LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University hosted their second ever indoor track meet on Friday and Saturday, the EOU NAIA Last Chance Invite. The seven-team meet lived up to expectations as the competitors battled in their last shot to qualify for the NAIA National Championships coming up at the beginning of March.
WOMEN
THROWS
Eastern Oregon took the top two spots in the shotput with Maggie Ledbetter notching her best throw of the year to win the event. Ledbetter hit a mark of 14.06 meters with her fourth throw of the day which was good for an “A” standard mark. Behind her in second place was teammate Kenna Woodward, and in third was College of Idaho’s Taylor Durfey.
The duo of Ledbetter and Woodward also took the top two spots in the women’s weight throw. Both hit qualifying marks as Ledbetter’s throw of 16.76 meters was good for a “A” Standard and facility record while Woodward’s throw of 16.31 meters was good for a “B” Standard. EOU’s Trinity Hill took third in the event to round out a Mountie sweep at the top of the podium.
JUMPS
The jumps started early with high jump taking place on Friday afternoon. College of Idaho’s Morgan Harrison took the win clearing 1.52 meters in her first attempt to edge out EOU’s Adrien Washington who cleared the same height on her second jump. Ashton Haughton finished in third for the Mountaineers to wrap up the event.
On the other side of the EOU Field House Multnomah’s Jeramea Dennison won the long jump with a jump of 5.24 meters. EOU’s Sade Williams was the runner-up followed by College of Idaho’s Morgan Harrison.
Dennison also earned a second-place finish in the triple jump. Winning the event was Lewis-Clark State’s Sydnie Zywina with a “B” Standard jump of 11.37 meters. The College of Idaho’s Sophi Clay rounded the top three out in third place.
As for the pole vault LC State’s Cynthia Smith took a comfortable victory clearing 3.35 meters. Behind Smith was EOU’s Alex Partch in second place and College of Idaho’s Sage Wood.
SPRINTS
In the sprints EOU got off to a strong start with Morgan Bayes and Yahaira Chavarria-Mondragon taking spots one and two. Bayes took the win edging out Mondragon by one-one hundredth of a second posting a time of 7.86 seconds. College of Idaho’s Sage Wood finished third.
The women’s 200-meter dash ended in similar fashion to the 60 with EOU taking the top two spots and College of Idaho finishing in third. Mondragon took the win with a facility record time of 26.33 seconds followed by teammate Katie Brown. The Yotes’ Sage Wood took another third place finish to round out the top three.
MID-DISTANCE
In the women’s 600-meter run Lauryn Mitchell took the top spot on the podium followed by Oregon Tech’s Eva Brady in second and EOU teammate Kendall Bonzani in third. Mitchell’s 1:37.93 time was good for a “B” Standard just off her best mark from earlier this year.
Moving on to the 1,000-meter race, Abbey Shirts from the College of Idaho blew away the competition winning by more than 10 seconds with a time of 2:59.44. Shirts’ time was good for an NAIA “A” Standard and a new facility record. Following Shirts was EOU’s Katie Jo Gebhardt in second place and her teammate Madelyn Nichols in third.
To wrap up the mid-distance races was the women’s one mile run. College of Idaho’s Ellyse Tingelstad took the win in the event posting a facility record time of 5:19.61. EOU’s Riley Morris took second, while the Yotes also took the third spot with Molly Connor coming in behind Morris.
DISTANCE
The women’s 3,000-meter run had three contestants. Multnomah’s Makenna Stock took the win by nearly a minute finishing with a time of 11:53.62. Treasure Valley’s Kiara Soto and Elena Fenn took second and third respectively.
RELAYS
The relays started on Friday with the 4x800. Eastern Oregon’s squad consisting of Kendall Bonzani, Riley Morris, Katie Jo Gebhardt, and Lauren Mitchell ran a time of 9:45.55 earning an “A” Standard. Not far behind was College of Idaho’s squad who notched a “B” Standard time of 9:48.47.
The Last Chance Invite finished with the 4x400 meter relay where EOU’s team of Morgan Bayes, Michelle Herbes, Lauryn Mitchell, and Sydney Peck set a facility record and “B” Standard time finishing in 4:02.43
PENTATHLON
In the women’s pentathlon that spanned two days, EOU’s Elizabeth Grandle had a dominant showing winning the long jump, high jump, and 60-meter hurdles to earn a total score of 3,281, her highest score of the year. In second, EOU’s Karli Bedard finished with 3,134 points followed by Oregon Tech’s Ally Odell with 3,128 points.
MEN
THROWS
Starting Saturday morning with the shot put, it was Tanner Nett who took the win on his home turf. The sophomore returned to form, hitting an “A” Standard mark for the second time this winter with a throw of 16 meters. His toss also was good for a facility record. College of Idaho’s Tanner Sackman finished in third followed by EOU’s Brooks Michaels in third.
Some big throws got the crowd on their feet at the end of the meet in the men’s weight throw. Caden Hottman (competing unattached) won the event with a facility record and NAIA “A” Standard mark of 17.93 meters. EOU’s Brooks Michaels took second with a throw of 16.53 meters which was good for a “B” Standard. Treasure Valley’s Brock Payne finished in third with a throw of 16.05 meters.
JUMPS
The jumps started early with high jump taking place on Friday afternoon. EOU’s Tyler Jones remains undefeated in the high jump when at home this year clearing 2.01 meters for a “B” Standard mark. EOU swept the rest of the event with Allex Kosel finishing in second and Judson Mansfield finishing in third.
On the other side of the EOU Field House in the long jump, Multnomah took the win in the men’s event as well as the women’s. Charles Sanders topped the podium with a jump of 6.53 meters. Treasure Valley’s Triston Kauts followed in second place and Eastern Oregon’s DJ Wilson finished in third.
As for the triple jump there were only two competitors. DJ Wilson won the event with a 13.63 meter jump. The College of Idaho’s Ryne Kelly took second with a jump of 11.69 meters.
Wrapping up the field events was the pole vault. Darrian Walker (competing unattached) won the event and set a facility record clearing 4.55 meters. Lewis-Clark’s Nik Bertling took a close second place finish clearing the same height on more attempts. In third, EOU’s Judson Mansfield cleared 4.4 meters.
SPRINTS
Moving to the track, two sprinters broke the facility record at the EOU Field House in the 60-meter dash. Multnomah’s Daniel Dixon edged out LC State’s Jed Barnaby with a time of 6.93 to take first. Barnaby finished with a time of 6.95 seconds. Treasure Valley’s Osman Osman rounded out the top three with a time of 7.18 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash Joshua Mitchell (running unattached) took the win with a time of 23.5 seconds. The College of Idaho swept the next two spots with Case Senethavilay taking second and Hunter Gilbert taking third in a tight race.
MID-DISTANCE
Starting off the mid-distance races, Lewis-Clark State’s Conner May set a facility record with a time of 1:24.30. James Thatcher from Eastern Oregon followed in second and the College of Idaho’s Trajan Holtzen finished in third.
The men’s 1000 meter run was a three-man race with two “A” Standard performances. Hunter Nichols won with a time of 2:31.27 followed by Jonathan Wind who was just a step behind finishing with a time of 2:31.53. Finishing in third was Multnomah’s Noa Miller.
In the mile, former Mountie Nic Maszk ran an impressive time of 4:19.48 to win the event. Eastern Oregon took the next three spots led by Cristian Mendoza who finished with a time of 4:22.87. Justin Ash finished in third.
DISTANCE
In the lone distance race, Winston Telford ran his best race to date earning an NAIA “B” Standard in the 3,000 meter run. Telford finished with a time of 8:42.85 setting a facility record. The College of Idaho’s Hayden Bostrom took second followed by EOU’s Cristian Mendoza.
RELAYS
The relays started on Friday with the 4x800. Both squads competing earned NAIA “A” Standard marks with LC State taking the win narrowly edging out Eastern Oregon with a time of 7:53.74
The Last Chance Invite finished with the 4x400 meter relay on Saturday. Eastern Oregon took the win over College of Idaho with a time of 3:34.93 in the event.
HEPTATHLON
Eastern Oregon’s Israel Miles put together his strongest weekend to date in the heptathlon winning the event with a score of 4,732. Miles' performance on the track set him apart winning the 1,000 meter run and 60-meter hurdles. LC State took the next two spots on the podium with Christian Bothell taking second and Justin Krabbenhoft finishing in third.