A rare weekday meet is on the docket for the Eastern Washington University track and field teams this week, as the men and women's squads return to the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, for the University of Idaho Open on Thursday (Jan. 23).
 
Events begin at 10 a.m. Thursday in the non-scored event. Field events take place throughout the day, with the final event on the track taking place at 5:45 p.m.
 
Eastern's men currently have three senior athletes leading the league in their respective events – Parker Bowden in the 60-meter hurdles (EWU record 7.97 time), Keshun McGee in the triple jump (51-6 1/2) and Grant Shurtliff in the heptathlon (5,212 points). Shurtliff also has the league's fourth-best pole vault (16-1 2/4 to rank fourth in EWU history).
 
For that trio, as well as the rest of the team, this week's meet is important to try to register marks that will secure a place at the Big Sky Conference Championships in late February.
 
"This week is about opportunity," said men's head coach Stan Kerr. "We have an opportunity to compete on Thursday which is very atypical with our schedule. The entire team will be competing and we're expecting another competition of conference-quality performances."
 
The women's team has one conference leader – senior Samantha Raines in the pole vault (12-11 3/4). But the team has a lot of balance in several events, including the pole vault where EWU owns five of the top nine marks in the league.  Eastern also owns five of the top 10 marks in the weight throw, three of the top five in the long jump and four of the top nine in the pentathlon.
 
"The Idaho Open will be a good competitive opportunity for team," said women's head coach Marcia Mecklenburg. "It should have some teams competing that our athletes haven't seen yet this season and we will have our full squad back in action. All of our athletes will be coming into this meet with experience under their belts so I am expecting the jitters to be a little more under control."
 
Eastern competed Jan. 10-11 in Moscow at the Vandal Open/Lauren McCluskey Multi. After last weekend's University of Washington Preview, Eastern returns to Seattle Jan. 31-Feb. 1 for the UW Invitational in which EWU's multi events athletes will also compete. The Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships take place on Feb. 27-29 in Pocatello, Idaho
 
"We are getting to the halfway point of our indoor season," said Mecklenburg. "We need to keep working to move up on the Big Sky lists."
 
 "The indoor championships in Pocatello are 36 days away," Kerr added. "Each team member knows what is at stake and will be doing their best to secure a spot for the championships."

 

A Look Back at the UW Preview

 
A new school record in the men's 60-meter hurdles and some impressive performances in the pole vault highlighted performances by the Eastern Washington University track and field teams at the University of Washington Indoor Preview on Jan. 18 at the Dempsey Indoor track and field facility in Seattle, Wash.
 
Senior Parker Bowden out of Central Valley High School in Spokane finished second in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with a 7.97 time to break his own school record. His previous record was 8.00 set in 2018 when he finished second at the Big Sky Conference Championships. He finished second at UW behind Greggmar Swift of adidas with a time of 7.66.
 
The women's performances were led by a fourth-place finish in the pole vault by senior Samantha Raines with a 12-11 3/4 effort. In the morning session, freshman Savannah Schultz, junior Morgan Fossen and junior Katrina Terry led a 1-2-3 Eastern finish. Overall, Schultz placed eighth (12-6), Fossen was 10th (11-6 1/4) and Terry was 14th (11-6 1/4) when results from both flights were combined.
 
Senior Keshun McGee was second in the triple jump (49-4 1/4) and fourth in the long jump (23-3 1/4) in Seattle. The defending Big Sky champion in both events, McGee finished just three inches behind winner Jaylen Taylor of Washington in the triple jump.
 
Senior pole vaulter Grant Shurtliff improved upon his best pole vault for the Eagles, finishing fifth with a vault of 16-1 1/4 which ranks fifth in EWU history. Senior Jonah Mathews had a personal best time of 6.85 in the qualifications in the 60-meter dash to also rank fifth all-time at EWU.
 
Eastern's 4x400 relay of Mathews, Camden Phelps, Jayce Freeman and Liam Bracken had a time of 3:22.31 to place sixth among the 11 teams which took part.
 
Freshman Nyenuchi Okemgbo had a time of 8.96 in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles to match her best this season and rank No. 3 in school history. Second on the list is 8.90 and the school record is 8.51.
 
Sophomore Vernice Keyes had a throw of 55-4 1/4 in the weight throw to place ninth in a field of 28th competitors. Earlier this season she had an effort of 57-10 1/4 to rank ninth in EWU history.

 

More on the 2019-20 EWU Track & Field Teams

 
A year ago, the Eastern men's team finished fourth indoors at the Big Sky Conference Championships and then went on to a sixth-place finish outdoors. The women finished ninth and seventh, respectively, and both teams are hoping to improve upon those performances this season. The indoor championships take place Feb. 27-29 in Pocatello, Idaho, and the outdoor meet May 13-16 in Ogden, Utah.
 
Eastern's men had several key competitors redshirt a year ago, and are ready to challenge the school's best-ever team performances. Indoors, the men finished third in 2012, and the Eagles were fourth outdoors in 2018, just one place from highs of third on four occasions.
 
Eight men's competitors return in 2018 who have previously earned All-Big Sky Conference honors with top-three finishes at conference championship meets. Among them are defending long jump and triple jump champion Keshun McGee, who went on to compete in both events at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.
 
Bailey Aiello finished third in both pole vault competitions last year, and Joe Gauthier was third in the 60 meters at the 2019 indoor championships. Parker Bowden, who redshirted last season, was second in the 60-meter hurdles in 2018. Also that season, Aaron Pullin was third in the pole vault.
 
McGee won both the long jump and triple jump outdoors last season, and Bobby Say was third in the triple jump. In addition, Gauthier was third in the 100 and Killion McGinnis was third in the high jump. In 2018, Tim Beard was third in the hammer throw.
 
The women had their best-ever finishes in 2016 of third both indoors and outdoors, and return a trio of All-Big Sky performers. Included is Samantha Raines, who was second in the pole vault at last year's indoor championships.
 
Madison Doepker is a three-time all-league performer outdoors, finishing first in the javelin and third in the hammer last year, and third in the javelin in 2018. Raines is the defending champion in the pole vault outdoors, and teammate Katrina Terry was third.
 
 

Eastern Men's Athletes Ranked in Top 10 in the Big Sky Conference

 
60 Meter Dash
2. Jonah Mathews – 6.85 - #5 in EWU History
 
200
6. Quintin Porterfield – 22.15
 
60 Meter Hurdles
1. Parker Bowden –7.97 – EWU RECORD
 
4x400 Relay
3. Eastern (Mathews, Phelps, Freeman, Bracken) – 3:22.31
 
High Jump
6. Killion McGinnis – 6-4 3/4
9. Grant Shurtliff – 6-4 1/4
 
Pole Vault
4. Grant Shurtliff – 16-1 1/4 - #4 in EWU History
5. Zach Klobutcher – 15-9 3/4
7. Bailey Aiello - 15-3 3/4
7. Brayden Freitag – 15-3 3/4
 
Long Jump
3. Keshun McGee – 24-3 3/4
 
Triple Jump
1. Keshun McGee – 51-6 1/2
4. Bobby Say – 47-3
 
Weight Throw
6. Colton Kautz – 59-2 3/4 - #10 in EWU History
                                 
Heptathlon
1. Grant Shurtliff – 5,212
2. Aaron Pullin – 4,850
5. Elijah Conley – 4,080
6. Elijah Hammer – 4,038
8. James Lane – 3,607
9. Quintin Porterfield – 3,846
10. Parker Wubbena – 3,656
 
 
 

Eastern Women's Athletes Ranked in Top 10 in the Big Sky Conference

 
Mile
10. Kaylin Sheley – 5:25.12
 
60 Meter Hurdles
5. Nyenuchi Okemgbo – 8.89 (converted from 55 time of 8.26 - #3 in EWU history)
 
4x400 Relay
8. Eastern (Bowles, Kennedy, Hatton, Knight) – 4:01.73
 
High Jump
9. Rebecca Thareek – 5-5
 
Pole Vault
1. Samantha Raines – 12-11 3/4
3. Savannah Schultz – 12-6
5. Morgan Fossen – 12-0 3/4
6. Rosalie Folger-Vent – 11-10 1/2
9. Katrina Terry – 11-6 1/4
 
Long Jump
3. Madelyn Knight – 18-4 1/2
4. Aulane Mpouli – 18-3 1/4
5. Rebecca Thareek – 17-10 3/4
 
Triple Jump
5. Rebecca Thareek – 38-6 1/4 (#6 in EWU history)
10. Aulane Mpouli – 37-6 1/2
 
Shot Put
6. Hadassah Ward – 44-11
10. Samantha Boudreau – 44-3 1/4
 
Weight Throw
2. Vernice Keyes – 57-10 1/4 (#9 in EWU history)
3. Madison Doepker – 56-1 1/4
8. Hadassah Ward – 52-8
9. Samantha Boudreau – 52-4
10 Kaitlyn Paller – 52-1
 
Indoor Pentathlon
5. Rebecca Thareek – 3,428 (#4 in EWU History)
6. Aulane Mpouli – 3,287 (#7 in EWU History)
7. Madelyn Knight – 3,191 (#11 in EWU History)
9. Maggie Nelson – 3,084
 
 

More Comments from Women's Head Coach Marcia Mecklenburg

On Idaho Open: "Our pole vaulters -- Samantha Raines, Savannah Schultz, Morgan Fossen and Katrina Terry -- had a great showing at the UW Preview, so we expect them to come into the Idaho Open ready for even better performances. One of our freshman 60-meter hurdlers, Nyenuchi Okemgbo also ran well at the UW meet.  It will be fun to see what she can do in Moscow on a faster racing surface. Keep your eye on Rebecca Thareek in the high jump and Meagan McCurdy in the long jump. Those two athletes are overdue to hit some big marks and I think they are more than ready for it to happen this week. We will be back in full force in the weight throw.  We had a few hiccups at the UW in that event so I think that crew is determined to redeem themselves."

On UW Preview: "The Husky Preview was a super competitive meet. It is always fun to compete against the Pac-12 Conference schools and see where we stack up. The meet was a great opportunity for our athletes to see and compete against some top notch athletes. That is always a plus and good competitive experience for future meets. Next up, the Idaho Open."
 
On Pole Vault at UW: "Samantha Raines' fourth-place finish in the afternoon section of the vault had to be another highlight for us and for her. The eventual winner of the vault made some attempts at a new collegiate record. When you are in a competition like that it is something you remember for the rest of your life. Our top performances came in the vault. Savannah Schultz's win in the morning session was great to see. She led an EWU 1-2-3 sweep with Morgan Fossen placing second and Katrina Terry placing third. Anytime a freshman can come in and win you know there are good things that are going to happen down the road."
 
On Other Top Performers at UW: "Vernice Keys also made it to the finals in the weight throw. I think that she was disappointed and wanted to throw farther, but it is still pretty early in the season."
 
 
 

More Comments from Head Coach Stan Kerr

 
On Parker Bowden at UW: "You could sense Parker was going to have a special race today," said Eastern men's head coach Stan Kerr. "His competition warm-up and positive mental approach to today's hurdle race showed why he's been such a steady and successful competitor during his tenure it's EWU. I know Parker will be anxious to return to the UW in two weeks because he'll have the opportunity to race against an even stronger field than he faced today."
 
On Other Top Performers at UW: "I was pleased with the men's 4x400 relay – they have made steady strides to unlock their talent. Today we got a small glimpse of that talent and they're very aware of the necessary work to truly unleash their competitive gifts. The consistency of our throwers is a breakthrough waiting to happen. It's not uncommon to plateau in performances before putting together a stellar competition and making that long anticipated breakthrough. Our jumpers had a bag of mixed results.  Like their teammates, their motivation to shine in meets took a strong step forward today."
 
On Multi-Events: "Adding to our firepower this year is Grant Shurtliff, who will be contending for the conference title in the heptathlon indoors and decathlon outdoors. Grant will have great accompaniments in the multis with Aaron Pullin and Quintin Porterfield. All three of those guys will double-back in individual events, which adds significantly to our team depth."
 
On Sprints & Hurdles: "I'm excited about the depth of our 400-meter crew. Liam Bracken, Camden Phelps, Grant Hannan, Jayce Freeman and Kody Vigesaa give us one of the strongest groups of quarter-milers we've had in years. Great summer and fall training regimens are going to translate to high-level performances for Parker Bowden in the hurdles and Joe Gauthier and Dawson Lack in the short dashes. They are a hard-working and very driven group of competitors in practice every day. Cole Harrison and Miguel Punsalan are right on the heels of these guys and will be pushing them in every competition."
 
On Jumps & Pole Vault: "Keshun McGee and Bobby Say give us one of the best 1-2 punches in the jumps in the Big Sky Conference. Both have big goals and will be a joy to watch compete all year. We've added to our pole vault depth with the addition of two talented freshmen, Zach Klobutcher and Brayden Freitag. Before Zach and Brayden are done with their careers, they'll score a ton of points."
 
On Throws: "Our throwers are still a pretty young group but picked up a lot of experience last year and are ready to have a breakthrough season. Garrett Peoples and Colton Kautz are set to compete at a much higher level all year."
 
On Distance Runners: "Leading our youthful distance crew will be Isaac Barville. Isaac will face stellar competition in the 1500 meters indoors, but is poised to have his best season ever. Carter Ledwith also faces a rugged distance force in racing against our Big Sky competitors. He's coming off a PR in the 10K he posted late in the XC season and will enter the indoor season ready to race."
 
 

2019-20 EWU Indoor Track & Field Schedule

 
Fri/Sat - Dec. 6-7, 2019 - EWU Candy Cane XII - Cheney, Wash. – No Team Scoring
Fri/Sat - Jan. 10-11, 2020 – Vandal Open and Lauren McCluskey Multi - Moscow, Idaho – No Team Scoring
Saturday - Jan. 18, 2020 - Univ. of Washington Indoor Preview - Seattle, Wash.
Thursday - Jan. 23, 2020 - Idaho Open - Moscow, Idaho
Fri/Sat - Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2020 - UW Invitational (plus multi events) - Seattle, Wash.
Friday - Feb. 7, 2020 - Idaho Team Challenge - Moscow, Idaho
Fri/Sat - Feb. 14-15, 2020 - Bronco Challenge - Boise, Idaho
Thur/Fri/Sat - Feb. 27-29, 2020 - Big Sky Track & Field Indoor Championships - Pocatello, Idaho
Fri/Sat - March 13-14, 2020 - NCAA Division I Indoor Championships - Albuquerque, N.M.
 
 
 

Returning NCAA Championships Participants

 
Keshun McGee – (2019 Outdoors: 18th in Triple Jump/51-9, No Place in Long Jump/No Mark)

 
 

Returning Men's All-Big Sky Athletes

 
(Top 3 finish at the Big Sky Championships)
 
Bailey Aiello – (2019 Outdoors: 3rd in pole vault/15-9 3/4; 2019 Indoors: 3rd in the pole vault/15-4 1/4)

Tim Beard – (2018 Outdoors: 3rd in hammer/190-4)
 
Parker Bowden – (2018 Indoors: 2nd in 60-meter hurdles/8.00)

Joe Gauthier – (2019 Outdoors: 3rd in 100/10.54; 2019 Indoors: 3rd in the 60-meters/6.83) 

Keshun McGee – (2019 Indoors: 1st in long jump/25-4 1/2, 1st in triple jump/50-11; 2019 Indoors: 1st in long jump/25-6, 1st in triple jump/51-5; 2018 Outdoors: 1st in long jump/24-10 1/2, 2nd in triple jump 51-6 1/4; 2017 Indoors: 1st in long jump/25-0, 2nd in triple jump/51-1)
 
Killion McGinnis – (2019 Outdoors: 3rd in high jump/6-8 1/4)
 
Aaron Pullin – (2018 Indoors: 3rd in pole vault/15-8 1/2)
 
Bobby Say – (2019 Indoors: 3rd in triple jump/48-3 1/2)
 
 

Returning Women's All-Big Sky Athletes

 
(Top 3 finish at the Big Sky Championships)
 
Madison Doepker – (2019 Outdoors: 1st in javelin/154-8; 3rd in hammer/193-2; 2018 Outdoors: 3rd in the javelin/147-11)

Samantha Raines – (2019 Outdoors: 1st in pole vault/13-4 1/2; 2019 Indoors: 2nd in the pole vault/13-2 1/2)
 
Katrina Terry – (2019 Outdoors: 3rd in pole vault/12-6 3/4)