Championship weekend is here for the Eastern Washington University cross country team, as it travels to Moscow, Idaho for the Big Sky Conference Championships on Friday, Oct. 28.

The event will be hosted by Idaho on its University Golf Course. The women's race will be 5,000 meters, while the men race on an 8,000-meter course. Idaho's course is known for its rolling hills, and will feature an uphill climb at the finish.

The men's race will start at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time followed by the women's event at 12:15 p.m. The awards ceremony will take place at 1:15 p.m.

"We are excited for the Big Sky Championship this weekend and eager to face off against some of the best runners in the country," said head coach Chris Shane. "Our team has been training hard since June and this weekend, in many ways, is the culmination of all of that hard work."

Eastern fared well in last year's championship with two top-five finishes. The EWU women placed second overall with 75 points for the best finish in program history. The men's team placed fourth out of the 12 schools, just one place off its all-time best finish of third in 2008.

Weber State took the women's title in 2015 with 39 points, while Southern Utah brought home the men's title with 26 points.

Making the trip to Moscow will be the top-eight Eagle athletes from both the men's and women's side.

Women:
Carli Corpus, Fr.
Bri Gibson, So.
Paula Gil-Echevarria, Sr.
Kari Hamilton-Scharnhorst, Sr.
Christina Johnstone, Fr.
Kaili Keefe, Fr.
Gracie Ledwith, Jr.
Sarah Reiter, Sr.

Men:
James Breen, Jr.
Matthew Hommel, Jr.
Colton Johnsen, Fr.
Isaac Kitzan, Sr.
Austin Oser, Jr.
Evan Sanford, Fr.
Logan Stahl, Sr.
Steaven Zachman, R-Fr
.
Last year's top finisher for the EWU women's team was senior Sarah Reiter, who placed eighth with a time of 18:25.8. As a sophomore, Reiter took the women's title with a race time of 17:05.2 in 2014. Her time would be good for the second best 5,000-meter time in Eastern history. Recently Reiter surpassed that personal best with a 5,000-meter time of 16:36 at the Inland Empire Championships on Sunday (Oct. 15), taking the event title. Overall this year, Reiter has placed within the top-10 in all four meets with a second and first place finish, and has earned four of the five Big Sky Athlete of the Week awards.

"Sarah Reiter is probably the favorite going into the meet, however, there are three or four very talented and nationally recognized women in the field and she will be tested to her max," said Shane.

Other returning athletes on the women's side who competed last year is senior Paula Gil-Echevarria who placed 28th with a time of 19:12.5, and sophomore Bri Gibson who finished 83rd.
Junior Austin Oser is the men's top finisher who returned from last season's squad. He took 17th overall with a time of 26:29.6 on the 8,000-meter course. He has only competed in two of the team's four meets.

Senior Isaac Kitzan finished 33rd in last year's championship with a time of 26:58.7. Kitzan has been the top men's finisher for the Eagles in two meets this season. He placed ninth at the Inland Empire two weeks ago, and was 36th at the Washington Invitational.

"From an individual perspective we have multiple guys who all have a shot at all conference honors with the front runner being Isaac Kitzan our team captain and senior leader. He is on a roll," said Shane.

Comments from Head Coach Chris Shane
"We continue to race with heavy hearts for our teammate Drew who still remains in serious condition in the hospital, and will join him in spirit as we battle this weekend. There have been numerous members of the conference who have reached out and lent their support, and I would like to publicly thank them for such class and kindness. We are truly touched by your kindness."

Following the Big Sky Championships will be the NCAA DI West Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 11.