GRESHAM, Ore. – Eastern Washington University Athletics wrapped up the 2026 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships with both the men's and women's teams finishing seventh overall. The Eagle men totaled 58 points, while the women scored 53 points across the four-day meet.
Despite challenging Pacific Northwest weather conditions that included multiple lightning delays, rain and chilly temperatures, the Eagles battled through to produce six podium finishes, two new all-time top-10 marks and seven personal records.
"Another outdoor season is in the books," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Erin Tucker said. "We could talk about the adversity we had this season, or we can celebrate how hard we fought all year long. Welcome to the PNW — the last four days were a lot of fun with sun, rain and chilly weather. We powered through it and got some things done."
Finals
Freshman Alex Blecha highlighted the championship performances with a gold medal in the men's pole vault. Blecha cleared 5.24m (17-4.25), breaking his own school record and moving into second all-time in program history while also climbing to No. 67 nationally in NCAA Division I.
"Wow wow wow," Tucker said. "From fourth indoors to our new Big Sky pole vault champion and a ticket punched to the first-round meet. The sky is his only limit!"
Eastern added another podium finish in the men's triple jump as Dieumerci Migani earned silver with a leap of 15.10m (49-6.50). Cort Gebbers secured bronze in the men's discus with a throw of 54.14m (177-7), while freshman Shai Gray placed third in the women's long jump at 5.88m (19-3.50).
"Knowing Cort, he is not happy being third, but this is his first Big Sky podium with more coming in the future," Tucker said. "For Shai to get on that podium after barely missing it indoors was absolutely amazing to see."
On the track, Jordyn Grady captured bronze in the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 59.24, while Madhvendra Shekhawat placed third in the men's 110m hurdles in 14.04. Grady also added a fifth-place finish in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.87.
"Kudos to Jordyn for getting third in the 400 hurdles," Tucker said. "We talk about Maddy versus himself all the time and it was exactly what happened on Saturday."
The Eagles produced several strong finishes in the field events outside the podium as Nic Cunningham placed seventh in the men's long jump with a mark of 6.93m (22-9.00). Migani also added a fifth-place finish in the long jump at 7.07m (23-2.50), while Manthita Wague posted a season-best leap of 5.72m (18-9.25) to place seventh.
Eastern scored heavily in the women's triple jump, led by Zoe Dunn in fourth at 12.07m (39-7.25). Wague followed in fifth at 12.01m (39-5.00), while Azaria Purdy finished with a mark of 11.74m (38-6.25).
"The women's triple jump led us off as three women scored in the top eight for us," Tucker said. "Excellent weekend for the Flight Crew. They really stepped up this weekend."
In the women's pole vault, Frania Barba-Romero cleared 3.69m (12-1.25) for seventh place, while Kirsten Anderson posted a personal-best clearance of 3.79m (12-5.25) to finish fifth.
On the track, Modou Kinteh placed seventh in the men's 400m with a time of 48.30, while Judith Koumedzina finished fifth in the women's 100m in 11.73. Kristian Phennicie added a fourth-place finish in the men's 100m at 10.53. Lexi Meyer finished sixth in the women's 800m with a time of 2:10.85, and Owen Higgins took seventh in the men's 800m in 1:50.21.
The women's 4x100 relay team of Gillana Wollman, Koumedzina, Gray and Grady placed fifth in 45.45, moving into second all-time in school history.
"She returned on day four and gave us a great third leg on the 4x1 to jump to No. 2 all-time from lane eight," Tucker said of Gray.
Koumedzina added another fourth-place finish in the 200m at 24.25, while Phennicie took sixth in the men's 200m in 21.44. Melia Middleton also recorded a personal-best time of 1:00.01 in the women's 400m hurdles to finish sixth.
Eastern closed the meet with both 4x400 relay squads scoring points. The women's quartet of Grady, Koumedzina, Meyer and Ifechi Okoye placed seventh in 3:52.32, while the men's relay team of Malachi South, Kinteh, Higgins and Prynce Millman finished eighth in 3:17.87.
"With three lightning delays, constant light rain all day and sub-60 degree temperatures, we still secured one point for each team," Tucker said. "They ran with pride and did it for the logo."
Prelims
Sara Sanders opened the preliminary rounds by qualifying for the women's 1500m final with a time of 4:49.27. Jordyn Grady recorded a personal-best 13.82 in the women's 100m hurdles to qualify fifth overall, while Maddy Shekhawat advanced to the men's 110m hurdles final after winning his heat in 14.06.
Modou Kinteh advanced to the men's 400m final with a personal-best 47.90. Judith Koumedzina qualified for the women's 100m final in 11.87, and Kristian Phennicie moved on in the men's 100m after running 10.57.
Lexi Meyer continued her strong season by qualifying for the women's 800m final in 2:10.05, while Owen Higgins advanced in the men's 800m with a time of 1:50.37.
Both Jordyn Grady and Melia Middleton advanced to the finals in the women's 400m hurdles. Grady ran 1:00.19 to place second overall, while Middleton finished fourth in 1:00.61.
Koumedzina earned a second finals berth in the 200m after winning her heat in 24.43, and Phennicie also qualified for the men's 200m final in 21.58.
"The women did something special this weekend," Tucker said. "We had a finalist in every event from the 100m to the 1500m that we entered. This progress on the track is remarkable."
Multis
Prynce Millman represented the Eagles in the decathlon, opening the competition with a seventh-place finish in the 100m at 11.28. He added a third-place finish in the long jump at 6.62m (21-8.75) and a season-best throw of 11.01m (36-1.50) in the shot put to finish seventh after day one with 3,357 points.
On day two, Millman recorded a personal-best 16.11 in the 110m hurdles and added strong finishes in the discus, pole vault and 1500m. He closed the decathlon in sixth place overall with 6,128 points.
"This young man grinded all year and has a bright future here at EWU," Tucker said.
Ella Seelhoff competed in the heptathlon, highlighted by a personal-best throw of 30.32m (99-5) in the javelin and a fourth-place finish in the 800m at 2:27.06. She finished 11th overall with 4,400 points.
EWU Podium Finishers
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Alex Blecha — Men's Pole Vault — 1st
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Dieumerci Migani — Men's Triple Jump — 2nd
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Shai Gray — Women's Long Jump — 3rd
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Cort Gebbers — Men's Discus — 3rd
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Madhvendra Shekhawat — Men's 110m Hurdles — 3rd
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Jordyn Grady — Women's 400m Hurdles — 3rd
Men's Final Team Scores
1) Northern Arizona – 171
2) Sacramento State – 110
3) Montana – 107.5
4) Montana State – 105
5) Weber State – 93.5
6) Idaho State – 80
7) Eastern Washington – 58
8) Idaho – 51
9) Northern Colorado – 33
10) Portland State – 9
Women's Final Team Scores
1) Montana State – 181
2) Northern Arizona – 128
3) Montana – 111
4) Idaho – 110
5) Sacramento State – 72.5
6) Weber State – 58
7) Eastern Washington – 53
8) Northern Colorado – 42
9) Idaho State – 38.5
10) Portland State – 25
New EWU All-Time Top Ten
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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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