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Hoppie Earns All American Honors, Ohmes Just Misses As Eight Compete At NAIA Championships
Johnson City Tennessee, March 6-8— Eight members of the EOU Track & Field team traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee to compete in the 2008 NAIA Indoor Championships, and there were several strong performances. The Multi-Event athletes got things kicked off on Thursday with Kasie Gillespie competing in the women’s pentathlon as well as Chris Hoppie and Lucas Ohmes in the first day of the men’s heptathlon. Gillespie finished ninth in the pentathlon, an improvement of three spots from her twelfth seed entering the meet. Throughout the course of the competition she set indoor school records in the long jump and the 60m hurdles, as well as her overall score of 3,174 points for the competition. She struggled in the high jump, but put up good marks in the other four events and nearly won the final event of the competition with a strong mid race move. After day 1 of the men’s heptathlon Hoppie and Ohmes were both in a good position to finish well in the event, as Hoppie was sixth and Ohmes was 9th. Both athletes had good marks throughout the day, especially Ohmes who set personal bests in all four events. Day 2 was busy for the Mounties. In addition to the second day of the heptathlon, the remaining athletes also competed. Hoppie and Ohmes continued their strong showing on the second day, as both athletes improved two spots their position after day 1. Hoppie earned All American honors finishing 4th place with 5,016 points; while Ohmes, who exceeded his previous best by over 300 points, finished 7th and missed the final All American spot by 12 points. Hoppie also came back to finish 10th in the long jump shortly after completing the heptathlon. Zach Heath, Adam Goulet, Mitch Wheelhouse, Cayla Weissert, and Marcella Bosch also competed during day 2. On the women’s side Weissert cleared the opening height in the Pole Vault on her first attempt, which was just below her personal best. She then came back with three good attempts, including a near miss on her third jump, at a new best. Bosch, who was competing in her seventh championship meet, ran the preliminary rounds of the 3000m. She competed well, finishing just off of her seed, but missed making the final by only three seconds. In the men’s mile Heath off the line well, however he lost a shoe 20m into the race as another competitor stepped on the back of his heal. He competed well and was in good position around the midway points. Eventually, missing the shoe caught up with him as he faded and was unable to make the final. In the weight throw Wheelhouse’s first two throws were big, however both landed outside the sector. His third was legal, but not enough to qualify for the final. In the 1000m run Goulet squeaked in the final, edging out 9th place by 0.03 of a second. On the final day of the Competition Adam Goulet was the lone athlete competing, as he was looking to collect his second All American award. He got out in good position and looked strong sitting just off the leaders through a slow first 400 meters. However, he suffered an asthma attack halfway through the race and faded to finish eighth. The Mounties will now shift focus to the outdoor season which begins next weekend in Nampa, Idaho.
Gillespie Qualifies For NAIA Meet
Pullman Washington, February 23— Kasie Gillespie traveled to Pullman Washington to compete in the WSU Open, and take another crack at qualifying for the NAIA Pentathlon. After coming up short last week because of a no height in the High Jump. She rebounded scoring 3,144 points and is ranked 12th on the final performance list, as the top 16 qualify for the meet. With the NAIA meet only two weeks away, she cruised through the events making sure to hit marks that would score enough points to qualify for the meet.
Mounties Perform Well At Two Meets
Nampa Idaho/Seattle Washington, February 15 & 16— The EOU sent athletes to two meets over the weekend and got several strong performances. Three athletes, Cayla Weissert, Trisha Harshberger and Mitch Wheelhouse, competed at the BSU Team Meet, while a group of athletes competed at the UW Open meet in Seattle. Weissert got things rolling on Friday in the Pole Vault with a new personal best and NAIA auto qualifier with a jump of 11-1.5. Also on Friday in the Weight Throw, Harshberger threw a new personal best of 46-3.5, and just missed the NAIA provisional mark. On Saturday Wheelhouse unleashed a monster throw in the Weight with a NAIA auto qualifier and personal best of 54-4, and is currently ranked 9th. The strong performances continued on Sunday at the UW Open. For the women Marcella Bosch ran a provisional qualifier in the 3000m with a time of 10:31.40 to finish 10th. In the mile Sara Bates ran a great race to win her heat in 5:23.47, a comparable time to her outdoor 1500. Also Kasie Gillespie nearly had a top 16 mark in the Pentathlon despite not clearing a height in the High Jump. She’ll get another chance this weekend at Washington State. On the men’s side Adam Goulet qualified for the NAIA meet in the 1000m run, the event he was an All American in 2006, with a time of 2:31.84. Doug Benson also ran well in the 1000m finishing in 2:35.11. Other men’s competitors in the meet were Adam Miller in the 600m finishing with a time of 1:24.98 and Andrew Wise-Grittman in the 400m with a time of 51.13. Next up Gillespie will attempt another Pentathlon a WSU, and the NAIA Indoor Championships which will be held March 6-8 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Mounties Get Two School Records, Two Auto and Two Provisional Qualifying Marks At BSU
Nampa Idaho, February 8 & 9— The Mountaineer Track & Field teams got several strong performances at the Bronco Invitational, including two school records and four NAIA qualifying marks. On Friday night freshman Melisa Abesa broke her own school record in the 60m dash, finishing 4th in her heat with a time of 8.23. In the weight throw Trisha Harshberger threw a big personal best of 47-7.75, just missing the NAIA qualifier. However, she had an even bigger throw later in the meet that just got away with a slight foot foul. The distance medley relay team of Marcella Bosch, Chelsee Harmon, Christy Pletan, and Sara Bates also just missed the NAIA provisional mark with a time of 13:00.40. For the men on the first day of the meet, Chris Hoppie continued his outstanding season setting a new school record in the Long Jump by over a foot with a jump of 23-6.75, which is also an NAIA auto qualifier and currently sits second on the performance list. Also on Friday night Mitch Wheelhouse made the final in the shot put and Andrew Wise-Grittman moved onto the top 5 list in the 60m dash. The Mounties continued their strong meet on Saturday. On the women’s side Cayla Weissert hit the provisional mark in the Pole Vault with a jump of 10-10, an eight inch indoor personal best. The women’s 4x400m relay of Kasie Gillespie, Abesa, Danielle Murphy, and Harmon showed big improvement from earlier in the year. On the men’s side Wheelhouse continued his impressive meet with a personal best and NAIA provisional mark in the 30lb weight with a throw of 50-9. In the 800m Doug Benson edged a Utah State runner to win his heat in 1:57.63 and finished 3rd overall less than 0.3 seconds behind the winner. Zach Heath ran a gutsy race, after being diagnosed with a Hernia earlier in the week, to run a NAIA auto qualifier in the Mile with a time of 4:20.41. Next up a small group will be in Seattle next weekend for UW open meet before the indoor season wraps up at the NAIA Championships March 6-8.
Hoppie Sets School Record, Ohmes Sets Personal Best
Nampa Idaho, February 1 & 2— Chris Hoppie and Lucas Ohmes were the lone Mountaineer athletes competing in the United Heritage Invitational. Both athletes were in the strong Heptathlon field that included the reigning NCAA champion and several All-Americans. Hoppie finished 9th overall, setting a new school record with 5,026 points. He got off to a good start setting indoor personal bests in three of the four events on the first day including an indoor school record in the long jump. He continued his strong meet on the second day, which included winning the final event of the competition. Hoppie’s mark is currently the top performance in the NAIA. Ohmes also has a strong meet, exceeding his previous personal best by nearly 100 points with a score of 4,427. He had several strong marks, setting indoor personal bests in the shot put and 1000m. Ohmes mark is currently the ranked 5th in the NAIA; five of the top six marks were set in this competition.
Mounties Open Indoor Season At Blue and Orange Classic
Nampa Idaho, January 26— The Eastern Oregon University Track & Field Teams opened the 2008 with several strong performances. On the women’s side Alexa Losscutoff matched her alltime best in the long jump at 15-2.5,. She then set a new all time best in the triple jump at 33-0.5 and earning spot in the final. Freshman Courtney Schmidig also made the final in the triple jump. The was the first ever indoor meet for both athletes. On the track Melisa Abesa won her heat in the 60m dash, and set a new school record with a time of 8.30. Her teammates Dani Murphy and Chelsee Harmon followed her across the line. Trisha Harshberger threw well in the 20lb weight, making the final with a mark of 43-11.25. On the men’s side, Chris Hoppie had a good day. After setting a new indoor best in the long jump at 21-8.25, he set a new school record in the 60m hurdles at 8.40. His hurdle time was just off the NAIA provisional mark and just off the automatic mark. Nathan Schmidt also had a good day running personal best in both the 60m and 200m dashes, with times of 7.21 and 23.10 respectively. In the 35 lb weight throw Mitch Wheelhouse and Jason Dunten both set personal bests. Mitch’s throw of 49-6.5 was just off the NAIA provional mark. Overall it was a good meet, with several strong performances in tough fields that included athletes from many division 1 programs. Next week the Mounties will send a group of athletes back to Nampa to compete in the United Heritage Invitational. |