The EWU track and field team competed at Spokane Falls Community College on April 25-26 at the Duane Hartman Invitational.

The Eagles earned four Big Sky qualifying marks to get a total of 43 marks for the season. Eastern also won 15 events and achieved personal records.

“This was another really positive step for the whole team,” men’s head coach Stan Kerr said. “A lot of seasonal bests and a lot of personal bests.”

Women’s head coach Marcia Mecklenburg also thought Eastern did exceptionally well in Spokane. “We did really well, we had a lot of event winners, a lot of personal records by the athletes and some conference qualifiers,” Mecklenburg said. “That’s always a successful meet when that happens.”

On April 25, junior distance runner Katie Mahoney won the 5,000-meter event while running a time of 16:45.92. She also won the 800-meter race with a time of 2:14.01. Mahoney is now qualified in all distance races for the Big Sky Championship.

On April 26, sophomore multi-athlete Jozie Kimes won the 400-meter hurdle event to qualify with a personal record time of 1:03.38. Freshman sprinter Austin Upmeyer ran a time of 49.03 in the 400-meter race while placing second. Upmeyer won the 200-meter race with a time of 22.67. Senior sprinter Collin Green came in third place in the 400-meter with his best time of the season, 49.82.

Senior sprinter Angelica Rodriguez won the 400-meter race for the women. She had a seasonal best time of 56.73. Freshman sprinter Brooke Monson came in second place with a personal record time of 57.27. Another runner that earned a personal record was junior distance runner Quin Olivas with a time of 1:55.10 placing fourth in the 800-meter event.

Senior sprinter Whitney Leavitt won both the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Leavitt finished with times of 12.58 in the 100-meter event, and 25.58 in the 200-meter race.

Mecklenburg was proud to see the runners do well at the meet. “The highlight was probably the improvements made by our sprint crew,” Mecklenburg said. “Our distance crew continues to be solid.”

Sophomore distance runner Sarah Reiter won the 1500-meter event with a time of 4:41.20.

The women’s 4×100 relay team came in first place with a time of 47.64. Freshman pole vaulter Courtney Bray had a personal record height of 13-1 1/2. Sophomore jumper Brooklyn Bellomy won the high jump with a height of 5-1 3/4.

The throwers also performed successfully. Freshman javelin thrower Samantha Baker threw for a distance of 145-2 to place second. Senior thrower Jon Buchanan won the shot put event with a distance throw of 54-7 1/4. For the women’s shot put event, sophomore thrower Morgan Romey won with a throw of 45-5.

Junior thrower Jordan Arakawa finished in first place with a throw of 210-1 in the hammer throw event. Senior thrower Zack Nielson place second in the hammer throw as well with a toss of 198-7.

In the women’s hammer throw, junior Olivia Midles placed first with a toss of 184-3. Junior Emma Murillo placed second with a toss of 179-1. Sophomore Kelsie Forcier came in third place, and senior Vania Tauvela came in fourth place. Forcier had a toss of 176-10, and Tauvela finished with a toss 170-3.

As the regular season is winding down, Kerr still wants the athletes to continue to focus on improving. “I think as a team and watching our team, I think our warm-ups and our cooldowns could be sharpened and that’s going to translate to a better performance,” Kerr said.

The Eagles will travel to Corvallis, Ore., to compete in the Oregon State High Performance Meet on May 2.