WOMEN
SPOKANE, Wash. - Eastern Oregon returned to action at The Podium on Friday and Saturday for the Whitworth Invitational. The No. 1-ranked team in the region and No. 21-ranked team in the nation continued to post strong performances over the two-day meet. This weekend saw the Mounties post a new top-25 mark in every single event both in field events and on the track.
Starting with field events the throwers had another strong showing in the weight throw. Eastern took the top two spots on the podium as Maggie Ledbetter and Kenna Woodward finished first and second. Ledbetter notched another “B” Standard mark winning the event with a throw of 16.14 meters. Woodward also added another “B” Standard mark finishing just behind Ledbetter with a throw of 16.12 meters. Trinity Hill also made some noise finishing in sixth with a throw of 14.27 meters and Abby Lusco finished 11th with a throw of 12.99 meters.
In the shot Maggie Ledbetter posted a high “B” Standard with a throw of 13.44 meters which was good for second place. Kenna Woodward also finished in the top 10 taking seventh with a 12.22-meter throw.
Moving onto the track, the sprints were highlighted by another strong performance from Yahaira Chavarria-Mondragon who placed 24th setting a personal record. Her time of 26.36 seconds puts her at No. 15 in the EOU record books.
Riley Morris set a PR in the mile finishing 19th overall with a time of 5:21.95 which is good for No. 15 in the EOU record books for the event. In the 800-meter run it was Lauryn Mitchell who set a huge PR with a time of 2:18.52 placing sixth overall. Mitchell’s time ranks seventh in program history.
In the Distance Medley, EOU’s women’s team narrowly missed an “A” Standard time as the team of Madelyn Nichols, Sydney Peck, Katie Jo Gebhardt, and Michelle Herbes finished with a time of 12:25.37 which is good for fifth all-time in program history. The squad was just 35 hundreths of a second off of an “A” Standard.
As for the multi’s, freshman Elizabeth Grandle had another strong day in the pentathlon. She improved her best score by 142 points finishing fourth in a large field of 18 competitors while earning a “B” Standard. The jump in score came thanks to improvements in four of five events compared to her last outing. The highlight of her performance came in the high jump where she cleared the NAIA Standard with a jump over 1.64 meters which ranks third in program history for the event. Her total score moved Grandle up to No. 5 all-time in the EOU pentathlon standings.
MEN
SPOKANE, Wash. – Eastern Oregon returned to action at The Podium on Friday and Saturday for the Whitworth Invitational. The No. 1-ranked team in the region continued to post strong performances throughout the two-day meet. This weekend saw the Mounties post a new top-25 mark in every single event both in field events and on the track.
Starting with the shot put, Eastern’s Brooks Michaels hit a massive PR with a throw of 13.78 meters. The mark ranks No. 15 all time in program history.
As for the pole vault, Maxon Huxoll set a PR clearing 4.07 meters making his way into the EOU top-25 records at No. 25.
Moving over to the track, EOU’s men had arguably their best showing to date. In the sprints Cody Milmine and Bryson Spears finished seventh and 20
th overall in the 60-meter race. Spears’ time of 7.19 seconds moved him into a tie for the No. 8 spot in program records. Spears also moved up to No. 22 all-time in the 200-meter race finishing behind teammates Cody Milmine and Bryce Peters. Wrapping up the sprints, Mason Nichols finished 16th overall with a time of 51.59 seconds which was good for No. 15 all-time at EOU.
In the 800-meter run the Mounties were led by Jonathon Wind and Caleb Brown. Wind finished third overall with a time of 1:55.06 while Caleb Brown finished a few seconds behind with a time of 1:58.02 which moves him into No. 18 in the EOU record books for the race. Eastern had just as much success in the mile as well with Hunter Nichols leading the way finishing 12th with a time of 4:22.15. It was Travis Running and Justin Ash who moved up in the record books, though, as they finished with times of 4:23.89 (No. 20 all-time) and 4:24.22 (No. 22 all-time) respectively.
The Mounties continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the distance races. Individually Eastern took spots 5-7 in the men’s 5,000-meter race. Cristian Mendoza led the way with a time of 15:09.62 which is good for third all time in program history. He was followed by Winston Telford and Justin Ash who finished a second apart with times of 15:16.28 and 15:17.56. Telford and Ash earned sixth and seventh place finished which ranked fifth and sixth all time in the EOU record books.
EOU also put together an impressive performance in the Men’s Distance Medley. Caleb Brown ran the opening 1,200 followed by Mason Nichols running the 400, Jonathon Wind running the 800 and Hunter Nichols wrapping it up as the anchor running the 1,600. The squad earned an automatic qualification for the National Championships finishing with a time of 10:14.26 which is good for #9 in program history.
As for the shorter relays, the squad of Bryson Spears, Israel Miles, DJ Wilson and Hunter Nichols tied the No. 21 time in program history finishing in 3:28.11.
In the Heptathlon Judson Mansfield and Israel Miles both posted strong overall performances. Mansfield was just off his PR in the heptathlon and continued to strengthen his case for the National Championships.
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