long jump, respectively. The ’Cats took No. 3 overall in team points. Congrats to track and field!

In the wider world of sport: The relegation battle between West Ham and Tottenham is coming down to the wire, with the Irons being a mere two points ahead of Spurs with only four more weeks remaining of competition. The Blazers are predictably about to lose to San Antonio in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs after blowing a 20-point lead to the Spurs on Sunday. The Spurs lead the series 3-1, needing only one more win to eliminate the ’Zers. 

In the coming weeks: Lacrosse heads to the NWC tourney for one last shot to defeat the dreaded Bruins. Track and field heads to Corvallis to compete in the Oregon State High Performance meet on Friday, and baseball looks to snap their losing streak, also on Friday, against the Bruins. Go ’Cats!