Eastern Washington University's men's and women's indoor track and field teams will continue its season this weekend at the second competition of the year in Spokane, Wash., for the Spokane Invitational on Saturday (Dec. 11) at The Podium.

Live results for the competition can be found here.

The meet will begin on Saturday with the women's high jump and the 5,000 meters at 9 a.m. The men's running events will begin at 9:50 a.m. with the men's 5,000 meters and the field events for the men begin at 10 a.m. with the men's long jump.

"There's a feeling of privilege and honor in being a part of the inaugural track and field meet at The Podium this weekend, said head men's coach Stan Kerr. "A majority of the team will be competing and are excited to have this caliber of meet prior to the Christmas break. Spokane has a long and proud history of track and field. Our team being a part of this new history is definitely going to be a lifetime memory for all our athletes. We've put in a solid fall training and are ready to go." 

Last weekend on Dec. 3-4, the Eagles competed in their first competition at the Candy Cane Invitational in Cheney, Wash. Both the men's and women's teams from Eastern had competitors win first place overall. For the men, sophomore Elijah Conley placed first overall with 4,342 points. Conley, placed first in the men's shot put throwing 39-8 1/2. On the women's team, senior Maggie Nelson placed first overall with a total of 3,425 points. The point total ranked fourth all-time in program history at Eastern Washington.

This indoor track meet is exciting for all as head women's coach Marcia Mecklenburg explains, "After two years it has been a long wait, but we finally get to compete indoors again.  I know the athletes are all excited and it will be fun to see what they do. On the women's side, keep your eyes on our vault crew. We are returning the outdoor Big Sky Conference Champion, Katrina Terry, and NCAA second team All-American, Morgan Fossen. It will be fun to watch them compete to see who comes out on top. Rosalie Folger-Vent also scored for us outdoors last year so she should have an impact for our crew. In the sprints and hurdles, Alyssa Hoffman is a returning Big Sky Conference outdoor scorer and will help lead our young crew of sprinters.  One of those youngsters to watch is Samiah Kuntz who just missed out on scoring in the 100-meters at the Big Sky Championships last spring. Vernice Keyes is also a returning All-Big Sky Conference athlete in the weight throw two years ago and the hammer last spring. This is her final indoor season so she has some pretty lofty goals she wants to accomplish. In the shotput watch for Kaitlyn Paller and Carissa Stovall.  They both scored for us outdoors last spring and have been looking good in training this fall. Our distance athletes are coming off a cross country season so the majority of those athletes won't start competing indoors until after the winter break." 

About The Podium

"It is going to be great to start our indoor competitions at the new world class facility, The Podium.  As the first track and field meet being hosted at the Podium, I think many of our athletes have an eye on getting some of those facility records," explained Mecklenburg.

The Podium is a new facility that was just built this year and the Spokane Invitational will be its first competition it has hosted. The word-class championship venue is sitting on a 15-foot basalt outcropping, overlooking downtown Spokane and is connected to Riverfront Park. The Podium is located in the heart of downtown Spokane in walking distance to hotels, restaurants, retail, and entertainment options.  

This 135,000 sq. ft. world-class championship venue has a 200-meter hydraulic banked track that can go from zero degrees to 12. The track will also have high jump, long jump, pole vault, etc. It has the ability to hold 3,000 fans in the permanent seats and even has the ability to add 1,000 more that are portable.

Tickets for the competitions are on sale on The Podium's website linked here.

Spectators are welcome, but must wear a mask unless actively eating or drinking.

The Podium has a clear bag policy that can be found here.

Following this week's competition, Eastern will take a break for one month for the holidays then they will compete at the Cougar Classic on Jan. 14 in Spokane, Wash., at The Podium.