McMINNVILLE, Ore. – With the two-day Linfield Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker in the books, the outdoor track and field season is now officially underway. Athletes were gifted with mostly sunny skies on Saturday as they wrapped up competition at Linfield’s Maxwell Field.

Action began Friday night with the running of the 10,000 meters. Former Wildcat Marci Klimek (’10), now representing Oiselle, captured the women’s 10K by a minute and a half, crossing the finish line in 34 minutes, 54.5 seconds. Stephanie Hescock of Northwest Christian was the first collegiate athlete to finish, taking second, and Linfield’s Shanna Peaden finished fifth while recording the eighth-fastest time in program history (38:41.88).

The unattached Shane Geiger won the men’s race in 30 minutes, 46.46 seconds. Linfield assistant cross country and track coach Greg Mitchell took third in 31:03.19 while Wildcat Scott Gage was the fastest collegiate finisher, crossing the line sixth in 31:24.26. Gage’s performance ranks 10th-all time in the Linfield record books.

In Saturday’s events, Melany Crocker (Sr., Milwaukie, Ore.) paced the 'Cats with a pair of top-three finishes in the sprints. She won the 100-meter dash (12.95) and finished third in the 200 (26.85).

Other third-place efforts came from Madison Trowbridge (Soph., Portland, Ore.) in the 800 (2:24.31) and Mimi Seeley in the 1,500 (18:26.72).

Courtney Alley (Jr., Eagle, Idaho) was a triple threat in the field events, placing fourth in the shot put (9.66m), fourth in the hammer throw (35.97m) and fifth in the discus (34.41m). In the javelin, Kate Shear (Jr., Knappa, Ore.) finished third with a toss of 41.44 meters.

Katherine Maus of the University of Portland was the only double-event winner of the meet, claiming victories in both the long jump (5.34m) and triple jump (10.94m).

The Wildcat men were led by Eric Weinbender, the top collegiate and third overall finisher in the 1,500 in a time of 4:02.76.

Lucian Battaglia and Alex Van Slyke finished fourth in their respective events: Battaglia in the 800 (1:56.56) and Van Slyke in the 5,000 (15.34.00).

Michael Madden (Jr., Buckley, Wash.) took fifth in the 400 hurdles (58.34) and Colin Nelson sliced more than two seconds off his personal best in the 400, finishing seventh overall (51.48).

Pacific’s Michael Zane won the 100 (11.25) and was runner-up in the 200 (22.59).

Garrett Soumokil provided one of the top Linfield highlights in the field events, taking third in the triple jump (12.87m). Other top-eight performances came from Drew Wert (Sr., Grants Pass, Ore.) in the shot put (fourth, 14.02m) and Kyle Pfeifer (Sr., Eagle, Idaho) in the hammer throw (45.50m).

Josh Melander and Sean Boedeker finished 3-4 in the javelin, with tosses of 47.12m and 46.71m, respectively.

No team scores were compiled at the meet, though Linfield athletes did have the opportunity to size themselves up against some familiar Northwest Conference opponents representing George Fox, Lewis & Clark, Pacific and Pacific Lutheran.

The annual meet honors the late Erik Anderson, a 1996 Linfield graduate, who tragically passed away in 2009.

‘CAT SCRATCH: In other track action, Anna LaBeaume (Jr., Sequim, Wash.) won the shot put at the University of Washington Final Qualifier indoor meet with a heave of 43 feet, 3 ¾ inches (13.2m) and Catherine Street tied for second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 12 feet, 9 inches (3.89m).

NEXT: Linfield travels to Newberg next Saturday for the George Fox Invitational; events begin at 10 a.m. Select individuals, however, will compete at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships next Friday and Saturday in Grinnell, Iowa. The complete field will be announced Sunday.