Alexa Efraimson finishes a solid third in 2015 outdoor debut at Mt. SAC...

WALNUT, California—Camas HS senior Alexa Efraimson (left, #3/photo by Paul Merca) opened up her outdoor campaign with a solid third place finish in the invitational 1500 meter run at the Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mount San Antonio College campus.

Efraimson, who recently announced that she will attend the University of Portland, while competing for Nike, ran 4:09.43 to finish behind Sarah Brown of New Balance (4:08.15) and Stephanie Brown of Nike (4:08.51).

On the collegiate front, two of the most noteworthy performances at the Mt. SAC Relays came from athletes from Division II Western Washington, as in the men’s open 100, the Vikings’ Alex Donigian finished third in his heat, and ran a wind-aided 10.22 (+4.4mps) which would be the fastest time in NCAA Division II this season.

In the Invitational-B section of the 3000 steeplechase, Western Washington All-American Katelyn Steen ran 10:13.01 to finish third and gain an automatic qualifying berth for the NCAA Division II championships.  That mark broke her own WWU school record of 10:20.66 set last year, and the conference record of 10:13.33 set by Alaska-Anchorage’s Susan Tanui in 2012.

The University of Washington women’s 4 x 100 meter relay team of Haley Jacobson, Kennadi Bouyer, Gianna Woodruff and Sierra Peterson won the open section against two Pac-12 schools in a time of 45.26.  Cross-state rival Washington State was fourth in that race, running 45.39, while UCLA was sixth in 45.75,

In the men’s open javelin, Washington State redshirt freshman Brad Stevens threw a lifetime best and school freshman record 233-2 (71.07m) to take third.

Stevens’ mark vaulted him to second on the Pac-12 performance list this season behind Oregon’s Sam Crouser, and broke the school freshman record of 221-10 (67.66m) set in 1990 by Chad McKinney, better known as country recording artist Chance McKinney.

The Huskies’ Izaic Yorks finished second in his heat of the invitational 1500 meters, running 3:43.21.

Complete results from the second day of the Mt. SAC Relays are available here.

In Azusa, Seattle Pacific’s Lynelle Decker set a personal best and all but assured herself a spot on the line for the NCAA Division II championships in the 800, winning in a time 2:08,13 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on the campus of Azusa Pacific College.

Her mark is the second fastest time in Division II so far this season.

Results from the Bryan Clay Invitational are available here.

In Eugene, Washington State alum Collier Lawrence finished second in the 3000 steeplechase at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field, running 10:06.45, behind US Olympian Bridget Franek, who won in 9:51.56.

Tacoma native Dakarai Hightower won the men’s high jump with a leap of 7-2 1/2 (2.20m), then took three unsuccessful attempts at a personal best of 7-5 1/4 (2.27m).

Day 1 results from the Oregon Relays are available here.

NOTE:  The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University, Western Washington University, Mt. San Antonio College, Azusa Pacific University, and the University of Oregon contributed to this report.