PORTLAND, Ore. – Eastern Oregon Track and Field kicked off the outdoor season with great performances across the board on Saturday. A majority of the team competed at the Electric Forest Collegiate Open (hosted by Lewis and Clark College) on Saturday while the throwers made the trip down to Corvallis to compete at the PNW Invite (Hosted by Oregon State). After a full day of competition Eastern Oregon tallied two “A” Standards and two “B” Standards to kick off the outdoor season.
Eastern Oregon will return to competition next week when the multi-athletes compete at the Pacific Multi meet in Forest Grove, Oregon on Sunday, March 24, and Monday, March 25.
WOMEN
Freshman Taylor Joyce had a massive day competing in four events where she broke into the program top-25 leaderboards in each event. The biggest highlight came in the pole vault where she set a massive PR and earned a “B” Standard mark clearing 3.55 meters. Her vault also earned her a first-place finish and a fifth overall spot in the EOU record book for the event. In the 100-meter dash Joyce finished sixth overall with a time 12.59 seconds which ranks 13th all-time at EOU. She also ran a strong race in the 200 where she finished fifth with a time of 26.07 seconds ranking 21st all-time in the program record books.
Joyce also ran in impressive anchor leg for the 4×100 team joining Karina DeYoung, Sydney Peck, and Katie Brown. The team posted the sixth fastest time in EOU history finishing with a time of 48.05 seconds.
DeYoung also had an outstanding day competing in her first ever outdoor meet running the No. 9 time in program history in the 100 clocking in at 12.39 seconds.
The Mounties dominated the 100-meter hurdles as a whole. Three athletes posted top-25 EOU times in the race. Elizabeth Grandle led the way with a 15.43 second race to move up to No. 8 all-time earning a second-place finish. Hot on her heals was junior, Skotlyn Hill, who finished third with a time of 15.54 seconds coming in at No. 13 all-time. Karli Bedard finished fourth and was followed by Sydney Peck in fifth who moved up to No. 19 in the record-book with a personal best time of 15.71 seconds.
Over in Corvallis, Kenna Woodward picked up right where she left off after a dominant indoor season earning an “A” Standard with her first throw in the hammer throw. Woodward recorded a throw of 52.94 meters finishing third overall.
MEN
The men got off to a great start as well posting strong times on the track. It started in the 100-meter dash where Mason Nichols made a huge leap from outside the all-time top-25 to a tie at No. 13 with a time of 10.98 seconds (fifth place finish). Bryson Spears wasn’t far behind finishing sixth in the race with a time of 11.05 seconds which is good for a tie in the No. 17 spot all time at EOU. Freshman Jayce Bartley was a hair behind him finishing in 11.06 seconds good for a tie at No. 19 all-time.
Osman Osman continued to make a name for himself in an EOU uniform kicking off the outdoor season with a blazing 21.81 second performance in the 200-meter dash. The time puts him inside the top-10 all-time at No. 6. He joined Bryson Spears, James Connally, and Jayce Bartley in 4×100 meter relay completing another historic performance. The squad finished second overall with a time of 42.15 seconds, good for the eighth fastest time in program history.
Spears also ran an impressive race in the 400-meter hurdles narrowly missing out on a “B” Standard time by just 36 hundredths of a second. The sophomore finished with a time of 54.96 seconds winning the event. Freshman Evan Gunning finished in second in his outdoor debut with a time of 56.03 seconds (No. 18 all-time).
Moving in to the distance races, Hunter Nichols made his steeplechase debut and didn’t disappoint. Nichols finished 1st with a time of 9:23.73. The time was good for a “B” Standard and narrowly missed an automatic qualifying time.
Over in the field events the highlight of the day came in the high jump. Tyler Jones tied his personal best in the event with a 1st place finish clearing 2.05 meters earning an “A” Standard.
Track and Field Gets Off to Sizzling Outdoor Start
