NAMPA, Idaho – The Eastern Oregon University track and field team began its outdoor season on a chilly day at the Northwest Nazarene University Crusader Open Saturday.
The Mountaineers’ women’s 4x100-meter relay team of Brittany Sims, Kadie Booth, Kelsey Kinzer, and Kimmy Moore ran the sixth-fastest time in school history. The quartet finished first in the event with a time of 49.64. EOU’s second team of Brynna Rust, Rachel Harris, Allison Escobar, and Maddison Stapleton raced to a 52.50 third-place finish.
Sims would later win the women’s 100 meters, Booth came in third, Kinzer crossed the line in fourth, and Cory O’Neil was fourth. Booth took first-place in the 200 meters with O’Neil coming in third. Moore finished second place in the 400 meters. Sims and Moore ended their day with second and third in the 400-meter hurdles. Sims time of 64.82 was the second-fastest in school history.
Sarah Beck qualified for the Cascade Collegiate Conference meet with a 10th place finish in the women’s pole vault with a top mark of nine feet, six inches. Overall, the Eastern women had nine athletes record 15 conference qualifying marks, with O’Neil leading the way with three individual qualifying marks in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters.
On the men’s side, the EOU highlights came in the throwing events. Four throwers, Andy Munsey, Jason Hendricks, Trevor Barrett and Tyler Bruck, recorded nine conference qualifying marks between the shot put, hammer throw and discus. Munsey and Hendricks hit conference marks in all three events.
Eastern Oregon distance runners had five conference qualifiers in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Isaac Updike, Forrest Lumpry, Zach Seely, Michael Wanta and Gus Titus all qualified. Updike’s time of 9:46.05 for second place is the fastest debut in the steeplechase by a freshman in the last 20 years at EOU.
In the sprints, Tyler June recorded the another two conference qualifying marks in the 200 and 400-meter events. June was fourth in the 200 (23.42) and third in the 400 (51.25).
The Mountaineers host the annual EOU Blue and Gold mini-meet Friday. Field events begin at 2 p.m. and events on the track start at 3 p.m.