SPOKANE — The Eastern Washington Eagles opened the outdoor track and field season at the Sam Adams Classic at Whitworth University, where the team recorded 17 new personal records – nine on the men’s side and eight from the women – according to a statement by EWU Athletics. Both men’s and women’s teams took first at the event with 72 points for the men and 69 points for the women. 

“Good ole outdoor track rust and dust buster, the first outdoor meet tends to be the hardest for those that do indoor track,” said Eagles Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Erin Tucker. “It seems the pits are further, your race is longer, the standards are higher, the sector lines are off, and wait, there is wind? Most, if not all of us, have thought at least one of these.” 

For the men, Enoch Okoh from EWU led sprints with a pair of second-place finishes, clocking 10.73 in the 100 meters and 21.56 in the 200 meters. Eastern athlete Erik Simpson took the event title in the 400m with a time of 48.63 just beating out Whitworth’s Cooper Rolfs at 49.44, according to official results from TFRRS. Toren Garcia from the Eagles secured his first collegiate outdoor victory in the 400m hurdles with 54.92. 

Top finishers for Eagles distance events included Owen Higgins, who won the 1,500m in 3:50.21. Marcus Lemon dominated the 5,000m with a winning time of 14:47.33 followed closely by Evan Cheney in third, Charlie Ledwith in fourth and Grady Fournier in fifth.  

Eastern’s 4x100m relay team of Maddy Shekhawat, Okoh, Mason Davis and Modou Kinteh finished first with 40.90 to take ninth all-time and the 4x400m squad of Malachi South, Garcia, Tristan Breier and Simpson from the Eagles took first with a tie of 3:18.61 to beat the Whitworth squad who finished with 3:20.23. 

In field events, EWU’s Cort Gebbers won discus with a throw of 53.68 meters and Eagles athletes Jason Nwaka and Koda Woodard tied for first in the shot put throwing for 15.62 meters. Pry’nce Millman from EWU led long jump with a mark of 7.04 meters, followed by another Eastern athlete, Merci Migani, in second. Migani also went on to win the triple jump with 14.68 meters.  

Eastern athlete Alex Blech highlighted the pole vault, clearing 5.05 meters to win and move into a tie for fifth all-time. 

For the women, Gilana Wollman from the Eagles placed second in the 100m with 12.11, being just beaten out by Idaho’s Ashley Hollenbeck Willems with 11.96. In the 100m hurdles, Eastern’s Cerae Mahabeer recorded a PR of 14.86 to finish second, followed by Rachel Hardy from the Eagles in third. 

EWU athlete Ella Seelhoff notched a PR in the 200m to finish third, Ashleigh Burke from the Eagles took second in the 400m with a second-place finish, just behind Gonzaga’s Greta Dani, Eastern’s Abigail MacDonald added a PR of 1:01.20 to take fourth and two Eags claimed top spots in the 400m hurdles as Jordyn Grady earned her first outdoor win with 1:02.32 followed by Sydney Thweatt in second with 1:02.62. 

For distance events, EWU’s Emma Tomlinson won the 1500m with a PR of 4:39.13, Sara Sanders dominated the 5000m in 17:29.55 and the 4x400m relay team of Burke, Grady, Thweatt and Lexi Meyer claimed first with 3:57.73.  

Gonzaga dominated the 800m event with Care Mullin, Ashlin Aguayo and Ava Sutherland taking the top three spots and in the 3000m event with Anna Grabowski, Logan Hofstee, and Rosina Machu taking the top three finishes. 

The Eagles were dominant in the field as well as Anne Shipp winning the high jump with 1.59m, Ashley Fuller taking second in discus with 43.75m.  

EWU controlled the long jump with Zoe Dunn leading with 5.67m followed by Manithita Wague, Wollman, Shai Gray, Samarra Davis, Azaria Purdy and Madison Bond. The Eagles also swept the top five spots of triple jump as Wague won with 12.18m to move to fourth all time, Dunn taking second with a PR of 12.08m for sixth all-time, Purdy taking seventh all-time in third, followed by Lenah Martin and Bond.  

Three Eagles placed at the top of the pole vault with Breauna Erickson winning followed by Frania Romero-Barba and Kirsten Anderson. 

“Great job across the board getting the outdoor season going,” said Tucker. 

The Eagles will return to Spokane for the Peace Meet on April 3.