EWU will send 52 athletes to nearby Spokane Falls Community College for Dusty Lane Open

After capping off the indoor season and taking the last couple of weeks off, the Eastern Washington University track and field team will kick off the outdoor season Saturday (March 16) at the Dusty Lane Open in Spokane, Wash.

“It’s a fairly low-key event,” said head men’s coach Stan Kerr, “But I’m excited about it and so are our athletes. It’s a great springboard into the outdoor season.”

According to Kerr, the coaches have made the meet optional for athletes and the team will not be at full strength until the Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula, Mont. on March 29-30.

Athletes choosing to compete this week will look to hit qualifying standards for the Big Sky Championships, which will be held in Portland, Ore., on May 8-11.

For Eastern, 32 women and 20 men are currently scheduled to compete.

An event highlighting the meet for the Eagles will be the javelin, an event only offered during the outdoor season. On the men’s side, sophomore Max Pratt and freshman Joey Payne will get their first crack at the event Saturday. The women throwers will look to show their depth, with Michelle Coombs, Madeline Jacobson, Cora Kellerman, Emma Murillo, Kacie Seims, Haley Tank and Taylor Walker competing. Coombs, a two-time all-conference performer in the event, will kick off her final season for EWU.

The throwers will be getting their first shot at the hammer and discus throw as well, events that are also exclusively outdoors.

“We have a number of stellar throwers in the javelin and in the hammer and discus as well,” said Kerr, “They’re ready to go and I’m looking forward to watching them compete.”

Some other key entries in the running events for the Eagles this weekend include two all-conference performers coming off of redshirt seasons indoors -- junior Steven Warner and senior Brad Wall. Warner, who claimed the Big Sky title in the 60 hurdles at the 2012 BSC Championships, will compete in the 110 hurdles, an event he placed third in last year at the outdoor championships. Wall (400,200), a three-time conference champion and school record holder in the 400, will don the red and white once again after redshirting the most recent indoor and outdoor seasons.

“Anybody who has watched Brad and Steven compete know that we have two of the finest athletes to come through the program,” said Kerr, “They’ve been tremendous leaders and I’m thrilled for them to be bringing their experience back to the track.”

The meet will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“The size and quality of this meet is starting to expand,” said Kerr. “People want to take advantage of what looks to be good weather on Saturday.”

RETURNING ALL-BIG SKY ATHLETES

The following Eagle athletes have earned All-Big Sky Conference honors (top three finish) in previous Big Sky Conference track and field championships (indoors and outdoors):

Jonathan Buchanan – (2011 Indoors: 3rd in shot put)
Brad Michael – (2013 Indoors: 2nd in 400;2012 Outdoors: 3rd in 400; 2012 Indoors: 2nd in 400, 3rd in 200)
Zack Nielsen – (2012 Indoors: 3rd in weight throw)
Michael Okoro (2011 Outdoors: Champion in 200)
Phillip Puccino – (2012 Indoors: 3rd in triple jump)
Nick Stearns – (2012 Indoors: 3rd in pole vault)
Brad Wall – (2012 Indoors: 3rd in 400; 2011 Outdoors: Champion in 400; 2011 Indoors: Champion in 400; 2010 Outdoors: Champion in 400)
Steven Warner (2012 Outdoors: 3rd in 110 hurdles; 2012 Indoors: Champion in 60 hurdles)
4x400 Relay (2011 Outdoors: 3rd/Michael Okoro, Kramer Green, Collin Green, Brad Wall; 2012 Indoors: Champion/Collin Green, Michael Okoro, Brad Michael, Brad Wall)
4x100 Relay (2011 Outdoors: 2nd/Alex Flores, Michael Okoro, Kurt Williams, Brad Wall)
Jordan Arakawa – (2013 Indoors: 2nd in weight throw)
Marlyn Anderson – (2013 Indoors: 3rd in shot put)

Michelle Coombs – (2012 Outdoors: 2nd in Javelin; 2009 Outdoors: Champion in Javelin)
Keisa Monterola  - (2012 Outdoors: Champion in pole vault; 2012 Indoors: Champion in pole vault)
Olivia Midles – (2011 Outdoors: 2nd in hammer throw)
Brianna Okoro - (2011 Outdoors: 3rd in long jump; 2010 Outdoors: Champion in 200, 3rd in 100, 3rd in long jump)
Robin Taylor – (2012 Outdoors: 2nd in pole vault)
Elise Jepsen – (2012 Outdoors: 3rd in high jump)
4x400 Relay – (2012 Indoors: 2nd/Whitney Leavitt, Nicole Nida, Angelica Rodriguez, Chelsea Lawhead)
Emma Murillo – (2013 Indoors: 3rd in weight throw)


LINKS

PDF Link to Fact Book: http://www.goeags.com/sports/c-track/2012-13/Files/2012-13TFFactBook.pdf
EWU Track and Field - http://goeags.com/sports/c-track/index
Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field - http://www.bigskyconf.com/index.aspx?path=otf&
NCAA Track and Field - http://www.ncaa.com
Big Sky Direct Athletics Performance List - http://www.directathletics.com/leagues/track/63.html