Jon Buchanan becomes double-qualifier, Brad Michael and Jake Clizbe each earn qualifying marks

The Eastern Washington University track and field team earned three more Big Sky qualifying marks at the Vandal Indoor Friday (Feb. 1) and the Vandal Collegiate Saturday (Feb. 2) in Moscow, Idaho. 

“The Big Sky Championships are approaching fast and we’re starting to step up,” said men’s head coach Stan Kerr, “Everybody’s realizing what we need to do to not only make the Championships but also score.”

In Friday’s action, sophomore Brad Michael qualified for the Big Sky Championships in the 400 meters, taking second with a time of 48.53. He set the school record of 46.97 last season as a freshman.

“Brad put together a very nice 400,” said Kerr, “He’s ready to be a contender once again in the conference.”

Redshirt junior Jon Buchanan grabbed a qualifying mark in his second event on the season, having a toss of 56-1 1/4 in the weight throw. He also improved on his indoor-best in the shot put, which he hit the qualifying standard in last weekend, having a mark of 53-6 1/2 in Idaho.

“Jon is working hard and he is more of a quiet force for the team,” said Kerr, “He continues to add to that depth we need.”

Senior Marlyn Anderson, who had a personal-best last weekend in the shot put at the UW Invitational, set yet another personal-best after getting off a throw of 54-3 3/4.

Katie Mahoney ran a time of 2:18.38 in the 800 to place fourth, ranking her 10th all-time in school history.

Keisa Monterola and Robin Taylor each cleared a height of 12-9 1/2 in the pole vault in a one-two finish. That puts the two in a three-way tie for the top spot on the Big Sky performance list, with Anandae Clark also in the fourth spot, pending results from around the conference this weekend. It was also an indoor personal-best for Taylor, moving her up to fourth all-time in school history.

Emma Murillo and Olivia Midles each inched closer to a qualifying mark in the weight throw, having throws of 52-9 1/2 and 52-4, just coming short of the standard of 53-9.

On Saturday, Eastern had another qualifier in freshman Jake Clizbe, who took first in the long jump with a mark of 22-9 3/4, booking his ticket to the Championships.

“Jake had a great showing in the long jump with a collegiate personal record as well as an automatic qualifier,” said Kerr.

Freshman Alyssa Neal was a double event-winner, taking first in both the long jump (17-4 1/4) and triple jump (37-01 1/4).

Redshirt junior Zack Nielsen set a new personal-best in the weight throw, hitting a mark of 59-9 to place second overall. That also moved Nielsen up from seventh to fifth all-time at Eastern. Shaun Lemafa had a throw of 55-6 1/2, just missing the qualifying mark of 55-9.

“I felt like our throwers took the lead this weekend in really setting the tone for some really quality individual performances,” said Kerr.

Eastern now has 19 qualifying marks on the season, with 14 for the men and five for the women. There will be two more meets for the team prior to the BSC Indoor Championships in Bozeman, Mont, on Feb. 22-23.

The Eagles will head back over to Seattle, Wash., next weekend for the prestigious UW Husky Classic on Feb. 8-9.

“Individually we want to solidify spots in that top 14 that will advance to Bozeman for the conference meet and continue to hit some more qualifying marks,” said Kerr, “The quality and depth of the field in Seattle should help everyone rise to that point.”