McMINNVILLE, Ore.  – Nathan Fields broke the Bushnell Triple Jump record and 20 Bushnell athletes made their collegiate outdoor debut on Saturday as the Beacons opened up with 2023 Outdoor track & field season at the Linfield Erik Anderson Icebreaker.
 
Providing a unique opportunity for some cross-training early in the season, the Linfield Icebreaker overlaps the end of the NAIA indoor track & field season and no Cascade Conference or NAIA qualifying marks can be achieved. Saturday will still pay off huge dividends in the long run as the Beacons prepare for the next three months of competition.
 
"This year the Icebreaker was appropriately named," said Director of Track & Field Tom Boldon. "The rainy, cold, and extremely windy conditions definitely impacted times and marks. It was still good to finally compete and shake off the early season nerves. Many of our athletes competed in events they don't always get to experience and will be able to transition to their main events starting next week."
 
Fields (pictured, right) led the way with a triple jump of 13.63 meters (44' 8.75"), breaking Brevin Russnogle's four-year old school record by nine inches. He took second-place in the event and was the top collegiate competitor by over three feet. Ty Kishen made his debut for the Beacons in the triple jump as well and was the third-best collegian. Both athletes would have hit CCC-qualifying marks and Fields also had a would-be qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.18).
 
Leading the way on the women's side was sophomore Sierra Janikowski (pictured, left) who finished third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.99. The would-be CCC qualifying time was second among collegiate runners.
 
Other Highlights

• Senior Rebecca Kuskie took second-place in the women's 1500m (5:08.17).
• Senior Jaron Carter and freshman Isaiah Davis finished third and fourth in the 400m dash.
• Jermaine Richards (High Jump), Mayah Pappas (Long Jump), Leah Scheiwe (Discus) and Janae Usselman (Javelin) all recorded marks that would be CCC-qualifiers.
• The women's 4x400m relay team of Maddi Desemone, Sarah Phillips, Adrienne Mai, and Janea Robertson took second place.  

Bushnell will compete close to home for the first time next weekend, competing at Lane Community College for the LCC Open. Boldon said, "It is supposed to be about 20 degrees warmer next weekend so we expect to see some pretty solid marks. Having a meet in Eugene will make it nice to be able to avoid travel and to have a chance for our fans to come out and cheer us on."