SPOKANE, Wash. – Eastern Oregon University Track & Field wrapped up its first meet of 2022 on Friday and had a number of quality performances. Highlighting the day for the Mountaineers was a pair of wins and four all-time top-10 marks.
Picking up wins on the day was sprinter
Cody Milmine in the 200 meter dash and
Hunter Nichols in the 800 meter run. Along with their wins,
TJ Davis (60 meter hurdles),
Katie Brown (60 meter dash),
DJ Wilson (triple jump) and
Maggie Ledbetter (weight throw) all posted program all-time top-10 marks in their respective events.
In the 200, Milmine was in a neck-and-neck race till the end. He crossed the finish line in 22.02 seconds and his head lean helped him edge out his opponent by .01 seconds for the win. He also qualified for finals in the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.89 seconds. He was seeded second but finished one spot better in second in the finals with a time of 6.91 seconds. Milmine's time in the 60 finals was also 1/00th of a second off from an NAIA automatic qualifying time.
Nichols also shared the spotlight, with a win in the 800. He crossed the finish line in 1:57.45 and was well ahead of the field en route to his win. In the 60 hurdles, Davis had a pair of quality races to earn a top-five finish. He was fourth in prelims with a time of 8.38 and improved his time in finals.
In the second go around the hurdles, Davis ran a time of 8.27 seconds to finish third overall. His time also put him second all-time in program history in the event. Davis' also had an admirable performance in the high jump placing sixth with a clearance of 5-10 ¾.
Putting herself in the top-10 for EOU's all-time indoor marks was freshman
Katie Brown with her performance in the 60. She ran the sixth fastest time ever for indoor in the prelims in 7.96 seconds. Her time seeded her seventh and she finished in the same spot in finals in a time of 8.10.
Joining Brown with an all-time top-10 performance as a true freshman was
DJ Wilson in the triple jump. On his second attempt of the day, he leaped 41-10 ¾ to secure a second place finish. Along with that, his mark is now ninth best in EOU history for the indoor season.
No stranger to top-10 lists at EOU, senior throw
Maggie Ledbetter once again etched her name in the record books, this time in the weight throw. She hit a mark of 49-10 on her second attempt which earned her a third place finish and now puts her sixth all-time in program history in the event. Ledbetter also placed third in the shot put with a mark of 44-0 ¾ to place third.
In the men's 200,
Bryce Peters recorded a top-10 finish with a time of 23.01 seconds. His time earned him a 10th place finish. In the women's 400 meter dash,
Lauryn Mitchell was ninth, running a 62.90.
In the distance races,
Katie Jo Gebhardt highlighted the group with a sixth place finish in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:24.20. On the men's side, freshman
Cristian Mendoza placed 10th in the 3,000 meter run with a final time of 8:54.05.
In the high jump, Davis was one of four Mountaineers that placed in the top-10.
Tyler Jones led the way placing second with a height of 6-4 ¾. Following Davis' sixth place finish was
Jacob Gates who was seventh with a clearance of 5-8 ¾.
Manuel Aguirre rounded out the quartet placing eighth, also with a height of 5-8 ¾. On the women' side,
Karli Bedard finish ninth in the high jump, clearing 4-9.
In pole vault, four EOU women placed in the top-10 led by
Faith Wagner. She was seventh, clearing 9-10.
Abby Winstead and
JoAnna Campbell finished eighth and ninth, respectively, as both athletes cleared 9-10 as well. On the men's side, Davis led the way finishing sixth with a height of 13-1 ½.
Gabriel Streblow also cleared 13-1 ½ but finished seventh based on attempts.
In the throwing events,
Kenna Woodward also finished inside the top-10 alongside Ledbetter. She finished eighth with a heave of 37-9 ¼. Woodward also finished fourth in the weight throw right behind Ledbetter with a mark of 46-1 ¼.
Danielle Church was 10th in the event clearing 41-8 ½.
On the men's side,
Tanner Nett earned a fourth place finish in the shot put with a throw of 48-9 on his first throw of the day. The true freshman also placed ninth in the weight throw with a mark of 41-5, which came on his third attempt of the day.
In the relay races, Eastern ran two women's 4x400 meter squads, with both placing in the top-10. Highlight the 4x400 though was the men's lone squad that placed fourth. The quartet of
Cody Milmine,
Bryce Peters,
TJ Davis, and
Jonathan Wind ran a collective time of 3:27.88.
On the women's side, earning a sixth place finish in a time of 4:12.91 was the group of
Katie Brown,
Lauryn Mitchell,
Katie Jo Gebhardt, and
Morgan Bayes. EOU's second squad was seventh in a time of 4:26.14. Making up the second group was
Kendall Bonzani,
Karli Bedard,
Madelyn Nichols, and
Emma Hollon.
The Mountaineers will have a week's rest before returning to action on Jan. 22. EOU's next meet will once again be an NCAA Division I event when the team competes at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open hosted by University of Idaho.
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