Womens:

The women’s track and field team began their season at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championship at the University of Washington. After almost a month out of competition, these athletes were looking to hit qualifying marks for the Big Sky Championship.

A couple of school records were broken as these women raced to a strong outing in Seattle.

There were two qualifiers. Sarah Reiter ran the 3000-meter in 9:39.19 breaking a school record that had stood for 23 years at 9:44.98. Reiter placed 15th at the meet overall.

Katie Mahoney finished the 3000-meter with a time of 9:43.75 placing 20th overall, actually breaking the school record before Reiter broke it in a later race 15 minutes after. She is now second on the all-time school list.

Paula Gil-Echevarria ran a time of 9:54.40 in the 3000-meter to finish in 22nd place, placing fourth overall in school history.

Another qualifier was Samantha Raines, who pole vaulted at a height of 12 feet 1/2 inch.

Johanna Sherman set a program record in the 600-meter with a time of 1:39.64, breaking the previous record of 1:39.83, which was set by Mahoney in December 2015.

Kaytlyn Coleman missed the qualifying mark by just .04 meters in the shot put, with a distance of 45-9 3/4. She came in seventh place overall.

Coleman finished first in the weight throw to win the event for EWU with a distance of 62-8 1/2, besting her career high of a 59-11 throw.

In the 60-meter dash, three Eagles competed. Raines ran a time of 8.03, Janessa Day had a time of 8.29, and Rebecca Tarbert had a time of 7.63.

Loryn Musgrove finished the 60-meter hurdles in 9.64, which placed her 14th overall.

Kendra Hamm jumped a distance of 17-2 3/4 finishing 22nd overall in the long jump. Jozie Kimes jumped a distance of 15-11 to finish in 35th.

Tarbert qualified for the national championship in the 200-meter with a time of 25.39 to finish in 14th.

Leanne Asper was the sole EWU runner in the 800-meter dash, as she finished with a time of 2:20.49 to finish 19th overall.

“The UW Preview was a great start for our women. Two school records were set and we won an event,” head coach Marcia Mecklenburg said. “I am very pleased with the performance of the team as a whole. For this early in the season we had some outstanding marks in all event areas.”

Mens:
Eastern’s track and field team had its first big competition of the indoor season at the University of Washington Preview in Seattle, Washington, at the indoor track and field facility on Jan. 16 and 17.

Their last competition was at the Candy Cane VIII in Cheney, Washington, on Dec. 5. Eleven athletes were able to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships — seven of them were women and the other four were men. The Eagles made a mark in the UW Preview with two school records being broken and new qualifiers for the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships.

“Several strong individual performances made this another memorable opening meet for us. Watching our athletes generate top 10 all-time marks this early in the season is a great omen for upcoming competitions,” head coach Stan Kerr said in an interview with goeags.com.

Sophomore Jeremy VanAssche was the top finisher for the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.84. He was added to the list of men’s qualifiers over the weekend. This time also ranked him fourth on the all-time best list.

Freshman Jonah Mathews made a mark by finishing second for the Eagles in the 60-meter dash with 7.04, only .04 away from qualifying for the conference championships. Sophomore Tyree Fort and senior Obinna Nnadi also raced in the 60, having times of 7.08 and 7.19.

Freshman Larry Still was 11th in the pole vault with a height of 15-9 1/4, which also ranked him fifth all-time. The other pole vaulter, senior Nick Stearns, had no height.

The top finisher for Eastern in the 200-meter dash was freshman Chezaree Jackson who finished 13th having a time of 22.73. Fort was right behind Jackson in 15th place while freshman Cameron Ross and Nnadi finished in 31st and 32nd.

Logan Stahl, who is a junior transfer, was the only Eagle to compete in the 800-meter dash. He finished in 13th place with a time of 1:56.77 — only 2.77 away from qualifying for the conference championships.

Three Eagles competed in the 400-meter dash, with junior Austin Upmeyer finishing 22nd overall with a time of 51.15. Senior Nick Anthony was close behind him, placing 29th with a time of 52.31 and freshman Ammon Auna finished 31st with a time of 52.75.

Freshman Aaron Pullin was able to qualify for the final in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.73, only .38 away from qualifying for the conference championships. Junior Kipton Craig competed in the hurdles as well with a time of 11.00. Pullin also placed 27th overall in the long jump.

The 4×400-meter relay included Anthony, Ross, Jackson, and Upmeyer. They were able to finish fifth overall with a time of 3:24.93.

“The 4×400 is a good example of the seasoned and new athletes on our team. Nick, Tyree, Chez and Austin ran the last event of the meet and put up a terrific early season performance,” Kerr said in an interview with goeags.com.
The high jump contenders were junior Andrew Morgan and freshman Forrest Wallace. Morgan finished 16th and Wallace finished 18th overall.

The redshirt junior Aaron Cunningham finished 10th in the shot put and also competed in the weight throw to place 13th. Junior Scott Miller placed 19th in the shot put and freshman Steven Tofanelli placed 10th in the weight throw.

“Overall, I was impressed with the efforts put forth by everyone over the course of a long day. Many of our new athletes who had never competed indoors and/or at the Division I level showed that they belong here and that our team has a bright future,” Kerr said via goeags.com.