Trio of Eastern Washington women hope to place in Steeplechase

They’ve been pushing each other all season. Now Eastern Washington’s women steeplechasers hope to carry that momentum to a 1-2-3 finish Friday at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Roos Field. “Why not 1-2-3? That’s every coach’s dream,” said Camille Moseley, Eastern’s interim cross country and distance coach, who marvels every day at the friendly rivalry among Catie Arrigoni, Paula Gil-Echevarria and Katie Mahoney. “They’re like best frinds and fierce competitors at the same time, always pushing each other and holding each other accountable,” Moseley said. “They’re amazing girls to work with … this week I’m super-excited because they’re so ready, and what a great time to do it at home,” Moseley said. They’re certainly not a lock – season bests of Gil-Echevarria, Mahoney and Arrigoni rank third, sixth and seventh in the Big Sky, respectively, going into the conference meet. Montana State’s Heather Demorest’s 10:14.60 tops the field by 6 seconds, but the Eagle women expect big points from their distance runners this week. Last year in Flagstaff, Arizona, it was Arrigoni who shocked the field, winning the steeplechase and placing second in the 5,000 meters. The best was yet to come at regionals, where Arrigoni set a school record of 10:14.99 to punch her ticket to the NCAA meet. This year, Arrigoni suffered a stress fracture during the cross country season, hampering her training. Still, she recovered to run a 10:34.83 last month at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California. For that reason, “This hasn’t been the season I hoped it would be,” said Arrigoni, a junior from Oroville, Washington, who transferred to EWU last year from Everett Community College. Arrigoni also plans to run the 5,000 on Saturday; she ran a personal-best 17:32.32 this year at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, California. Others are picking up the pace. Gil-Echevarria, a junior from Spain, is the Eagles’ top steeplechaser this season, with a 10:22.16 two weeks ago at the Oregon State High Performance meet. That mark puts her third on Eastern’s all-time list. “Paula is a very natural athlete, and her form is so good over the hurdles, she makes it look super easy,” Moseley said. Gil-Echevarria also plans to run in the 1,500 on Saturday; her season best of 4:35.20 ranks seventh in school history. Eastern’s most versatile distance runner could be Mahoney, a junior from Richland who’ll run the 800 and 1,500 this week along with the steeplechase. “She does a lot of high mileage and works really hard,” Moseley said of Mahoney, who ranks sixth in the Big Sky in the steeple (10:28.68), seventh in the 1,500 (4:28.96) and 17th in the 800 (2:13.54).