The Eastern Washington University track and field team competed last week in Cerritos and Walnut, Calif., where they battled at the Mt. SAC Relays and the Long Beach Invitational.

The team competed on April 17-19. The Eagles left California with seven more Big Sky qualifying marks along with personal and season records. Junior sprinter Brad Michael thought Eastern performed well over the span of the last few days.

“I’d say we did pretty good,” Michael said. “We usually don’t perform very well in the heat down there. I think it was the first year in a while where all of us have done relatively pretty well.”

Sophomore distance runner Katie Mahoney broke two school records she set last year. Mahoney ran a time of 10:17.34 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. In the elite open section, she placed third at Mt. SAC.

Mahoney explained her highlight during her few days in California. “I think the highlight was seeing my teammates do super well,” Mahoney said.

She also picked up a few things while competing the past few days. “I learned that I am in better shape than I thought,” Mahoney said. “I learned that I have more to give.”

On April 19, at the Long Beach Invite, Mahoney dashed to second place in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:25.33. She achieved a personal record of 2:12.40 in the 800-meter race.

Junior distance runner Catie Arrigoni also had a personal record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Arrigoni ran a personal best of 10:33.52 on April 17. She ran a time of 4:33.80 to win the 1,500-meter race at the Long Beach Invite.

Distance runners sophomore Sarah Reiter, junior Berenice Penaloza and freshman Paula-Gil Echevarria all had successful performances.

Reiter ran a personal record time of 17:02.50, and Penaloza finished with a personal record time of 17:05.71. Both had personal best times at the Mt. SAC relays on April 18 in the 5,000-meter race.

Echevarria finished with a time of 4:34.11 in the 1,500-meter race at the Mt. SAC relays. She ran a time of 10:42.75 in the steeplechase race at the Long Beach Invite to qualify for the Big Sky Championship.

Michael competed at the Mt. SAC relays. He finished with a time of 47.85 in the 400-meter race, his best for the season. “I think I did really well because I ran a [personal record],” Michael said. “I was happy because the weather was really good.”

Senior hurdler Kramer Green had a time of 54.88 in the 400-meter hurdles and qualified. Junior pole vaulter Nick Stearns also qualified on April 18 where he cleared 15-11 in pole vaulting, while freshman pole vaulter Courtney Bray cleared a personal-record height of 12-11 3/4.

Sophomore thrower Kelsie Forcier had a personal record toss of 185-2 in the hammer throw at the Long Beach Invite; Forcier now ranks third in Eastern history.

Another thrower that had success in California was junior thrower Jordan Arakawa. He completed the hammer throw with a toss of 209-10.

Sophomore thrower Morgan Romey had a 142-11 toss in the discus event to become to qualify for the Big Sky Championship. Senior thrower Zack Nielsen also succeeded in the discus event with a 170-2 toss.

Javelin thrower freshman Samantha Baker had a 140-5 toss in the javelin event, her best in her college career so far.

Sprinters senior Angelica Rodriguez and sophomore Leiran Cornish each had season-best times in the 400-meter race. Rodriguez bounded towards a time of 57.31, and Cornish raced to a finishing time of 57.43.

The women’s 4×400 meter relay team finished their race in third place with a time of 3:51.32, while the men’s team reached a seasonal best by placing first with a time of 3:14.06. A seasonal best.

Eastern now has a total of 38 conference qualifying marks.

The track and field team will compete at the Duane Hartman Invitational in Spokane on April 25 and 26.