Roster, Schedule & Clash of the Inland NW Information
 
The Eastern Washington University cross country teams will join several other local colleges to begin the 2019 season in Cheney, Wash., for the Clash of the Inland Northwest on Saturday, Aug. 31.
 
Eastern will host Gonzaga, Idaho, Montana, Lewis-Clark State, Whitman and Whitworth in the annual event which has rotated locations in recent years. The event takes place on the practice fields to the West of the EWU Sports and Recreation Center, beginning with the women's 4 kilometer race at 10 a.m. and followed by the men's 6K at approximately 10:30 a.m.
 
The Eastern men's team has seven returning letterwinners on its team, plus two non-lettering squad members and three newcomers. The women return five letterwinners from last year's team and has six newcomers. Both teams are still dominated by underclassmen – the women's team has no juniors or seniors on its 11-person roster, while just three of 12 men's competitors are upperclassmen.
 
In the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' polls announced recently, the men were picked to finish ninth in the league this year and the women were chosen 10th. A year ago with teams comprised mostly of newcomers, both squads were 11th at the league championships under Read, who was in his first year at the helm.

The 2019 Big Sky men's and women's championships will be held on Nov. 2 in Greeley, Colo., and hosted by the University of Northern Colorado. The NCAA West Regionals take place on Nov. 15 at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax, Wash.
 
Prior to those competitions, Eastern will compete in five regular season meets. After the meet in Cheney, Eastern will compete in Colfax, Wash., Salem, Ore., Spokane and Sunnyvale, Calif.
                                                                                                              
 

Men's Outlook

 
The top returning finishers for Eastern in the last two Big Sky Conference meets are back this year for the Eagles for their junior seasons, plus five sophomores who competed at last year Big Sky Championships.
 
Last year's top finisher was Isaac Barville, who placed 46th on the 8,000-meter course with a time of 25:20.1. He went on to have an excellent track and field season, placing seventh in the Big Sky in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:49.46 at altitude in Missoula, Mont. He advanced to compete in the NCAA Division I West Regionals, and a year earlier he was 10th in the mile at the indoor championships.
 
In 2017, Ronan Price placed 62nd overall at the league cross country meet with a time of 26:47.3, then redshirted last year's cross country campaign. He competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2018 Big Sky Championships, placing ninth.
 
The other five returning letterwinners all competed in last year's conference championship meet as freshmen – Jacob Christner, Carter Ledwith, Nicholas Mullineux Perrault, Jack Sloan and Jacob Stirpe. Ledwith was 50th with a time of 25:26.2, and he would go on to finish 12th in the 10,000 and 27th in the 5,000 at the Big Sky outdoor championships in track and field.
 
Also back are sophomores Brock O'Neal and Drew Whited. Both competed as freshmen during the cross country regular season in 2018 for the Eagles, then competed on the track both indoors and outdoors.
 
The three newcomers include Community Colleges of Spokane transfer Ethan Green from Ephrata, Wash. He placed second in both the 10,000 and 5,000 at the Northwest Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships in 2019. The other newcomers are 2019 high school graduates Alec Kness (Spokane / North Central HS) and Lucas Robert (Mill Creek, Wash. / Henry Jackson HS).
 
 

Women's Outlook

 
The Eagles lost four letterwinners from last year's team, and will once again be extremely youthful with six true freshmen on its roster. All five of the team's returning letterwinners are sophomores.
 
Phoenix Aguilar, Molly Beaman, Erika Leinweber, Megan Pitzman and Hannah Spakousky all competed for the Eagles at the Big Sky Championships as freshmen last season. Leinweber had the top finish among the Eagles returning in 2019, finishing 76th. Spakousky redshirted during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, but the other four competed in both.
 
The six newcomers include Rees Jacot out of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., who placed fourth at the WIAA State 4A Championships. Maddie Drennen from Orting (Wash.) HS was ninth at the State 2A cross country meet. And Kenzie Gaines out of Spokane's Lewis & Clark HS) finished eighth in the 3,200 at the State 4A track and field championships.
 
The other three 2019 high school graduates are Anna Harrison (Vancouver, Wash. / Fort Vancouver HS), Anastasia Konugres (Seattle / Ballard HS) and Kaylin Sheley (Eugene, Ore. / Sheldon HS).