Keller Captures Decathlon At Big Sky Championships

Eastern Washington University performances in the heptathlon and decathlon at the Big Sky track and field championships stand up well to school marks, but not as well when measured against conference opponents.

In the decathlon, the Eagles’ Nathan Pugh scored 6,205 points - third-best in school history. He finished eighth overall, well behind conference record-setter Stevie Keller of Montana State, who scored 7,477. Eastern’s Aaron VanAntwerp placed 10th with 5,610 points.

In the heptathlon, EWU’s Danni O’Bannan had the fourth-best total in school history. With 4,340 points, she placed sixth. Teammate Christie Kight was seventh with 4,226 points.

Brandi Prieto of event-host Cal State Northridge won with 4,986 points.

In team standings, Montana State leads the men with 20 points, followed by Montana (11), Northern Arizona (4), Idaho State (3) and EWU (1).

For the women, CSUN leads with 18 points, followed by Idaho State (12) Eastern Washington (5) and Montana State (4).

The championships continue today and Saturday.

Ryan Pauling, a Pacific Lutheran senior from Cheney, placed third in the men’s 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at Berea, Ohio. His time was 30 minutes, 51.61 seconds, about 5-1/2 seconds behind the winner.

Baseball

Kevin Ticen drove in four runs and Jeff Carlsen threw seven effective innings as the Washington Huskies defeated Washington State 11-4 in a non-conference game between two Pac-10 teams at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.

Carlsen (9-1) scattered 10 hits, but gave up just four runs for the Huskies (33-21). Jeff Heaverlo and Shawn Kohn finished up on the mound for Washington, each throwing one hitless inning.

The loss went to WSU freshman starter Reggie Rivard (2-3), who worked six innings for the Cougars (22-31).

The three-game season-ending series for WSU continues today with a 6:30 p.m. single game, then the finale Saturday at 1 p.m.

Community Colleges of Spokane was eliminated from the NWAACC playoffs as Chris Boyd pitched Columbia Basin to a 5-0 victory in Pasco.

George Petticrew went the distance for Spokane, allowing five runs and six hits. He struck out eight.

Aaron Vandarwarka had two hits for the Sasquatch.

Boyd pitched a complete-game four-hitter.