NAMPA, Idaho – The Eastern Oregon University men’s and women’s track and field team continued its success as three school records were broken and three more qualified for the national championships at the Boise State University Invitational on Saturday.
The first school record that was broken for EOU came in the women’s 60 meter dash. In heat one, Roneka Robinson broke Kadie Booth’s record by .01 tenths of a second. Robinson ran the 60 in a time of 7.96.
Robinson held that record by herself for only 15 minutes, because in the sixth heat of the women’s 60 meter dash, Booth tied Robinson with a 7.96 for the school record. Robinson and Booth tied for ninth in the event.
Megan Sullivan ran the third fastest time All-time for EOU in the 400 meter run. Sullivan improved her provisional time by 0.57 tenths of a second and finished 10th in the 400 meter run with a time of 58.96. Sullivan missed the NAIA “A” Standard by .36 tenths of a second.
Running in the 600 meter run, Irene Olivo ran the second fastest time in EOU history. Olivo ran a time of 1:38.22, to finish third, missing out on second place by .03 tenths of a second. Her time of 1:38.22 hit the NAIA “B” Standard.
Talitha Fagen continued to improve her height in pole vault. Fagen finished fifth in the pole vault this week and broke the school record by vaulting 3.65 meters (11’ 11 3/4”). She broke the previous school record by 4 ¾”. Fagen’s previous high this season was 11 feet 5 ¾ inches.
Hans Roelle added another NAIA “A” standard to his list on Saturday, as he hit the “A” standard in the 600 meter run. Roelle won the 600 meter run by two seconds with a time of 1:20.62, which was .37 tenths of a second faster than the “A” standard. Roelle's time is the second fastest on the all-time list for EOU.
Damion Flores continued his success this indoor season as he finished third in the 600 meter run in a time of 1:22.57, which is the third fastest time in school history. Flores continued to run well at the meet as he finished sixth overall and moved to fifth in the all-time list in the 800 meter run. Flores ran the 800 in a time of 1:55.63, which hit the NAIA “B” standard.
Isaac Updike added an event to his national championship trip as he qualified for the mile run. Updike hit the NAIA “A” standard with a time of 4:17.28. Updike finished first in the mile, by three seconds, over NCAA Division I Kyle Brush. Updike passed Brush on the final turn to claim the win.
The newest member of the national qualifiers is Travis Simpson. Simpson hit the NAIA “A” standard in the high jump has he jumped 2.05 meters (6’ 8 ¾”) and finished second in the high jump behind NCAA Division 1 Anthony Gregory. Simpson also hit the NAIA “B” standard in the triple jump. Simpson jumped 6.56 meters (21’ 6 ¼”) to finish fourth in the triple jump. His triple jump is the second best in school history.
Ryan Rosenau finished fourth place in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds, which was fourth fastest all-time for EOU. Rosenau also led the Mountaineers 4x400 meter relay team to a fourth place finish and a school record.
Led by Rosenau, the 4X400 team composed of Flores, Roelle and Taylor Owens finished the last race of the day in a time of 3:21.83. This broke the previous school record this team held by three seconds.
The Mountaineers return to Nampa, Idaho next Saturday, to participate in the Boise State Team Invitational on Feb. 15. This will be the last regular season meet for Eastern Oregon before the National Championships.