SALEM, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University track and field program saw two athletes qualify for 2014 NAIA Outdoor Nationals and saw three athletes hit the provisional mark during the Willamette Invitational. Along with the auto and provisional marks the Mountaineers saw one school record broken at the meet.
In the first event of the day at the Willamette Invitational, Brian Wickham hit the NAIA “B” standard in the discus. On his final throw of the day, Wickham recorded a throw of 47.98 meters (157-5 ¼) to hit the “B” standard. He missed out on the NAIA “A” standard by .02 meters.
Wickham continued his successful day in the men’s hammer throw as he finished fourth in the event. Wickham, who hit the NAIA “A” standard last week, improved on his “A” standard mark this week by recording a throw of 54.85 meters (179-11 ¾). He improved his throw by 1.35 meters.
In the last race of the day, Damion Flores hit the NAIA “A” standard in the 5,000 meter run. He finished the race in a time of 14:32.62 to finish second in the race to an NCAA Division I Chase Caulkins of Portland. Flores was 13 seconds under the “A” standard and clocked the fastest time in the CCC this season.
In the first running event of the day, the Mountaineers 4x100 meter relay team collected the top time at the Willamette Invite by finishing in 48.94 seconds, which was 0.71 seconds off the school record, which was set the previous week at the EOU Team Challenge.
For the second straight week, Kadie Booth set the school record in the 200 meter run. Booth ran a time of 25.20 seconds, to break her previous school record she set last weekend at the EOU Team Challenge. She broke her previous school record by 0.10 seconds.
In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Lucas Updike improved his NAIA “B” standard time by one second at the Willamette Invite. Updike won the steeplechase at the meet by clocking a time of 9:27.92, which was five seconds faster than the runner up.
Talitha Fagen won the women’s pole vault as she cleared a height of 3.55 meters (11-7 ¾), which hit the NAIA “B” standard.
The Mountaineers had 40 men and women athletes hit the Cascade Collegiate Conference qualifying marks to compete at the CCC Outdoor Conference Championships on May 9-10.
The Mountaineers return to action on April 11-12 when they head to Spokane, Wash. to take part in the Albertson’s War VII hosted by Community Colleges of Spokane.