EWU has numbers to finish strong in Big Sky Conference Track and Field Championships

If there’s strength in numbers, Eastern Washington is poised for a robust showing at this week’s Big Sky Conference Track and Field Championships.

Throw in the home-track advantage and the Eagles have a shot at finishing in the top three in both the men’s and women’s team standings by the time the meet ends Saturday night at Roos Field.

“As a coaching staff, we feel really good about the number of athletes who have qualified,” said men’s head coach Stan Kerr. “We are going to be very competitive at this meet.”

The Eagles will have 28 women and 27 men in the four-day meet, which began on Wednesday with the decathlon and heptathlon. In preseason rankings, the Eastern women were picked fifth and the men seventh, but based on recent results, both teams have a strong chance to finish much higher.

At last year’s outdoor meet, the Eastern women placed fifth with 84 points and the men tied for sixth with Idaho State with 68 points.

This year, 16 Eagles are ranked in the top five in respective events.

At last year’s outdoor meet in Flagstaff, Arizona, the Eastern women placed fifth with 84 points and the men tied for sixth with Idaho State with 68 points. Host Northern Arizona won both titles.

Men: The NAU men are a solid favorite to repeat thanks to an elite group of distance runners; indeed, NAU could pick up 40 points in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter events alone. Sacramento State has depth and talent in the field events, which could be enough for the title should NAU falter.

Eastern’s hopes for a top-three finish rest with four key performers, all of whom come into the meet atop the leader charts: sprinter Jeremy Van-Assche, pole vaulter Nick Stearns, hammer thrower Jordan Arakawa and above all, jump specialist Phil Puccino.

Puccino, a senior from Tacoma, is tied for first in the triple jump (with a best of 48 feet, 5¼ inches) and ranks third in the long jump (23-5½) and fourth in the high jump (6-9¾).

Puccino could be worth 20 points for an Eastern team that hopes to score at least 80 and win the battle for third over Weber State and Montana State.

“Phil is a tough competitor,” Kerr said. “He’s not afraid of training or working hard. He knows he’ll have to be his best in all three of those events.”

VanAssche, a freshman from East Wenatchee, Washington, set the school record of 10.42 seconds in the 100 meters earlier this year. Along with that conference-leading time, VanAssche ranks third in the 200 (21.44).

Stearns, a senior from Pahrump, Nevada, who finished second last year, owns a 16-6 season-best vault this spring – 1¼ inches better than anyone else in the field.

Arakawa, a senior from Olympia who was runner-up in the hammer the last two years, is the biggest favorite on the Eagle roster; his season best of 215-2 leads the field by 4 feet.

“Jordan is keenly aware that he has finished second for two years in a row, he’s very fired up. He’s progressed from week-to-week,” Kerr said. “He’s positioned himself to go into the championships as a favorite. He wants to get that ring at home.”

Women: The Eagles are among the deepest squads in the meet and have a shot to finish in the top three in the team race.

Sacramento State’s deep and talented corps of sprinters should carry the Hornets to the title over Montana State and Port-land State, but Eastern could overhaul the Vikings with a strong showing from its distance runners.

“We’ve been preparing for this meet for the past four years with the expectation that it was going to be at home and that we were going to put on a good show and try and go for the title,” women’s head coach Marcia Mecklenburg said.

“I feel having 28 athletes sets us up and gets us ready to execute our plan,” Mecklenburg said.

The key performer could be distance runner Sarah Reiter, a sophomore from Renton, Washington, who is ranked second in the 10,000 meters and fifth in the 5,000. Last year, Reiter finished third in the 10,000. Last fall, she won the first Big Sky individual cross country title in school history.

“She’s someone that we’re expecting points from in both the 5,000 and the 10,000,” Mecklenburg said. She’s the given.”

The other given for EWU might be Morena Mannucci, the lone Eastern athlete on the women’s side who’s atop the form chart. The senior from Italy ranks first in the triple jump with a mark of 40-6.

“I’m super excited about Morena. It’s her final year and things are finally coming together for her,” Mecklenburg said.

Eastern has 18 qualifying marks in the throwing events. Kaytlyn Coleman sits third in the shot put and will look to score points in that event along with Morgan Romey.

Emma Murillo will look to defend her javelin title. She is also ranked third in the discus, an event she set the school record in earlier this season with a toss of 169-0.