MOSCOW, Idaho – Senior Sarah Reiter finished second overall to lead the Eastern Washington University cross country team at the 2016 Big Sky Conference Championships on Friday, Oct. 28 at the University of Idaho Golf Course.
 
The Eastern women's team placed sixth out of the 12 schools with 170 points, while the men's team finished seventh with 194. Northern Arizona swept the championship, taking first place on both the men's and women's side.
 
Next up for both Eastern teams will be the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 11 in Sacramento, Calif. That meet will serve as the qualifier for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 19, with Reiter hoping to make a repeat performance.
 
"Today was a 'welcome to the big show' kind of moment for our young team," said Eastern head coach Chris Shane. "There were some very good performances today from our group, but as a team we came up short of our team goals for this year. We have a lot to learn in order to improve before regionals. But I challenged the group and I am confident they will answer the challenge."
 
 
 
Top Performers
 
Senior Sarah Reiter led all Eagles with a overall finish of second on the women's 5,000-meter course, recording a time of 17:23. She placed nine seconds behind champion Ellie Child of Weber State. In 2014, Reiter she took home the Big Sky title as a sophomore, and then finished eighth in last year's competition.
 
This event marks a great start to her 2016 postseason with the NCAA West Regionals coming up. Last year, Reiter placed ninth in the West Regionals and placed 46th at the NCAA Division I Championships, just outside the top-40 requirement for All-America status.
 
Eagle freshman Kaili Keefe was the second best finisher on the women's side in Moscow, placing 26th with a time of 18:27.
 
Junior James Breen was in the front of the pack for the Eastern men, running the race in 26:04 and taking 32nd place. Just a few seconds behind Breen was freshman Matthew Hommel, who finished 34th with a time of 26:07. The EWU men's team displayed great consistency, with six of the eight athletes finishing within one minute of each other.
 
 
Results . . . Team Scoring
 
Men: 1. Northern Arizona (15), 2. Southern Utah (48), 3. Weber State (89), 4. Idaho State (164), 5. Idaho (164), 6. Montana State (167), 7. Eastern Washington (194), 8. Portland State (210), 9. Sacramento State (235), 10. Montana (254), 11. North Dakota (300), 12. Northern Colorado (369).
 
Women: 1. Northern Arizona (48), 2. Weber State (60), 3. Southern Utah (99), 4. Idaho (115), 5. Montana (136), 6. Eastern Washington (170), 7. Montana State (179), 8. Portland State (224), 9. Sacramento State (224), 10. Northern Colorado (232), 11. Idaho State (265), 12. North Dakota (313).
 
 
EWU Men's Finishers
32. James Breen 26:04
34. Matthew Hommel 26:07
43. Steaven Zachman 26:18
47. Colton Johnsen 26:27
48. Isaac Kitzan 26:31
58. Logan Stahl 26:47
71. Austin Oser 27:21
84. Evan Sanford 28:16
 
EWU Women's Finishers
2. Sarah Reiter 17:23
23. Kaili Keefe 18:27
41. Paula Gil-Echevarria 18:55
50. Kari Hamilton-Scharnhorst 19:14
51. Carli Corpus 19:16
62. Christina Johnstone 19:27
75. Gracie Ledwith 20:05
83. Bri Gibson 20:29
 
 
Comments from Head Coach Chris Shane
"The race on the women's side for the individual title came down to three ladies -- Reiter, and Weber State's Hailey Whetten and Ellie Child, just as I had suspected. In the end it was Sarah and Ellie battling all the way to the final 200 meters. Sarah was second today and ran a great race and was beaten by another great runner. It was fun watching them battle it out. Sarah's strength shows up the longer the race, and now that we will be running 6,000 meters, she will be prime to make a great run at regionals in two weeks. Kaili Keefe is just a freshman, but was our No. 2 finisher today and ran outstanding. She is going to be one to watch. On the men's side, Matthew Hommel ran his best race of the season and James Breen came on strong at the end to lead the team."