Eagles off to strong start in Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships

So what’s tougher: rising to expectations, or exceeding them?

Two Eastern Washington athletes handled both situations with remarkable success Friday at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Cheney.

In the first event of the day, hammer thrower Jordan Arakawa overcame all challengers to win the event after two straight runner-up finishes. An hour later, Emma Murillo surprised the field – and herself – by winning the javelin on her final throw.

Murillo, a senior from Kennewick, won the event last year, but was burdened by injury all spring and came into the meet ranked fifth. With one toss left, she was still second, but a daunting 13 feet behind leader Jayd Eggert of North Dakota.

Murillo tried to visualize success.

“I tried imagery, having the big throw in mind and just fighting through and letting the adrenaline take over,” Murillo said.

Did it ever: Murillo threw 168 feet, a personal best by 10 feet.

“It felt good,” said Murillo, who was smiling all the way to the podium. “I was hungry for it … and on my home turf – I never could have imagined this.”

For Arakawa, the burden of being favored was compounded by runner-up finishes the last two years. The pressure was turned up further by Montana State’s Sean Ferriter, who seized the lead with a personal-best of 211-8 on the first throw of the final round.

Ferriter still led when Arakawa stepped into the circle for his second throw. “To be honest, if you asked me about that situation in my freshman year, I would have called it pressure,” Arakawa said, “but now that I’m older, I think it’s the kind of thing that you need in competition – that pressure.”

As dozens cheered, Arakawa cast off his burdens with a technically strong toss that looked almost effortless as it landed almost 7 feet beyond Ferriter’s throw.

The final mark was a season-best of 218-1 that wasn’t challenged in the final round.

“The best throws are usually the most effortless. I knew it was a good one.” Arakawa said. “What a great way to end my senior season at home.”

Men: Arakawa’s 10 points helped the Eagles to a strong day in the team race, where they hope to finish in the top three. Senior Phil Puccino finished second in the high jump with a mark of 6-11, then earned fifth place in the long jump with a leap of 23-6¾. In the same event, sophomore Trenton Osborn went 24-3 to place second.

Cody Humphrey finished fifth in the discus and Aarion Brenton was seventh in the steeplechase.

In Friday’s prelims, EWU freshman sprinter Jeremy VanAssche finished second in the 100 meters with a time of 10.43 seconds. That was one-tenth of a second slower than James Fisher of Northern Arizona, who had a stronger tailwind.

In the final event of the day, Vince Hamilton finished sixth in the 10,000 meters to put the Eagles at 39 points, good enough for second place behind Sacramento State’s 54½.

Women: In addition to the 10 points from Murillo, the Eagles got a third place in the steeplechase from Paula Gil-Echevarria, who finished in 10:28.17. Eastern was hoping for more points, but Katie Mahoney finished ninth and defending champ Catie Arrigoni was 13th.

The Eagles made up for it in the 10,000. Northern Arizona’s Melanie Townsend won handily, but Eastern’s Sarah Reiter nabbed second and Berenice Penaloza finished sixth to give the Eagles 11 points in that event.

By the end of the day, MSU and Sac State were atop the team race, but Eastern was a solid third with 32 points.