Saturday, August 15, 2026
73.0°F

Eagles and Huskies compete in final meets of the regular season

CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months, 1 week AGO
by CALEB PEREZ
| May 7, 2026 3:10 AM

CHENEY — The Eastern Washington Eagles and the University of Washington Huskies wrapped up the regular season with the teams splitting up to compete at the Desert Heat Classic in Arizona and the OSU High Performance Invite in Oregon. 

“Championship time is here, and we ended the regular season with a bang,” said Erin Tucker, the Director of Track and Field at EWU.

OSU High Performance Invite 

EWU 

For the women, Lexi Meyer from the Eagles placed fifth in the collegiate 800m to break her school record by two seconds with a time of 2:08.80. Ifechi Okoye also found success in the 800m as she earned first in the open race with a personal best of 2:11.07 and took fourth all-time at Eastern. 

In the 400m, Ashleigh Burke placed fifth with a season-best 58.34 and Sarah Sanders delivered a PR of 4:30.89 in the 1500m for fifth in program history. The Eagles closed out the meet on the track with a win in the 4x400m relay with Ashleigh Burke, Magdalena Slomska, Okoye and Meyer. 

In field events, Zoe Dunn won the triple jump with a PR of 12.42m to move to third all-time and placed second in long jump for another PR of 5.69m. Madison Bond, a MLHS graduate, finished third in the triple jump with 11.33m and Lenah Martin placed sixth with 11.07m. 

Frania Barba-Romero cleared 3.65m to place fourth in the pole vault, Ashley Fuller took third in the discus at 44.3m, and Ella Seelhoff tied for seventh in the high jump with 1.52m. 

On the men’s side, Marcus Lemon placed sixth in the 1500m with 3:55.4 while Charlie Ledwith recorded a PR of 9:22.28 to finish fourth in the 300m steeplechase. Henry Nelson moved to ninth all time in the 800m with a time of 1:51.11. 

Modaou Kinteh clocked a season-best of 48.49 to place fourth in the 400m and the 4x400 relay team of Tristan Breier, Modou Kinteh, Henry Nelson and Erick Simpson. 

For field events, Koda Woodard recorded 16.56m in shotput for a PR and Nic Cunningham posted a season best 14.36m in triple jump to place fourth. 

UW 

For UW, six men were split between two heats of the 1500m. Nathan Neil was second overall in 3:48.30, Jamar Distel took third with 3:49.09 and Isaac Briggs took fourth in 3:49.38. Cruize Corvin did the pace setting in that heat, according to a release from UW athletics. 

In the other heat of the 1500 Parker Mong took second in a time of 3:53.14 for a new personal best and James Crabtree took third in 3:54.31.  

Ella Borsheim was the sole woman from the Huskies to go to OSU where she took on the 3000m steeplechase for the first time and finished fifth in the invite section in 11:11.62. 

Desert Heat Classic 

EWU 

The Eagles women had success in Arizona as Gilana Wollman, Judith Koumedzina, Sydney Thweatt and Jordyn Grady ran a 45.61 in the 4x100m relay to move into second in program history. Koumedzina also went on to clock 11.66 in the 100m for fourth all-time at Eastern and 23.9 in the 200m for second all-time. 

Grady placed fourth in the 400m hurdles with a PR of 58.48 for second all-time and Melia Middleton posted a PR of 1:00.26 for fifth all-time. 

For the men, Kris Phennicie, Enoch Okoh, Maddy Shekhawat and Malachi South ran 40.57 in the 4x100m relay to place ninth and move into fifth all-time at EWU. 

Phennicie went on to take a PR in 100m with 10.36 for second in program history. 

Cort Gebbers led the men in the field with a fifth-place discus throw of 54.67m. 

“All in all, we are moving in the right direction and are on the cusp of putting together a great conference meet,” said Tucker. “We will fight for a ton of first-place finishes and destroy a few school records along the way.”  

UW 

Ava Washburn took two of the three program top 10 marks for the women as she posted PRs in both long and triple jump events with 6.3 m in long jump and 12.43m in the triple.  

Sofia Cosculluela maintained her number one ranking nationally in the heptathlon and improved her PR in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.31 for fourth in school history. Anna Terrel went 59.63 in the 400m hurdles for a season best, Rhonda Newton had a 200m PR of 25.19 and Ashley Schroeder had her third-straight meet over 170-feet in javelin to earn fourth. 

On the men’s side, Roman Hutchinson took third overall in the triple jump with 15.46m  and Jonathan Frazier earned a season best in the 400m with a time of 50.69. 

Full results of these meets can be accessed through the colleges’ athletic websites. 

The Eagles prepare for their next meet at the Big Sky Outdoor Championship running from May 13-16 in Portland, Oregon. UW is gearing up to head to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships running from May 15-17. 


ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ

Sushik comes full circle ahead of first season at BBCC
August 14, 2026 3:15 a.m.

Sushik comes full circle ahead of first season at BBCC

MOSES LAKE — The next step in Liana Sushik’s athletic journey has led her to play for the Big Bend Community College Vikings volleyball team this fall after a successful career with the Soap Lake Eagles. Joining the Vikings is something she feels has deepened her love for the sport, she said. “I fell in love with the fact that there’s more than just high school volleyball; there’s another level,” said Sushik. “It’s like a whole new chapter and I’m so excited to see what I have next because there’s a lot that I’ve been through to get here.” Despite her success on the court, Sushik said she didn’t initially start out as an athlete.

Building a community at Desert City Fitness
August 13, 2026 3 a.m.

Building a community at Desert City Fitness

EPHRATA — The city of Ephrata welcomed its newest athletic club earlier this summer with Desert City Fitness setting up along Basin Street. Since their grand opening June 6, the club has worked to become a strong contributor to the community in Ephrata. “We just opened our doors and whoever comes in, that’s how we do it,” said Bryan Boney, owner of Desert City Fitness. Boney, who owns the club alongside his wife Tracy Fillion, decided to open Desert City Fitness to keep himself active after retiring six years ago. Boney said he has invested all his money from retirement into purchasing the property, remodeling and getting the equipment necessary to open his fitness center.

Grid Kids expands opportunities this season
August 12, 2026 3:35 a.m.

Grid Kids expands opportunities this season

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Grid Kids football program is gearing up for the start of its 26th football season this fall. This year, alongside their tackle football program, the Grid Kids have expanded their flag football options. “It’s one of those things that you just don’t really know how well it’s going to go, but right now we’re looking pretty strong,” said Brian Gwinn, the Gird Kids administrator and communications contact. The tackle opportunities remain the same for third through sixth grade with third and fourth graders playing together and fifth and sixth graders separately from the younger players. The format for third and fourth grade will remain at a regular 11-man game, but for fifth and sixth grade there is consideration for moving down to an eight-on-eight format.