CORVALLIS, Ore. – Eastern Washington wrapped up the regular season with split squads competing at the Desert Heat Classic and the OSU High Performance Invite. Across both meets, the Eagles combined for 13 personal records and one school record, with the women accounting for seven PRs and the men adding six.
"Championship time is here and we ended the regular season with a bang!" said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country
Erin Tucker.
OSU High Performance Invite
Lexi Meyer continued her standout season, placing fifth in the collegiate 800m while breaking her own school record by nearly two seconds with a time of 2:08.80.
"What can we say about Lexi, last week's school record was not good enough for her. She obliterated her own record by almost two seconds! Which is crazy is she's not done, stay tuned!" Tucker said.
Ifechi Okoye also impressed in the 800m, winning the open race in a personal-best 2:11.07 to move into fourth all-time at Eastern.
In the 400m,
Ashleigh Burke placed fifth with a season-best 58.34.
Sara Sanders added a strong performance before delivering a PR of 4:30.89 in the 1500m, moving to No. 5 in program history.
"Starting off with OSU we had a ton of PRs on Friday, but the big one that stood out was Sara, she is rocking and rolling and I know there is more left to come," Tucker added.
The Eagles closed out the meet on the track with a win in the 4x400m relay, as Burke, Slomska, Okoye, and Meyer combined for the victory.
In the field events,
Zoe Dunn had a standout day, winning the triple jump with a PR of 12.42m (40-9) to move into third all-time. She also placed second in the long jump with another PR of 5.69m (18-8).
Madison Bond finished third in the triple jump, while
Lenah Martin placed sixth.
"The flight crew had a solid trip to OSU, highlighted by Zoe's PR in the triple jump and an outdoor PR for Nic in the triple jump as well. Give those two a hand as they moved up the leaderboard in the Big Sky," Tucker said.
Frania Barba-Romero cleared 3.65m (11-11.75) to place fourth in the pole vault, with
Kirsten Anderson finishing seventh.
Ashley Fuller took third in the discus (44.30m / 145-4), and
Ella Seelhoff tied for seventh in the high jump (1.52m / 4-11.75).
On the men's side,
Marcus Lemon placed sixth in the 1500m (3:55.40), while
Charlie Ledwith recorded a PR of 9:22.28 to finish fourth in the 3000m steeplechase.
Evan Cheney added a PR in the 5000m (14:53.41), and
Henry Nelson moved to ninth all-time in the 800m with a time of 1:51.11.
Modou Kinteh clocked a season-best 48.49 to place fourth in the 400m, with
Erick Simpson finishing sixth. The 4x400m relay team of Breier, Kinteh, Nelson, and Simpson capped the meet with a second-place finish in 3:17.53.
In the field,
Koda Woodard recorded a PR in the shot put (16.56m / 54-4).
"Koda repped for the 'Bomb Squad' with a huge shot put PR, and it was great to see him hit one a week after Jason did," Tucker said.
Nic Cunningham posted a season-best 14.36m (47-1.5) in the triple jump to place fourth and added a sixth-place finish in the long jump (7.04m / 23-1.25).
Desert Heat Classic
The women's 4x100m relay team of
Gilana Wollman,
Judith Koumedzina,
Sydney Thweatt, and
Jordyn Grady delivered one of the top performances of the weekend, running 45.61 to move into No. 2 in program history.
"The Desert Heat Classic produced quite a bit of heat, this is why we go there! Both 4x1's jumped into the top five, with the women taking over the No. 2 spot. The top-five list got some work this weekend," Tucker said.
Koumedzina had a stellar meet, clocking 11.66 in the 100m to rank fourth all-time at Eastern, then following with a 23.90 in the 200m to move into second all-time.
Grady excelled in the 400m hurdles, placing fourth with a PR of 58.48 to move into second all-time, while
Melia Middleton also posted a PR of 1:00.26 to move into fifth.
"It was great to see Melia PR once again, that is two meets in a row, and she has more left," Tucker said.
"Jordyn is not done, trust me. That school record is going down soon," Tucker added.
In the field,
Shai Gray and
Manthita Wague each placed ninth. Gray recorded 5.96m (19-6.75) in the long jump, while Wague jumped 12.15m (39-10.5) in the triple jump.
On the men's side, the 4x100m relay team of
Kris Phennicie,
Enoch Okoh,
Maddy Shekhawat, and
Malachi South ran 40.57 to place ninth and move into fifth all-time at Eastern.
Shekhawat added a sixth-place finish in the 110m hurdles (13.85), while Phennicie sprinted to a PR of 10.36 in the 100m to climb to No. 2 in program history. Okoh matched his PR at 10.50, maintaining his No. 4 all-time standing.
Cort Gebbers led the men in the field with a fifth-place discus throw of 54.67m (179-4), and Dieumerci Migani placed sixth in the triple jump (14.91m / 48-11).
Eastern now turns its attention to the postseason.
"All in all, we are moving in the right direction and are on the cusp of putting together a great conference meet. We will fight for a ton of first-place finishes and destroy a few school records along the way. Next stop: Portland, Oregon. Go Eags!" Tucker said.
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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