GENEVA, Ohio – Eastern Oregon University track and field student-athlete Robbie Haynie won the NAIA Indoor men’s heptathlon national title Friday.
Haynie becomes the first ever EOU men’s indoor national champion with a total of 5,473 points. Haynie broke the national championship record for the pole vault in the heptathlon with a vault of 16-10. The previous record was 15-09.
Haynie becomes the first Mountaineer to be named an indoor national champion since April Haney won the women’s weight throw in 2001. Haynie is the third overall EOU student-athlete to win a national title as Kristen Peterson was the first in 1998 in the women’s pole vault.
Friday’s final point total was a school-record as well for Haynie. He led the heptathlon field after the first day and four events. The junior held a slim 20-point lead over defending national champion Casey Stevick. Haynie’s Day 1 total was 3,019 points, 137 points ahead of the pace he set during the qualifying. The Nampa, Idaho native recorded personal records in all four events the first day.
Dustin Cloud finished the heptathlon in eighth place with new personal records from all of the events on the second day. The senior ended the competition with a point total of 4,823, beating his previous personal record by 271 points. Cloud finished ninth at last year’s national championships.
Anne Barnett entered the women’s weight throw ranked 30th and finished in 17th. The senior had a top mark of 51’1”. The Hermiston, Ore., native came into the championships with a personal record of 50’2”.
The Mountaineers had a pair of track athletes qualify for the women’s 800-meter finals. Alma Garcilazo ran the fastest qualifying time of the day and broke her own school record with a time of 2:13.55. Sarah Hanchett made the eight-member final after crushing her personal record with a time of 2:14.55. Her previous indoor best was 2:19.12. Event leader and defending national champion, Helen Croft of Simon Fraser, dominated the third heat to enter the final just a two hundredth of a second behind Garcilazo.
In the men's 800 meters, Ryan Booth cruised into the final with a third place finish in the second of two heats.
DJ Flores ran the second fastest time in EOU history in the men's 3,000 meters to advance to the finals. Karlee Coffey cruised into the finals as well with the fifth-best time in the women’s 3,000 meter race.
Day three action will feature the finals of the women’s and men’s 800 meters, and the 3,000-meter finals. Haynie enters the men’s pole vault with the nation’s top mark. And, both Barnett and Ashlee Michelson in the women's shot put.