PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's track & field posted ten top-10 finishes and two top-10 marks in program history in their first meet of the 2026 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Five student-athletes made their collegiate track & field debuts on Sunday at the Portland Indoor #1 Meet.
Senior
Jordan Lahusky nearly broke his own program record to lead the River Otters in the 600M. Lahusky crossed the line in 1:28.05 to finish seventh out of 34 runners and third among NCAA DIII competitors. First year
Forrest Holt came across in 1:38.86 to finish 20
th overall and move into fifth in program history in the event. Junior
Teagon Aasen posted a time of 1:37.11 to place 24
th.
Junior
Evan Markelz led eight Lewis & Clark runners in the Mile. Markelz (4:23.13) and fellow junior
Quinn Higgins (4:23.18) finished back-to-back in third and fourth places in a field of 59 runners. Sophomore
AJ Gibbs posted a PR time of 4:33.97 to take 15
th place. Senior
Joseph Naylor added a PR time of his own (4:40.60) to finish in 23
rd place. Junior
Emil Miller (4:42.02) and first year
Knox Orchard (4:42.09) finished back-to-back to place 31
st and 32
nd overall. Juniors
Colin Shimabukuro (4:46.12) and
Jordan Wu (4:48.73) came across in 35
th and 41
st places.
First year
Zane Bryant posted the first top-10 mark in program history of the season for the men's team. The first year finished 12
th out of 45 runners in the 200M. His time of 23.75 moved him into eight in program history. Senior
Jon Fritz came across just behind Bryant with a time of 23.87 to place 13
th. Sophomores
Jaden Mwendapole (24.65) and Kris Adams (24.70) finished back-to-back in 26
th and 27
th places. Junior
Keegan Zaso turned in a PR time of 25.14 to place 32
nd overall. First years
Enzo Murray (25.55) and
Duncan O'Kelly (25.67) placed 36
th and 38
th overall.
Lewis & Clark entered four relay teams in the 4x400M Relay.
The River Otters "A" team finished fourth of 13 teams. The quartet of Holt, Lahusky, Wu and Higgins crossed the line in 3:43.66 to move into eighth in program history.
Lewis & Clark's second team to cross the line placed eighth overall. Aasen, Shimabukuro, Zaso and Markelz posted a time of 3:49.03. The next group of Mwendapole, O'Kelly, Murray and Bryant recorded a time of 3:49.81 to place ninth overall. Miller, Fritz, Naylor and Orchard notched a time of 3:53.00 to finish 10
th.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Bryant, Holt and O'Kelly all made their NCAA debuts on Sunday.
- Lahusky's time in the 600M was just 0.07 seconds off his program record of 1:27.98.
- Murray and Orchard each made their collegiate track & field debuts at the University of Portland.
- Bryant's time in the 200M (23.75) was the fastest time by a Lewis & Clark first year since Lahusky set the program record (22.82) as a first year in 2023.
WHAT'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will return to action in two weeks when they take part in two meets. The River Otters will race at the George Fox Indoor #1 Meet on Saturday, February 7th and the Portland Indoor #2 Meet on Sunday, February 8th.
