NEWBERG, Ore. – The Corban University men's and women's track & field teams made their long-awaited debut on Saturday at the Rich Allen Classic, hosted by George Fox University.

"We were very limited on participants today, because of injuries, COVID-19 protocols, and the upcoming cross country championships," said head coach Norm Berney. "Even still, we put up some impressive efforts considering we started our season this weekend, and we've been waiting to get on a track."

The Warriors had little opportunity to prepare for the event in a traditional manner, and yet the squad still managed to turn in impressive marks in the first meet of the season.

Among those, Valerie Schmidt stole the spotlight, winning the 100-meter hurdles (15.34 seconds), and finishing as the runner up in the 200-meter dash (26.92 seconds) and the high jump (5'1"). The multi-event star and 2019 All-American also placed fourth in the javelin (115'4"), and showed no signs of rust in her impressive season premiere.

Also highlighting the women's results, Farleigh Whitehead placed third overall in the shot put, hurling an impressive throw of 32' 7.75".

Among the limited Warrior ensemble on the men's side, Jesse Squires ran in the first 400-meters of his career and impressed in a fifth-place showing. The sophomore from Florence, Mont. clocked a time of 54.37 seconds in the event.

Joshua Anderson also placed fifth in the triple jump, opening his campaign with a 39' 11.5" mark.

"Our prayer is that we can have most of the team back for next Saturday," Berney added.

The Warriors will look to have the bulk of the squad at full strength for next weekend, when they are slated to compete in a dual against crosstown rival Willamette University. The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 20.