LA GRANDE, Ore. – Madison Palek (So.) from The Evergreen State College won the women's 5,000-meter race walk and teammate Dani Buttrell (So.) took third place in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, as both athletes earned All-Conference honors on the first day of the 2026 Cascade Collegiate Conference Track and Field Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, on Friday May 8 at Banner Bank Track. The top three finishers in each event received All-CCC recognition.

Results
CCC Championships Schedule

Palek took first place in the 5,000-meter race walk for the Geoducks with a time of 26:43.86. Chantelle Dass from the University of British Columbia took second place in 28:53.76. Palek's time met the NAIA "A" qualifying standard. She previously qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a personal record time of 24:53.88.

Buttrell's third place time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase was 11:37.80. She was just 3.72 seconds behind her career-best time. Kylee Quinton from College of Idaho took first place in 11:08.59 and Rozzlyn Cazier, also from College of Idaho, was second in 11:32.80.

Entering the final lap, Buttrell was in fourth place, about three seconds behind Saundra Parsons from Oregon Tech. Buttrell ran the last 400 meters approximately six seconds faster than Parsons, as Parsons fell into fourth place at 11:42.06.

Max Baeder (Jr.) finished seventh and Jackson Rye (Jr.) placed eighth in the men's 10,000-meter run. Baeder was timed at 32:46.85 and Rye achieved a time of 33:06.82. Baeder led the field early in the race and Rye held the lead from 1,600 meters through the 6000-meter mark as part of a large lead pack.

At 6,000 meters, the top 10 runners were within two seconds of each other. Baeder and Rye fought hard over the final 10 laps to end the race in the top eight.

Claire Ryan (Jr.) of Evergreen earned a top mark of 40.64 meters (133' 4") in the women's hammer throw. It was the seventh time this season that Ryan has achieved a throw of at least 40 meters. Also in the women's hammer throw, Katie Gresham (So.) set a personal record with a distance of 38.11 meters (125' 0").

"Maddy and Dani started the day off strong with their top 3 performances," said Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Katie Burnett. "That momentum continued with Katie throwing a massive PR in the hammer. To top off the day, we came away with exceptional execution in the men's 10,000m run: Max and Jackson ran a very strategic race that saw them outperform their ranking to add points to Evergreen's team score. We are so proud!"

In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Evan Williams (Jr.) registered a time of 10:21.81 for the Geoducks.

Jarvae Lindsay (Fr.) achieved a distance of 6.32 meters (20' 9") in the men's long jump. Paul Hull-Stewart (Jr.) claimed a top mark of 39.42 meters (129' 4") in the men's hammer throw.

Merecedies Dupont (Fr.) set a personal record in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.39. She edged out her previous top time of 1:02.46.

Sylvie Biesack (Fr.) completed the women's 10,000-meter run with a time of 43:19.08.

The CCC Championships are being hosted by Eastern Oregon University. Action at Banner Bank Track will resume at 10:30 a.m. PDT on Saturday, May 9.