WEEKEND ROUNDUP: EWU's Bowden edges closer to US Olympic Trials qualifier in 110 hurdles...

In Ogden, Utah, Eastern Washington's Parker Bowden's (photo courtesy EWU Athletics) run in the men's 110 hurdles was the most impressive performance of the meet, and earned the senior from Spokane's Central Valley HS the men's outstanding performer award at the Big Sky Conference championship meet, hosted by Weber State University.

Bowden won EWU's first-ever 110-meter high hurdles title with a meet record time and the No. 2 all-time mark in league history. His clocking of 13.58 ranks him 14th in NCAA Division I and shattered his school record set one day earlier of 13.74. Entering this season, the record was 14.23 and his own best was 14.25 (14.34 non wind-aided).

"Parker's record-setting 110 hurdles time and being recognized as the meet's outstanding performer topped a great day for us," said Eagle head men's coach Stan Kerr.

As a side note, Bowden could be in position to qualify for next month's US Olympic Trials, if he can take his personal best down to 13.48, which is the qualifying standard to enter the meet.

Over the weekend, the Eagles won four conference titles.

Besides Bowden, junior Joe Gauthier won the 100 meters as part of 1-2-6 finish by the Eagles and then placed fourth in the 200. He also ran the lead-off leg on EWU's winning 4x100-meter relay squad, which was anchored by senior Jonah Mathews who was the runner-up in the 100 behind Gauthier.

The fourth title was won by junior Katrina Terry, who led a 1-2-7-8 finish in the women's pole vault, as she cleared 13-1 (3.99m).

Eastern's men finished in fifth place with 96 points, coming just 10 points from equaling its best-ever finish of third. The women placed 10th with 42 points. Northern Arizona won the men's competition with 168 points, and the Lumberjacks also garnered the women's title with 207 points.

Complete results of the Big Sky Conference championship meet are available here.

In Monmouth, Oregon, Western Washington and Seattle Pacific repeated as team champions at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship meet that concluded Saturday at McArthur Field on the campus of Western Oregon University.

In the men's competition, double individual winners Cordell Cummings (110/400 hurdles) and Eric Hamel (5000/10000) led the charge for the Vikings, who scored a conference meet record 289 points.

Cummings was named the Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet for his repeat titles in the hurdles. He won his third consecutive championship in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.50 seconds. Cummings added the repeat title in the 400-meter hurdles going away, winning by almost a second-and-a-half with a time of 52.75 seconds.

After winning the 10000 meters on Friday in 31:11.96, Hamel surged over the final two laps to win the 5000 meters on Saturday in a time of 14:39.87.

In all, Western had 11 winners in the 21 events, including both relays.

Central Washington was third with 130 points, while Saint Martin's was fifth at 61 and Seattle Pacific sixth with 44 points.

Seattle Pacific's third straight GNAC team title was just as dominating as Western Washington on the men's side, as the Falcons got nine individual wins over the two days of competition to score 208 points.

The Falcons were led by Dania Holmberg, who won both the 1500 (4:27.31) and 5000 (17:43.57), to earn the conference's track athlete of the meet, while Renick Meyer was named field athlete of the meet for her win in the heptathlon last week, as well as the long jump on Friday, where she jumped 19-7.5 (5.98m), which was one centimeter off the conference meet record.

SPU also duplicated the Viking men's performance in the 400 and 1600 relays in winning both events.

Western Washington was second with 168, followed by Central Washington's 132.5. Saint Martin's was seventh with 45.5 points.

The GNAC releases are available here, while the complete results are available here.

NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the sports information office of Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.

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