Eagles get two winners Friday; Melu wins high jump title at WAC...

CHENEY—Eastern Washington senior Jordan Arakawa (center/ohoto by Paul Merca) was one of two winners for Eastern Washington as the Big Sky Conference track and field championship got fully underway Friday at Roos Field on the campus of Eastern Washington University.

Arakawa, an NCAA qualifier for the Eagles in the hammer last year, had never tasted victory in this event, but did so with a fifth round throw of 218-1 (66.47m) to take the victory over Sean Ferriter of Montana State, who took the lead in round four with a toss of 211-8 (64.51m).

In the women’s javelin, Emma Murillo’s clutch sixth round throw gave her the conference crown, with a toss of 168-0 (51.20m), to overtake North Dakota’s Jayd Eggert, who threw 164-5 (50.12m) in round 1.

Phil Puccino took second in the men’s high jump with a clearance of 6-11 (2.11m), as Weber State’s Anthony Gregory won with a leap of 7-1 (2.16m).

Puccino was fifth in the long jump with a mark of 23-6.75 (7.18m). Teammate Trenton Osborn was second at 24-3 (7.39m).

Cody Humphrey was fifth in the discus with a toss of 164-7 (50.16m), and Kaytlyn Coleman was eighth in the shot put.

On the track, Paula Gil-Echevarria was third in the steeplechase, as she ran 10:28.17, while defending champ Catie Arrigoni was 13th in 11:20.26.

Aaron Brenton was seventh in the men’s steeple in 9:35.54.

In the only other track final contested, Big Sky cross country champ Sarah Reiter was second in the 10000, running 36:16.55, while teammate Berenice Penaloza was sixth in 36:45.11.

Vince Hamilton was sixth in the men’s 10000 in 31:34.11.

After seven events, Eastern Washington sits in second with 39 points, behind Sacramento State’s 54 in the men’s competition, while the Eagle women’s squad is third with 32 points, with Montana State leading with 48.2  points.

Live results from the Big Sky championships are available here.

In Orem, Utah, Seattle University’s Shaddye Melu won the WAC outdoor title in the high jump to match his indoor title, clearing 6-11.5 (2.12m).

Both the Seattle U men’s and women’s track and field teams are in fifth place after three days of the conference championships, with the men collecting 31.5 points and the women earning 20 points. Utah Valley holds a one-point lead over UMKC in the women’s team standings and a 10.5-point advantage over Grand Canyon in the men’s team standings.

Seattle University’s release is available here; the live results link to the WAC championship meet is available here.

NOTE:  The sports information office of Seattle University and Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.