FINAL RESULTS

The indoor season rolls on for the Eastern Washington University track and field team, who competed at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open today (Jan. 22) at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, for the first time this year. It was a successful day both on the track and in the field events, as Eastern won four events and set six new all-time top-ten EWU marks between the men's and the women's squad.
 
A pair of Eagles in Bobby Say and Daniel Gaik walked away with two new top-ten marks each. Say leaped to a first-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 50-3 ¼ which is third all-time at Eastern Washington, besting his previous mark of 49-5. He also finished second in the long jump with a distance of 23-10 to squeak in the 10^th-best mark in EWU history.  
 
Daniel Gaik cruised to a first-place finish in the 200-meters, clocking the third fastest time in EWU history at 21.48. He qualified for the 60-meter finals with a time of 6.96, then improved with a time of 6.88 to finish third and record the sixth-fastest time in EWU history.
 
"Daniel Gaik put on a great show today in generating two lifetime best performances in the 60-meters and 200-meters. His 200-meter win also earned him the number one ranking in the 200-meter in the conference rankings," said head men's coach Stan Kerr. "Bobby Say also showed his talents with another strong showing in the long jump. Bobby's big moment though came in the triple jump with his first ever jumps over 50 feet.  He is definitely a shining star in the horizontal jumps."
 
On the women's side, Katrina Terry cleared 12-11 ½ to place first, notching the eight-best mark in program history. Katie Petsch had a memorable day on the track, qualifying for finals in the 60-meter dash where she recorded a first-place time of 7.67 to rank fifth all-time in the Eastern record book. She improved from her qualifying time of 7.80.
 
"The Kibbie Dome without a basketball court in the middle of it is a great facility, for the first time in years we were able to see all of the full-lap races. We are improving each week, and this week was no different," noted head women's coach Marcia Mecklenburg. "Our two event winners, Katrina Terry in the pole vault and Vernice Keyes in the weight throw, led the team as they continue to move up the Big Sky lists."
 
Vernice Keyes brought home a first-place finish for the Eagles in the weight throw, tossing 56-8.
 
Top Women Performances
 
In the field events, Eastern placed three others in the top-ten behind Keyes. Kaitlyn Paller finished third (53-0 ¾), followed by Carissa Stovall (9^th, 46-0 ½) and Dyvhine Fonoti (10^th, 45-7 ¼). The Eagles had a strong showing in the shot put as well, placing six throwers in the top-11. Stovall led the way with a fifth-place finish after tossing 43-4 ½ and Paller followed in sixth with a mark of 42-11 ¾. Margaret Nelson (7^th, 39-2 ½), Dyvhon Fonoti (9^th, 38-11), Chloe Dibisceglie (10^th, 36-11 ¾) and Dyvhine Fonoti (11^th, 36-9) rounded things out.
 
"In addition to Keyes' win in the weight throw, Kaitlyn Paller finished third. Four shot putters made it to the finals with Carissa Stovall leading the crew with a fifth-place finish," Mecklenburg expressed.
 
Nelson also got in some good practice for the pentathlon, finishing third in the long jump with a leap of 17-9 ½ and fifth in the high jump with a mark of 5-2 ¼. The women's pole vault squad continued to shine, as Hally Ruff finished behind Terry with a second-place finish after clearing 12-5 ½.
 
"In the jumps, multi-Maggie tied for third in long jump, fifth in the high jump, and placed seventh in the shot put. That makes for some nice points in the pentathlon," said Mecklenburg. "Hally Ruff vaulted her third personal-best in a row and placed second in the vault behind Terry."
 
On the track, three Eagles qualified for finals in the 60-meter hurdles. Alyssa Hoffman led the way with a fifth-place and improved from 9.24 in the prelims to 9.22 in the finals. Madelyn Knight clocked a qualifying time of 9.28 in the prelims, but did not compete in the finals. Felicity Hempstead finished sixth overall with a time of 9.44.
 
Along with Petsch, Samiah Kuntz also qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash. She finished fourth overall with a time of 7.86. Petsch wrapped up a solid day with a third-place finish in the 200-meters with a time of 25.47, followed by Faith Kennedy who finished in 26.22 to place fifth.
 
"The short sprints and hurdles are coming along nicely for the team. Katie Petsch ran a tough 60 and placed second with teammate Samiah Kuntz placing sixth. Katie also placed third in the 200 with an outstanding early season time of 25.47 and teammate Faith Kennedy was a close fifth place," added Mecklenburg. "The 60-hurdles were another strong event for us with three Eagles making it to the finals. Alyssa Hoffman led the way with a second-place finish and teammates Madelyn Knight and Felicity Hempstead finished fifth and sixth respectively."
 
The distance squad also saw success, with Jasmin Munteon finishing third in the 3,000-meters with a time of 10:55.60. Jenni Bissell recorded a fourth-place finish in 2:19.95, followed by Madi Carr who was sixth in 2:22.56.
 
"In the distances, EWU had a great showing in the 800. Jenni Bissell ran a sub 2:20 and placed fourth overall and Madi Carr won her heat and placed seventh overall. It was a good day for those freshmen," concluded Mecklenburg. "It was an exciting day and with all the good performances, I know our athletes are already looking forward to next week."
 
Top Men Performances
 
In addition to Say's performances in the long and triple jump, the jumps were highlighted by Braydon Freitag and Alex Bishop. Each recorded second-place finishes, with Freitag clearing 14-10 in the pole vault and Bishop leaping 6-7 ½ in the high jump.
 
On the track in the 60-meter hurdles, Chris Homen qualified for finals with a time of 8.89 before improving to 8.83 to finish fifth. Joe Gauthier won the 60-meter prelims with a qualifying time of 6.88, just shy of his personal best of 6.77, but unfortunately false started in the finals. Gauthier also finished fourth in the 200-meters with a time of 22.06.
 
The crew of Daniel Maxwell, Lucas Robert, Alec Kness, and Brock O'Neal finished second in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:30.23.
 
In the distance events, the men finished sixth through 10^th in the mile, led by Cameron Stuard with a time of 4:32.48. Noah Hasselblad led the way in the 3,000-meters, finishing sixth while clocking a time of 8:57.23.
 
"The indoor season presents unique obstacles to overcome. For example, different sized tracks, elevated runways for the jumps and portable rings for throwers all make for a steep learning curve in mastering those respective events. Nonetheless, the attitude to learn was very present today, even if persona records didn't come with the performance," concluded Kerr. "We're back at Idaho next week for the Team Duals Meet. The Duals meet has a great history and we're looking forward to learning more this week and putting together more strong performances again next week."
 
Eastern Washington returns to the Kibbie Dome next week on Saturday, Jan. 29 for the University of Idaho Team Challenge in Moscow, Idaho.