CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington wrapped up its third meet of the season at the Frank Knott Classic, hosted by Whitworth. The Eagle women finished third overall with 93 points, while the men placed fifth with 148 points.
Sara Sanders led the way for the Eastern women, placing sixth overall with a season-best time of 21:31.7. Lexi Meyer followed in 16th, recording a new personal-best time. Hannah Lee placed 24th, Ifechi Okoye finished 25th and Rhiannon Davies rounded out the Eagles' scoring five in 29th.

On the men's side, Conner Wirth paced the Eagles with a sixth-place finish, clocking a season-best 24:06.1. Trajn Swalstad was Eastern's next finisher in 31st, followed by Owen Higgins in 38th. Jiri Ceska placed 49th, while Lucas Spurling finished 59th to complete the Eagles' scoring five.

"Today was Separation Saturday," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Erin Tucker said. "I am pretty certain we have our Big Sky rosters set with one meet to go. Coach K and I chatted a few weeks ago and agreed the top eight, maybe nine, from this meet will race in the final regular-season meet. We talked eight, and if we needed a ninth to have another opportunity, let's do it."

With the Big Sky Championships now less than a month away, Tucker sees both teams beginning to hit their stride at the right time.

"We are in full championship mode as we are one month out from the conference meet," Tucker said. "We are peaking at the right time, and with one month left before conference, I am pretty sure in two weeks we are going to put on a show to close out the regular season."

Tucker was also encouraged by the performances from both groups, particularly the women's third-place team finish and several breakthroughs on the men's side.

"Both groups ran great. Congrats to the women getting third behind two NCAA-caliber teams," Tucker said. "The men are coming, and we had a few breakthroughs, but we have more in the tank. In two weeks, many will see what Coach K sees every day."

Up Next
Eastern Washington will continue its season at the George Oja Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17, the Eagles' final tune-up before the Big Sky Championships.


ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

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