ELLENSBURG, Wash. (March 23) — Central Washington University outdoor track standouts Kent McKinney Jr.  and Dani Eggleston were named, respectively, the men's and women's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track (GNAC) Athlete of the Week. They're honors that CWU head track and field coach Kevin Adkisson called well deserved.
 
"It's really nice to see Kent following up his indoor success right away on the outdoor side of things," Adkisson said. "Hopefully, he will be able to continue that progress and make it to the outdoor nationals after just missing the indoor national meet."
 
McKinney, a junior from Seattle, won the 100 meters in an NCAA Division II provisional national qualifying time of 10.61 at the Eastern Oregon Team Challenge in Hermiston.  That time is the fifth fastest in GNAC history and currently ranks seventh nationally. 
 
"I've come a long way as far as track is concerned," McKinney admitted, "as far as my times dropping, strength training and getting the right mechanics. It [the GNAC award] is really motivation to keep going."  
 
McKinney also ran a 21.99 in winning the 200 meters at Eastern Oregon, a mark that ranks second in the GNAC this spring and was the first time he had eclipsed 22 seconds in the event.  
 
"That was probably my best performance ever," McKinney acknowledged about his two victories. "I ran pretty well considering how early it is in the season and how much training I've had so far. I came off of football, so I haven't had as much track training as everybody else."
 
The previous week, McKinney also ran legs for CWU's victorious 4x100 and 4x400 men's relay teams at the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational in Parkland. The longer race is somewhat new for him.
 
"I've been doing it on-and-off throughout my career," he stated. "It's never been established but I'm going to do it this year. The 400 is not really my race but I think I can help the team out."
 
Eggleston, junior, Longview, bettered the NCAA Division II national qualifying standard in her first steeplechase of the season at the Eastern Oregon meet, winning the event in a time of 11:00.27, which ranks second nationally. 
 
On Eggleston's performance, Adkisson commented that, "It was a really impressive opening effort in the steeple, especially considering that she was running alone into a bit of a headwind on the back stretch. We think that she'll be ready to challenge her personal best very soon."
 
However, Eggleston was quick to point out it wasn't even her best performance.
 
"I've run it [steeplechase] 10-seconds faster," Eggleston pointed out. "It doesn't seem like it, but that's definitely a good amount slower."
 
Eggleston is expecting to run the event in a couple of weeks at the Stanford Invitational in California. If she does, she will look to get closer to, if not break, her PR there, in an event she just took up last year.
 
"I didn't even know how to do steeple and I started doing it really late in the year," Eggleston explained. "I just decided to do it for fun one time. The first time I ran it, I hit the national provisional [qualifying standard]. So, I thought, maybe, I should do this."
 
A week earlier, Eggleston also recorded a provisional time of 17:11.79 in the 5,000 meters at the PLU meet and currently ranks third in the nation in that event. She is also running the 3,000- and 1,500-meter events this season.
 
"I got close to the national provisional in the mile in indoor [track]," Eggleston said. "I do have a little bit of speed and, when I do races like that, it helps my speed overall. It's good to do a bunch of different races."
 
In addition, CWU thrower Kevin Stanley was named an honorable mention GNAC Field Athlete of the Week following his performance at the Buc Scoring Invite at Whitworth University.
 
Back in his hometown of Spokane, the senior took second in the men's hammer on Thursday, with a personal record throw of 183-09, which was about six-feet beyond the national provisional qualifying mark. Stanley followed up on Friday by placing third in the shot put (51-10 ½).