College athletes prepare for 2026 NCAA Track & Field championships
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 4 weeks AGO
MOSES LAKE — The college track and field season is coming to an end this week as athletes from around the state are heading to the NCAA Outdoor championships at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Eastern Washington University
The Eagles will be sending one athlete, Cort Gebbers, to the championships for discus. According to a release from EWU Athletics, Gebbers earned his spot for the championship with a standout performance at the NCAA West First Rounds after placing 11th overall and recording a personal-best throw of 56.86 meters, which moves him to second in program history.
Gebbers will enter the national meet ranked 23rd in the field and compete against 23 of the nation's top discus throwers Friday starting at 2:15 p.m.
Gonzaga
Rosina Machu is heading to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for both the 5000 meters and the 10000 meters.
According to official results from the NCAA West First Round, Machu qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5000 meters after running a time of 15:38.43 and took 10th. Machu qualified for the 10000 meters with a time of 32:29.47 to take seventh overall.
Machu will compete in the 10000m Thursday at 7:56 p.m. and the 5000m Saturday at 6:55 p.m.
University of Washington
The Huskies are sending 17 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week, which, according to a release from UW Athletics, is the second highest bid total under the current qualifying format which began in 2010.
For the men, UW will be sending Alex Rhodes for the 400m, Martin Barco and Rueben Reina for the 1500m, Evan Jenkins for the 10000m, Isaac Briggs for the 3000m steeplechase, Jimmy Rhoads for pole vault and Teko Cates for the decathlon.
On the women’s side, Chloe Foerster qualified for the 1500m, Julia David Smith for the 5000m, Chloe Thomas for both the 5000m and the 10000m, Sara Borton, Amanda Moll, Hana Moll and Veronica for pole vault, Saydi Orange for Javelin and Sofia Cosculluela for the heptathlon.
Each of these athletes will be competing in events from June 10-13.
Washington State University
Three WSU track athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Rosemary Longisa, Caroline Jepkorir and Evans Kurui, as stated by WSU Athletics.
Kurui will be competing in the 5000m and 10000m events after clocking 28:45.60 and 13.41.96 respectively.
Longisa enters the championship as the country’s fastest 1500m runner and took back-to-back first-place finishes at the West First Rounds. Jepkorir will compete in the 3000m steeplechase after snagging qualification in the West First Rounds with a time of 10:10.15, taking 11th overall.
The Cougars will be competing June 10-13 with Kurui competing Wednesday at 7:56 p.m. and Thursday at 6:55 p.m. Longisa will race Thursday at 5:21 p.m. and Jepkorir will compete Thursday at 5:38 p.m.
Evans Kurui from WSU begins to pull ahead of the crowd during the West First Rounds as he qualified in the 5000m.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Mavs claim District 5 swim and dive title
MOSES LAKE — The series of successful meets this season fully paid off for the Moses Lake Mavericks girls swim team over the weekend as the girls claimed the District 5 title. By the end of Saturday, the Mavs won the district meet with a score of 466 to Wenatchee's 449. "Just as we expected with Wenatchee, it was close all the way to the end. Could have gone either way, but it went our way," said Mavs Head Coach Tony Preston. "The girls were super excited to get their district championship."
Tigers qualify both boys and girls teams to state
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Cross Country team continued their successful season in the District 5 and 6 Championships Saturday afternoon. Both the boys and girls had strong races to qualify for state with the boys taking third and the girls taking second. Tigers Head Coach Lyndsy Roberts said because of their high ranking all season the girls team set their sights high on the district meet. Heading into Saturday, they knew their toughest challenge would be against Ellensburg, who has been ranked second in the state all season.
Knights battle into district championships
ROYAL CITY — The second seeded Royal Knights (16-2-1) battled in a tight matchup against the third seeded Naches Valley Saturday afternoon in the district semifinals. Both teams put forward a strong effort, with the Knights securing a 1-0 victory. "We were all putting our heart out in this game and trying our best because we have a really good team this year," said Knights junior Sofia Villafana. "We were just giving it our all." The tone of the game was set from the very start as Royal and Naches Valley went back and forth on their attack. While the Knights controlled the ball for most of the first half, Naches Valley's defense kept things in check.