MARION, IN – If Alaskan Airlines had been the meet sponsor they couldn't have gotten as much mileage out of it as Eastern Oregon University got out of its Alaskan connection on Saturday here at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University.
 
Isaac Updike and Hans Roelle picked up a national championship and a third place finish to close out the three-day event and lead the men's team to an eleventh place team finish.
 
Updike, who hails from Ketchikan, and Roelle, from Anchorage, helped the Mountaineers to score 27 points to finish eleventh behind team champions Indiana Tech and their 72 points. Oklahoma Baptist finished second with 68. Cascade Collegiate Conference rivals Concordia and Southern Oregon finished sixth and ninth with 34.33 and 29 points respectively.
 
Updike and Kody Coxen opened the day for the Mountaineers in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Updike jumped to the front from the gun. In the beginning Vincent Bett of Embry-Riddle and Garrett Ehlers of Morningside ran just behind Updike with Coxen running near the rear of the field. Through the first mile Updike ran patiently from the front followed by the duo before beginning before putting in a surge that would take him clear of the field. As the laps clicked off the gap between Updike and the rest of the field began to increase. By the finish Updike had gapped the field by over 50 meters and ran a school record 9:55.16. Ehlers finished second in 10:06.17 with Bett third in 9:10.55. Coxen came home 14^th in 10:00.59.
 
“Impressive wire to wire victory,” beamed EOU Head Track and Field Coach Ben Welch. “He didn't let the pressure of being the favorite get to him. He took the lead from the gun and controlled the race throughout.”    
 
Roelle wasted no time in putting himself in a position to win the 800. Through the first 400 he ran in third place. He stayed in that spot around the turn before the field bunched up down the backstretch. Roelle found himself boxed in on the inside of the track as the group passed the 600 meter mark. Roelle tried to make a move just as the pack entered the turn but had to check up to avoid running over people. At the top of the turn, he was still looking for a place to go and spotted a small hole which he pushed his way through to the outside of the pack. Off the turn he was in fourth and then went after the leaders Clay Sheperson of Oklahoma Baptist and Zach Boyd-Helm of Southern Oregon. Roelle moved into third with 60 meters to go and just missed catching Sherperson and Boyd-Helm as the three crossed the line in 1:51.53, 1:51.77, and 1:51.85.
 
 “Hans just ran out of time,” said Welch. “He got himself boxed in a little and couldn't get free or keep his rhythm like we would have liked him to. But he fought hard and just missed winning the race.”
 
Updike and Roelle's finishes help the Mountaineers amass one national champion and five all-American over the weekend.