EWU track team competes in Missoula, then hosts 39th annual Pelluer Invite

FROM NEWS

SERVICE REPORTS

The Eastern Washington University track and field teams will compete Friday and Saturday (April 2-3) at the Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula, Mont., before competing and hosting the 39th Annual Pelluer Invitational in Cheney on April 9.

The Al Manuel Invitational will feature dual-meet scoring between NCAA Division I schools, including Montana, Montana State and Eastern. Last year, the men’s team lost to Montana 111.5-81.5 and Montana State 113-81. The Eagle women lost to Montana 110.5-87.5 and Montana State 105-84.

The meet will begin Friday with the hammer throw at 3 p.m. On Saturday, field events will begin at 10:45 a.m. with the women’s shot put and running events start at 11:15 a.m. with the women’s steeplechase.

At the Stanford Invitational on March 26-27, sophomore Kyle King had a time of 29:34.21 in the 10,000 meters to break the previous school record of 29:45.89 set last year at the Stanford Invitational by Paul Limpf. King, a 2008 graduate of Coupeville (Wash.) High School, finished 13th out of 35 competitors and qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championships.

On the women’s side, Sarah Frey had a winning time of 1:00.45 in the 400-meter hurdles. Her time qualified her for the BSC Championships and ranks second in school history behind the time of 58.12 set in 1999 by Seville Broussard.

Nicole Luckenbach finished second in the hammer with a mark of 188-4 to qualify for the conference championships. She currently holds the school record with a mark of 191-11 set last season.

In all, 17 qualifying marks were attained by Eastern athletes for the league meet, which will take place in Ogden, Utah, on May 12-16.

In the conference preseason polls released last week, the Eagle men were selected to finish fifth with 48 points while the women were picked sixth with 32 points. Northern Arizona’s men (76 points) and Sacramento State’s women (79) are picked to win the championships.