CALDWELL, Idaho – Eastern Oregon University Track & Field put together another solid day of competition at the Polar Vortex Classic on Saturday. The Mountaineers had multiple athletes hit quality marks and times. Along the way, Eastern also had some of its all-time top-10 marks rewritten once again.
A big highlight on the day was the performance of
Judson Mansfield in the heptathlon. The freshman finished day two of the multi-events with a final point total of 4,647 which earned him a second place finish.
His point also moves Mansfield up to No. 12 in the NAIA, giving a quality shot at making Indoor Nationals. The two-day performance aso moves Mansfield up to No. 8 all-time in EOU history for the indoor season.
One event that saw multiple changes on it's all-time list was the women's 600-meter run. Three Mountaineers ran all-time top-10 times to etch their names into the record book.
Katie Jo Gebhardt won the race, running a 1:38.35 to now rank sixth in indoor history.
Also joining the top-10 list was
Morgan Bayes and
Lauryn Mitchell. The two finished second and third, respectively, in the race. Bayes ran a 1:39.48, while Mitchell clocked a 1:39.94. Their times now rank eighth for Bayes and 10th for Mitchell in indoor history.
Adding to the theme of stellar performances were
Maggie Ledbetter and
Kenna Woodward in the shot put and weight throw.
Ledbetter threw a season best mark of 44-11 ¾ in shot put to move up to No. 9 on the NAIA qualifying list and won the event. Her mark is another A standard mark and guarantees her a spot at Indoor Nationals. In the weight throw, Ledbetter was third with a throw of 51-7 ¼. She just missed the NAIA B standard but her mark is now fifth all-time in EOU indoor history.
Woodward had a day in the weight throw with a heave of 54-1 to place second. Her mark not only hit the NAIA A standard to auto-qualify her for Indoor Nationals, but it is also now the third best throw all-time in program history. In the shot put, she hit a personal best with a mark of 38-10 ¼ and placed fifth.
On the men's side,
Travis Running highlighted day two on the track with an NAIA B standard time in the 3,000-meter run. He ran an 8:39.06 and was the event winner for the Mounties. His time also ranks just outside the EOU top-10 and is now 11th best in program history for indoors.
On the field,
Allexander Kosel led the way hitting season best marks in the triple jump and long jump. He also hit an NAIA B standard mark in the triple jump and was the event winner in both. In the triple jump, he leaped 46-8 to score the win. In long jump, Kosel posted a mark of 22-9 ¼ to walk away the victor.
Eastern secured a sweep in the jumps on day two as
Tyler Jones also won the high jump. The freshman cleared a height of 6-5 to easily win the event by nearly six inches.
Katie Brown swept the short sprints, winning both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash finals. She won the 60 with a time of 7.99 and clocked a 25.91 in the 200.
Unless head coach
Ben Welch decides to add another last chance qualifier meet, the Mountaineers will now await their postseason fate and see who will qualify for this year's NAIA Indoor National Championships. The 2022 NAIA Indoor National Meet will be held in Brookings, South Dakota March 3-5. The host site will be Dakota State University.
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