Eagles In Fifth After First Day

Big Sky track championship

Amber Johnson and Julie Nielson picked up a pair of runner-up finishes to help Eastern Washington finish fifth after the first day of the Big Sky Conference Track and Field Championships on Friday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.

Johnson, a 1996 North Central grad, placed second in the 10,000 meters with a time of 36 minutes, 24.37 seconds.

Nielson was second in the javelin with a throw of 177-5 and fourth in the discus with a throw of 149-3.

The women finished the day with 27 points, while the men, who are in fourth place, tallied 29.

Cristi Horning also had a fourth-place finish for the women, leaping a school-record 19-1-1/2 in the long jump. She broke the record of 19-0-3/4 set by Adrienne Wilson in 1998.

Kurt Kraemer led the EWU men with a fourth-place finish in the long jump and a sixth in the high jump. His long jump of 24-3-1/2 was a personal record and ranks seventh all-time for the Eagles. He cleared 6-6-3/4 in the high jump.

EWU’s Jay Martell placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 55-11-1/4. Teammate Brent Twaddle (54-8-1/4) was fifth.

Another school record was set in the preliminaries of the women’s 800 meters as Katie Ellison recorded a time of 2:11.41. She shattered the record of 2:13.21 set last season by Hannah Lohrmann.

Teammate Lisa Harrison also beat the record with a 2:13.03 that helped her advance to today’s finals.