NAMPA, Idaho – Day two of the NNU Invitational was good to Mountaineers Track & Field as the team picked up four event wins on day two and had multiple top-five finishes. Eastern Oregon had two wins on both the men's and women's side, to go along with five NAIA qualifying marks.
On the women's side, the Mountaineers two wins came from the efforts of
Maggie Ledbetter. She scored both wins on day two and ultimately had three top-three finishes for the weekend. She picked up wins in shot put and discus on day two to lead the charge.
In shot put, Ledbetter heaved the rock 44-5 ¼ to secure the win and missed the NAIA A qualifying standard by one centimeter. Her mark was also over two feet further than second place. In discus, she hit a mark of 136-2 for the win and was ahead of second by nearly six feet.
Picking up wins on the men's side was decathlete
TJ Davis and pole vaulter
Darrian Walker. Davis was dominant in the decathlon, scoring 6,949 points which was over 500 points ahead of second. Walker cleared 15-7 in the pole vault and took down second place by six inches.
In the decathlon, Davis scored three wins in the final five events to walk away the event winner. His 6,949 points also currently leads the NAIA after the weekend, which comes as no surprise from the reigning NAIA Indoor National Champion. His first win was in the 110-meter hurdles where he clocked a 14.68.
In the next event, the discus, Davis was superb. He hit a mark of 141-0 and blew out second place by over seven feet for his second straight win. In pole vault, Davis placed second with a height clearance of 13-7 ¼. His lowest finish was in the javelin, where he placed third with a throw of 144-9. He finished the day winning the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:55.63. He was 15 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
On the track, the Mountaineer women racked up 10 top-five finishes with two coming from relay squads. In the short sprints, freshman
Katie Brown led the way yet again with two top-three finishes. She was second in the 200-meter dash, clocking a 26.14. In the 100-meter dash she ran a 12.45 to place third.
In the 400-meter dash, distance specialist
Michelle Herbes grabbed a second place finish. She finished the one-lap race in a time of 59.01 in what was her first solo 400 race of the outdoor season. In the hurdle races, the 100 and 400,
Morgan Bayes shined with a pair of top-five finishes.
The 400 hurdles saw Bayes post a 64.47 in the obstacle course race to finish second. Her time was also an NAIA B standard mark and is tied for 14th. In the 100 hurdles, Bayes ran a 16.09 to place fourth overall.
In the distance events, Eastern tallied three top-five finishes between the 800-meter and 1,500-meter run.
Lauryn Mitchell led the way, placing second in the 800 with a time of 2:23.48.
Madelyn Nichols was fifth in a time of 2:25.12. In the 1,500,
Katie Jo Gebhardt finished third in 5:04.67.
On the field side, EOU had two top-five finishes in the pole vault.
Abby Winstead and
JoAnna Campbell finished fourth and fifth, respectively. They both cleared 10-4, but Winstead was fourth based on attempts. In long jump,
Madison MacMillan was fifth, leaping 15-5.
In the throws,
Kenna Woodward placed fifth in the shot put. She cleared 40-6 to place inside the top-five. For the relay squads, Eastern had two 4x400 teams placed in the top-five. The quartet of Bayes, Gebhardt, Herbes and Mitchell was second with a collective time of 4:08.14. The group of
Kendall Bonzani, Brown, Campbell, and
Emma Hollon placed fifth in a time of 4:18.02.
In the heptathlon,
Karli Bedard wrapped up the two-day event with a fourth place finish, scoring 3,839 points. She placed in the top-four in the final three events, with her best finish on day two being in the 800. She clocked a 2:38.90 to place second in the race. She finished third in the javelin with a throw of 74-1. In long jump, Bedard finished fourth with a mark of 14-11 ½.
On the men's side, there were eight other top-five finishes on day two. In the decathlon,
Judson Mansfield finished fourth with 6,041 points. For the true freshman, his mark is currently fourth highest in the NAIA and third best in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
In the short sprints,
Bryce Peters placed fifth in the 200, running a 22.75. In the distance events, EOU had two harriers finish in the top-five of the 1,500.
Hunter Nichols was third, running a 3:59.83. Right behind him in fourth was
Jonathan Wind in a time of 4:00.99.
In the hurdles, two Mountaineers clocked top-five finishes.
Mason Nichols was fourth in the 110 hurdles, running a 15.67. In the 400 hurdles,
Ryan Robinson ran a 63.10 in the one lap obstacle race to also place fourth.
The field events saw two other top-five finishes outside of Walker's win.
Tyler Jones earned a runner-up finish in the high jump with a height clearance of 6-0 ¾. In the shot put,
Tanner Nett finished third overall, heaving the rock a distance of 49-9 ¼.
Eastern continues the outdoor season next weekend when the team heads north to Spokane, Washington to compete at the Whitworth Peace Meet on Friday, April 8. Meet action is set to begin at 12 p.m. PT.
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