Meet Results, Information & Schedule
Using a strong long jump to improve her four places in the competition,
Aulane Mpouli scored five points with a fifth-place finish in the pentathlon as the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships got underway Thursday (Feb. 27) at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.
The sophomore from Auburn, Wash., finished with 3,419 points in the five-event competition to rank fifth in the competition. Freshman
Madelyn Knight was ninth with a mark of 3,284 to rank eighth all-time at EWU.
"It is always good to go into the main portion of the Big Sky Conference Championships with some points on the board," said Eastern women's head coach
Marcia Mecklenburg. "
Aulane Mpouli had a great long jump to put her in position, then hung on and gritted out the final event, the 800, to finish in fifth."
On a pace which could see him set a school record, senior
Grant Shurtliff scored 2,901 points in the first four events of the heptathlon to lead that event. Shurtliff, a transfer from Lane Community College, needs 2,322 points in the final three events on Friday (Feb. 28) to break the record of 5,222 set by Kersee Lind in 2012. Earlier this season, Shurtliff scored 2,855 on the first day en route to finishing with 5,212 points and rank second in school history.
"It was a good day one effort for our guys," said Eastern men's head coach
Stan Kerr. "Three of the five finished the first day in the in scoring positions (top eight) and we have a fourth competitor in ninth. An effort tomorrow that matches or exceeds today's effort will potentially be one our best-ever performances by a group of our heptathletes at a league championship."
The conclusion of the men's heptathlon begins on Friday, Feb. 28 (9 a.m.). The regular portion of the Big Sky Indoor Championships begins Friday with finals in six field events starting at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time, with running events starting at 3:30 p.m. Most of Friday's running events will be preliminaries, but the finals of the 5,000 meters and distance medley relays will take place that day.
The final six field events take place Saturday, Feb. 29, starting at 9 a.m., with the running events beginning at 11:30 a.m. The meet is scheduled to conclude just after 3 p.m. Pacific time.
Other Men's Top Performances
While Shurtliff entered the competition with the best mark in the league, a pair of teammates entered ranked in the top five. Senior
Aaron Pullin had a high of 5,044 to rank third, and junior
Quintin Porterfield ranked fifth with 4,725. After Thursday, Porterfield sits in sixth place with 2,704 points and Pullin is eighth with 2,609.
Shurtliff scored 740 points in the high jump with a leap of 6-4 to lead the competition. He also scored 750 in the long jump to finish as the runner-up with a effort of 22-1. His shot put of 39-8 1/2 was fourth and earned him 612 points, and he scored 799 in the 60 meters with a 7.24 time.
Porterfield scored 847 points with the third-fastest 60 time of 7.10, and Pullin scored 819 with a 7.18 time which ranked fifth. Porterfield also scored 713 points in the long jump with a 21-6 3/4 effort to rank fifth, and Pullin scored 616 in the shot put with the third-best effort of 39-10 3/4.
Elijah Conley, who is 13th with 2,439 points, scored 666 of those in the shot put with a competition-leading 42-7 effort.
Race Treat is ninth with 2,589 points, and had the sixth-best high jump with an effort of 5-11 1/4 to rank sixth.
Other Women's Top Performances
Mpouli jumped from seventh to third in the competition with an 18-3 3/4 long jump to give her 723 points. It was the third-best jump in the competition and just 3 3/4 inches from her best set previously this season of 18-7 1/4. She also scored 832 points in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.38 in the 60-meter hurdles, then concluded the competition with a 2:40.60 time in the 800 meters to score 566.
Sophomore
Rebecca Thareek also had an impressive long jump with an effort of 18-0 which was the fourth-best in the competition. She scored 860 points in the hurdles with a 9.24 time, but scored only 701 in her specialty, the high jump, with a 5-1 3/4 effort that was four inches below her best. She finished in 10th place with 3,279 points, well below her best this season of 3,428 which ranks fourth in EWU history.
Maggie Nelson and
Aulane Mpouli finished 1-2 in the shot put, with Nelson scoring 668 points with a 39-8 1/2 throw and Mpouli two points and 1 1/4 inch behind.
Madison Wilson had the third-best high jump of 5-5 1/4 to score 806 points, and Knight was fifth with a 5-3 leap to score 736.
Knight had the top time among EWU competitors and was ninth-fastest overall in the 800 with a 2:31.91 time to score 669 points. Wilson finished with 3,234 points to rank nine all-time at EWU and Nelson had 3,149 to rank 15th.
Eastern Men's Finishers
Heptathlon (after first four events)
1.
Grant Shurtliff – 2,901
(7.24 in 60 meters, 22-1 in long jump, 39-8 1/2 in shot put, 6-4 in high jump)
6.
Quintin Porterfield – 2,704
(7.10 in 60 meters, 21-6 3/4 in long jump, 35-5 1/4 in shot put, 5-10 in high jump)
8.
Aaron Pullin – 2,609
(7.18 in 60 meters, 19-8 3/4 in long jump, 39-10 3/4 in shot put, 5-8 3/4 in high jump)
9.
Race Treat – 2,589
(7.22 in 60 meters, 20-4 1/4 in long jump, 34-6 1/4 in shot put, 5-11 1/4 in high jump)
13.
Elijah Conley – 2,439
(7.43 in 60 meters, 17-11 3/4 in long jump, 42-7 in shot put, 5-7 3/4 in high jump)
Eastern Women's Finishers
Pentathlon
4.
Aulane Mpouli – 3,419
(#5 in EWU History)
(9.38 in 60 hurdles, 4-11 1/2 in high jump, 39-7 1/4 in shot put, 18-3 3/4 in long jump, 2:40.60 in 800)
9.
Madelyn Knight – 3,284
(#8 in EWU History)
(9.28 in 60 hurdles, 5-3 in high jump, 26-11 1/4 in shot put, 17-0 3/4 in long jump, 2:31.91 in 800)
10.
Rebecca Thareek – 3,279
(9.24 in 60 hurdles, 5-1 3/4 in high jump, 28-10 1/4 in shot put, 18-0 in long jump, 2:40.24 in 800)
11.
Madison Wilson – 3,234
(#10 in EWU History)
(9.27 in 60 hurdles, 5-5 1/4 in high jump, 29-9 1/4 in shot put, 16-11 1/2 in long jump, 2:46.64 in 800)
12.
Maggie Nelson – 3,149
(#13 in EWU History)
(10.21 in 60 hurdles, 5-0 1/2 in high jump, 39-8 1/2 in shot put, 16-8 in long jump, 2:41.08 in 800)
More Comments from Women's Head Coach Marcia Mecklenburg
On First Day: "I think our athletes were hoping to do better, but I was pleased that they had some great performances in the individual events that make up the five events in the pentathlon. We just need to do better in more of those individual events."
More Comments from Head Coach Stan Kerr
On First Four Events of the Heptathlon: "The guys experienced the roller coaster momentum of the combined events. We're excited for tomorrow's conclusion of the heptathlon. There were personal records throughout the competition which is a great sign heading into Friday's competition."
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)
