The Eagles finally get to compete in a scored meet to see where they stack up.
 
The Eastern Washington University track and field teams will compete against local NCAA Division I colleges at this Friday's (Feb. 7) Idaho Team Challenge at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.
 
The meet will be scored, and among those schools scheduled to compete are Idaho, Washington State, Montana, Seattle and Gonzaga. With other meets hosted by Idaho State and Montana State that day, the competition versus Big Sky Conference rivals Idaho and Montana will give the Eagles a glimpse of where they will stand heading into the league championships later this month in Pocatello, Idaho.
 
Events begin Friday at 10 a.m. with the start of field events, with running events beginning at 11 a.m. The last scheduled running event is 3:05 p.m., with many events including multiple heats and preliminaries in the 60-meter dash and hurdles. Most field events will be limited to one flight to expedite the meet.
 
The women's team has two conference leaders, but it happens to be in the same event. Senior Samantha Raines – this week's Big Sky Conference women's "Field" Athlete of the Week -- cleared 13-5 1/4 in the pole vault a day after freshman teammate Savannah Schultz cleared the same height. Their marks rank third in EWU history, and are also sixth in Big Sky Conference history.
 
"With the vaulters coming off such a great week of competition all eyes will be on them to improve even more," said women's head coach Marcia Mecklenburg. "I think they are ready to go higher and their next marks are going to be close to national indoor qualifying heights. It is always exciting to have EWU represented at the national level."
 
Eastern's coaching staff wanted to nominate both Raines and Schultz for the Big Sky honor, but the league will accept just one nominee per category per school. Entering this week's action, that duo leads the Big Sky, with Raines placing second a year ago indoors at the Big Sky Conference Championships and then going on to capture the title outdoors.
 
Eastern owns five of the top eight marks in the league in the pole vault. Eastern also owns six of the top 14 marks in the weight throw, three of the top six in the long jump and four of the top 11 in the pentathlon.
 
For the men, senior Grant Shurtliff joined Raines as a recipient of Big Sky Conference "Field" Athlete of the Week. He has the league's top score in the heptathlon with 5,212 points, coming just 10 from the school record. Joining him in the 5,000-point club is senior Aaron Pullin, who had 5,044 points in last week's UW Invitational to rank second in the league and third all-time at Eastern. In the same meet, junior Quintin Porterfield had 4,725 points to move into fourth in the league and eighth in EWU history.
 
Ranking No. 2 in the league is Parker Bowden in the 60-meter hurdles (EWU record 7.97 time). Shurtliff also owns the third-best pole vault (16-4 3/4 to rank fourth in EWU history) and senior Jonah Mathews is third in the 60 meters (6.85 to rank fifth all-time at Eastern).
 
The men's team also has a pair of dominant events in the Big Sky rankings. Five of the top nine heptathletes are Eagles, and EWU also has four of the top 10 pole vaulters.
 
"We fully expect the number of seasonal and lifetime personal records to increase as they have all of indoor season," said men's head coach Stan Kerr. "This is a short week with the meet being held on Friday, but the opportunity remains the same -- to compete at your best level. "
 
Thus far, Eastern has competed in two meets at the University of Idaho and two at the University of Washington, as well as the Candy Cane XII in December in Cheney. Following this week, the Eagles compete at the Bronco Challenge on Feb. 15 in Nampa, Idaho, and hosted by Boise State University. The Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships take place on Feb. 27-29 in Pocatello, Idaho
 
 
A Look Back at the UW Invitational
 
Senior Samantha Raines matched her teammate's best jump from the day before in the pole vault for the Eastern Washington University track and field teams on Feb. 1) on the final day of the University of Washington Track and Field Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Wash.
 
Having entered the UW Invitational with the best jump in the Big Sky this season of 12-11 3/4, Raines watched Friday as freshman teammate Savannah Schultz cleared 13-5 1/4 to rank as the third-best vault in school history. On Saturday, in the Invitational portion of the pole vault, Raines also cleared 13-5 1/4.
 
The Eastern duo ended up tied for fourth in the final standings with each missing once at 13-5 1/4 and once at 12-11 1/2. In fact, the only difference in their progressions was that Schultz entered the competition at 11-5 3/4 and Raines entered at 11-11 3/4. Raines is a 2015 graduate of Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, Wash., and Schultz is graduated last spring from Centennial HS in Portland, Ore.
 
Eastern also registered three of the top eight finishers in the men's heptathlon, with senior Grant Shurtliff, senior Aaron Pullin and junior Quintin Porterfield all registering point totals that rank in the top eight in school history. Shurtliff finished fourth with 5,166 points, but earlier this season he had a mark of 5,212 which ranks second in school history and was just 10 points short of the school record of 5,222. Pullin was sixth with 5,044 points, improving upon his previous best of 4,989 points in 2016 which had ranked third in EWU history. Porterfield had 4,725 points to rank eighth all-time at Eastern.
 
Senior Jonah Mathews placed fourth in the 60 meter dash, finishing as the top collegian with a time of 6.88. He had a time of 6.99 in the prelims to record the sixth-fastest time among 36 competitors. Sophomore Bobby Say placed fourth in the triple jump with an effort of 47-3 3/4. That was a season best by less than an inch, having entered the competition with a best mark of 47-3 to rank fourth in the Big Sky Conference.
 
On Friday's first day, freshman Nyenuchi Okemgbo had a personal record of 8.89 in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles to rank second in school history with the fastest time in 20 years. But she topped that with an 8.85 time in the finals to finish sixth. The only time ahead of her is the school-record 8.51 clocking by Eastern Hall of Famer Seville Broussard-Hering in 1999.
 
Sophomore Vernice Keyes improved her career best in the weight throw with an effort of 59-7 to place third among a field of 44 competitors and rank sixth in EWU history. She led a contingent of seven Eastern throwers in that event, with a total of five going over 50 feet. Sophomore Rebecca Thareek finished fourth in the pentathlon, finishing with 3,211 points and below her season best of 3,428 which ranks fourth in school history.
 
Eastern's women's distance medley relay team made its 2019 debut, and finished with a 12:18.61 time to finish 16th and rank sixth in EWU history. The team consisted of freshman Maddie Drennen, freshman Faith Kennedy, freshman Kaylin Sheley, and sophomore Megan Pitzman.
 
For the men on Friday, sophomore Carter Ledwith out of Spokane's Lewis & Clark High School had one of the top performances of the day for the men with a time of 14:41.85 in the 5,000 meters. His time ranks as the eighth-best in school history as he finished 28th in a field of 48 competitors.
 
Senior Parker Bowden out of Spokane's Central Valley High School, had a time of 8.03 in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles to finish as the top collegian. He was third overall, trailing only Greggmar Swift of adidas (7.72) and unattached Joseph Anderson (7.99). Bowden beat a trio of Big Sky Conference rivals, including Ben Doucette of Idaho who has the best time in the league thus far of 7.90. Bowden's best time of 7.97 set two weeks ago at the UW is a school record.
 
 
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
3. Jonah Mathews – 6.85 - #5 in EWU History
 
200
6. Jonah Mathews – 22.02 - #10 in EWU History
 
60 Meter Hurdles
2. Parker Bowden – 7.97 – EWU RECORD
 
4x400 Relay
8. Eastern (Mathews, Phelps, Freeman, Bracken) – 3:22.31
 
Distance Medley
8. EWU A (Whited, Phelps, Kness, Rehm) – 10:35.77
 
High Jump
6. Killion McGinnis – 6-5
 
Pole Vault
3. Grant Shurtliff – 16-4 3/4 (#4 in EWU History)
6. Zach Klobutcher – 16-0 3/4 (#6 in EWU History)
10. Bailey Aiello - 15-3 3/4
10. Brayden Freitag – 15-3 3/4
 
Long Jump
3. Keshun McGee – 24-3 3/4
 
Triple Jump
1. Keshun McGee – 51-6 1/2
5. Bobby Say – 47-3 3/4
 
Weight Throw
7. Colton Kautz – 59-2 3/4 (#10 in EWU History)
                                 
Heptathlon
1. Grant Shurtliff – 5,212
2. Aaron Pullin – 5,044 (#3 in EWU History)
4. Quintin Porterfield – 4,725 (#8 in EWU History)
8. Elijah Conley – 4,080
9. Elijah Hammer – 4,038
 
 
 
Eastern Women's Athletes Ranked in Top 10 in the Big Sky Conference
 
60 Meter Hurdles
3. Nyenuchi Okemgbo – 8.85 (#2 in EWU history)
 
4x400 Relay
10. Eastern (Bowles, Kennedy, Hatton, Knight) – 4:01.73
 
Distance Medley
3. Eastern (Drennen, Kennedy, Sheley, Pitzman) – 12:18.61 (#6 in EWU History)
 
High Jump
10. Rebecca Thareek – 5-5 (#10 in EWU History)
 
Pole Vault
1. Samantha Raines – 13-5 1/4 (#3 in EWU History)
1. Savannah Schultz – 13-5 1/4 (#3 in EWU History)
6. Katrina Terry – 12-1 1/2
7. Morgan Fossen – 12-0 3/4
8. Rosalie Folger-Vent – 11-10 1/2
 
Long Jump
3. Madelyn Knight – 18-4 1/2
4. Aulane Mpouli – 18-3 1/4
6. Rebecca Thareek – 17-10 3/4
 
Triple Jump
6. Rebecca Thareek – 38-6 1/4 (#6 in EWU history)
10. Aulane Mpouli – 37-6 1/2
 
Shot Put
8. Hadassah Ward – 44-11
 
Weight Throw
2. Vernice Keyes – 59-7 (#6 in EWU history)
4. Madison Doepker – 56-1 1/4
 
Indoor Pentathlon
6. Rebecca Thareek – 3,428 (#4 in EWU History)
7. Aulane Mpouli – 3,287 (#7 in EWU History)
8. Madelyn Knight – 3,191 (#11 in EWU History)
 
 
More Comments from Women's Head Coach Marcia Mecklenburg
 
On Idaho Challenge: "The Idaho Team Challenge will be a scoring meet for us. It will be good to see where we stand against Idaho and Montana in one on one competition. The team is continuing to improve in all the event areas and that is what we need to do at this point in the year."
 
On Raines & Schultz at UW Invitational: "Samantha couldn't let her teammate Savannah take over the conference lead in the pole vault. So in today's elite section of the pole vault, Sami set a personal record and tied with her teammate for the conference lead. It is good to have two Eagles on top of the Big Sky leaderboard."
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Stan Kerr
 
 
On Idaho Challenge: "The Idaho Team Challenge will be a very competitive meet for our team.  There will be six D1 teams participating which translates to an exciting event for our athletes and fans.  Idaho has done a terrific job in creating this meet which allows for an early reveal of team's strengths heading into the championships at month's end in Pocatello."
 
On Heptathletes at UW Invitational: "Grant, Aaron and Quintin were the shining stars today as they collectively showed what happens when hard work meets opportunity. Aaron surpassed the 5,000-point barrier for the first time in his life.   Passing that barrier is significant because he's a senior and will compete in just one more heptathlon in Pocatello."
 
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)