SPOKANE, Wash. – Indoor track and field season is officially underway after the Mounties kicked of the 2022-23 season at the Spokane Invitational hosted at The Podium in Spokane. Eastern put together some strong performances on the men's and women's side.
For the men the highlight of the day came in the shot put. Tanner Nett set an Eastern Oregon University record with a throw of 52 feet and 10 and a half inches. The toss earned Nett a sixth-place finish and an automatic qualification for the NAIA Indoor National Championships.
On the women's side it was Michelle Herbes and Lauryn Mitchell who stood out. Herbes etched her named in the record books in the mile as she finished with a time of 5:07.62 that is good for second all time at Eastern Oregon University. Her performance earned her fifth place and an NAIA provisional mark to be considered for the Championships in March. Mitchell put together an equally impressive performance in the 600-meter race placing sixth with a time of 1:37.32. Mitchell's performance ranks third all-time in the Mountaineer record books and also earned a provisional mark.
Other notables on the day included a very strong men's performance in the 5,000-meter race. Travis Running, Justin Ash, Winston Telford, Jonny Wind, Hunter Nichols, Caleb Brown, and Thomas Ogden swept spots six through 12 in the race. Running, Ash, Telford, and Wind all finished with times that rank in the top-15 of EOU's record books for the race.
Eastern Oregon's distance runners on the women's side pulled their weight as well with three top-10 finishers. Riley Morris, Madelyn Nichols, and Elisabeth Young all finished in under 21 minutes for the Mountaineers. All three posted times that are good for top-15 in EOU's all-time record books for the 5,000-meter race.
The Spokane Invitational wraps up competition for Mountaineer Track and Field in the calendar year of 2022. Eastern will compete again in January when they return to Spokane for the Spokane Indoor Challenge, a two-day event held at The Podium.
For full meet results, click the link above.