Eags set to host Big Sky Conference champs in Spokane; Dawgs host Ken Shannon Last Chance...

With all four of the state's Division II schools done with their conference championship, along with Seattle University, Eastern Washington University makes the short drive from their Cheney campus to host the Big Sky Championships at The Podium in Spokane for the first time in school history.

Action got underway Thursday with the pentathlon and the heptathlon. They had no entries in the pentathlon, but Cody Teevens (Paul Merca photo) of the host school stands third at the break with 2757 points after four events in the heptathlon.

Teevens started his day by running 7.13 in the 60, then long jumped 21-6.25 (6.56m). He then threw the shot 35-8.5 (10.88m), and finished the day with an effort of 6-0.75 (1.85m) in the high jump. The Pullman native finished third in all four events on the day.

Nicola Paletti of Montana State leads at the break with 2932 points.

Heading into the conference championship meet, Eastern athletes ranked in the top five include conference leader Kristian Phennicie in the 60 (6.74), Madelyn Knight in the 60 hurdles (8.37), the Eagle women's distance medley relay (12:11.70), high jumper Grace Bruno (5-7.25/1.71m), pole vaulters Zach Klobutcher (17-1.5/5.22m), Lucas Couron (16-9.25/5.11m), and Savannah Schultz (13-1.5/4.00m), conference long and triple jump leader Caitlin (Egypt) Simmons (19-11.75/6.09m and 41-2.25/12.55m); and shot putter Bradley Fillis (54-2.5/16.52m).

Klobutcher and Schultz are returning indoor champions in the men's and women's pole vaults for the Eags.

The Eags pulled in six medals at last year's championships, hosted by the University of Idaho in Moscow, including three gold, two silver and one bronze. 

From a national perspective, Northern Arizona's mens team enters the conference championships as the nation's number one team, while its women's squad dropped out of the top 25 after being inside the top 25 most of the season.

ESPN Plus ($) will stream all of the competition. 

The conference championship landing page is available here, which includes the links to live results, meet schedule, and performance lists.

KEN SHANNON LAST CHANCE INVITATIONAL BEGINS FRIDAY AT DEMPSEY...

The University of Washington hosts the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor, with all twelve Pac-12 schools, including Washington State, having some presence at the meet, though not all schools will send full squads to Seattle.

In addition, a number of Division I, II and III schools will send individuals and relay teams to the Dempsey in the final weekend to attain qualifying marks for their respective NCAA championships in two weeks.

Among the top events to watch this weekend include: the men's and women's multi-events which kick off the Ken Shannon meet at noon on Friday; the men's pole vault at 1 pm, with the women's vault at 4:30 pm, featuring four Huskies currently in the national top 16, led by freshman Hana Moll.

On the track, USC's Johnny Brackins Jr. (Kirby Lee/USC Athletics photo) of USC, one of the nation's top hurdlers, will be in the 60 hurdles, and is entered in the long jump, an event where he won the USATF indoor championships in Albuquerque, defeating some notable pros, last weekend.

The distance races should have some fireworks, in particular, the men's invitational 800 featuring former NCAA champ Brandon Miller of the Brooks Beasts going against On Running's UW alums Sam Ellis and Canadian world championships competitor Kieran Lumb, with the Huskies' NCAA 1500 champ Nathan Green, and Pan Am Games competitor Derek Holdsworth thrown in for good measure.

A quartet of runners from the Seattle based Brooks Beasts--Henry Wynne, Brannon Kidder, Waleed Suliman, and Kyle Langford will face off against Washington's world championship competitor Joe Waskom, and 2023 USATF indoor champ and Seattle resident Sam Prakel. Lumb will double back from the 800.

The Beasts are returning to Seattle after spending over a month training at high altitude at their annual winter camp in Albuquerque.

The big women's distance race on the schedule is the 5000, with Australian Lauren Ryan, Canadian Olympian Regan Yee, China's WuGa He, along with Allie Buchalski and Kayley DeLay of the Brooks Beasts facing a large collegiate field trying to get one of those 16 spots into the NCAA championships, including UW senior Haley Herberg.

All of the sprint races will be contested Friday.

Saturday's program includes heats of the men's and women's 400, 800 and mile, with the meet ending with the distance medley and 4 x 400 relays.

The DMRs are of particular interest to Western Washington, as they, along with Western Oregon, Simon Fraser, and Azusa Pacific are hoping for a fast race to get them a qualifier for NCAAs.

The start lists for the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invitational are available here, as well as the time schedule.

Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will live stream both days of the meet.

NOTE: The Big Sky Conference, and the sports information offices at the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.

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