Freshman heads to Fayetteville

After finishing in sixth place at the NCAA West Regional meet over the weekend, Michelle Coombs has advanced to the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships to be held June 10 through 13 in Fayetteville, Ark.

"Now you're throwing against the Big 10, the Big 12, the ACC, all those schools are here," said men's Head Coach Stan Kerr. "That's why we recruit kids. We want them to compete against the best Division I athletes in the country. Michelle will get a full dose of that next week."

Coombs was one of nine athletes from Eastern Washington to compete in Eugene, Ore., at the Regional meet, and is one of only four female athletes from EWU to ever reach the national level. The freshman from Hermiston, Ore., joins Carolee Gutierrez (2007), Stephanie Ulmer (2006), Jordan Baughan (2005) and Kari McKay (1992) as the only Eagle women to reach nationals.

"I am looking for a solid performance from her," said women's Head Coach Marcia Mecklenburg. "It will be interesting to see how she responds as a freshman. I think right now the goal is for her to do well and be consistent and hopefully get into the finals."

When she competes in the preliminaries June 10 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time in Fayetteville, Coombs will do so as the 21st ranked javelin thrower in the country. With a top-eight finish, she could join Gutierrez and McKay to become Eastern Washington's third female All-American track athlete.

"She's a pretty unassuming individual. She keeps her feet on the ground and that's going to serve her well going to Fayetteville this year," said Kerr. "Go Michelle!"

In Eugene, Coombs earned her at-large berth to the Championships with a throw of 153-4, and was one of two Eagles who placed in the top 10 in the javelin competition. Teammate Aaron Mettler, another freshman, finished 10th with a throw of 202-5. By finishing 10th Mettler was also eligible for an at-large berth, but narrowly missed the national cut-off of 25 by finishing 27th.

"He took it very philosophically and he knows that his career is far from over," said Kerr of Mettler. "He knows that he's one of the elite throwers and knows the place he should throw over the next couple years."

Cody Irby ended his EWU career in style with a throw of 200-3 and a 14th place finish at Regionals. Junior John Clevenger finished 17th, throwing 198-5, while Amanda Peterson finished 20th with a mark of 133-0.

Big Sky Conference Champion and EWU record-holder junior Nicole Luckenbach finished 14th in the hammer with a throw of 179-3. "We really hoped that Nicole would get in the hammer, but she was down a few notches," said Kerr. "She didn't have her banner day down in Eugene, but knows that she deserves to be in that group and I think will go in next year with a better approach to her event. I'm not going to be surprised to see her at the National Championships next year."

While reflecting on a very successful track and field season, Kerr said, "On the men's side, this has been our best season ever: third in cross country, third in indoors, fifth in outdoors. Comprehensively from the start in August to today, the guys know that they put in an effort that paid off."

With a talented group of underclassmen led by Mettler and Coombs, Kerr thinks the future of track and field at EWU has never looked better. "There is enthusiasm in the program, morale is terrific and we're excited as coaches about who we have coming in both the women's program and the men's program," said Kerr. "It's that old cliché: we're not rebuilding, we're reloading, and that's very true."