Strong from the start

File Photo by Jesse Hart | Argonaut Jason Lorentz competes in the long jump at the Vandal Indoor Open Feb. 4 in the Kibbie Dome. The Idaho women won the Buc Scoring Invite Saturday in Spokane, while the men placed second in the first official outdoor meet of the season.

The outdoor track and field season is officially underway and the Vandal women won the Buc Scoring Invite Saturday in Spokane while Idaho’s men placed second at the event.

File Photo by Jesse Hart | Argonaut Jason Lorentz competes in the long jump at the Vandal Indoor Open Feb. 4 in the Kibbie Dome. The Idaho women won the Buc Scoring Invite Saturday in Spokane, while the men placed second in the first official outdoor meet of the season.

Neither the women’s nor the men’s team competed with a full squad for the first meet of the season. A few runners competed, but most of Idaho’s athletes appeared in field events.

“I was really happy with how the results were,” Idaho coach Julie Taylor said. “We had a small group … but for those who competed this weekend, I thought we had a great opener for this time of year. It wasn’t perfect conditions, it was a little cool and windy but we had a number of kids really compete well and get (personal records).”

On the women’s side, the Vandals scored 99.5 points to beat out Whitworth, Spokane Community College and Gonzaga for first place.

Johanna Hocketstaller put together several standout performances for the Vandals. Hocketstaller finished first in the women’s javelin at 132-1 feet. She was also the top collegiate finisher in the shot put at 44-9.75 and the discus at 147-2. Hocketstaller, a freshman from Germany, has only been with the team since January.

“That was a really good opener for (Hocketstaller) to basically … be the top collegiate (athlete). It was wonderful to see her do so well,” Taylor said.

Another Vandal thrower, senior Gabby Midles, won the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 174-0 to complete an Idaho sweep in the throwing events.

Despite windy conditions, junior Alyssa Covington jumped 17-8.25 to win the women’s long jump.

In the running events, sophomore Emily Paradis won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:31.60. Paradis, who is usually a regular distance runner, competed in the steeplechase for the first time. She also competed for the first time in 2012 after redshirting for the indoor season.

Sophomore Cait Rowland placed first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.37 while running into a headwind. Rowland earned second-team all-WAC honors in the indoor 60-meter hurdles earlier this year.

Senior Emma Goode won the 400-meter in 59.03 to round out the first place finishes for the Vandal women. She was the only racer to finish in less than 60 seconds.

The Idaho men scored 58 points to place second behind Whitworth, which finished with 139.

Junior Jason Lorentz leapt 21-11.50 to win the men’s long jump for the Vandals while senior Rendel Jones won the triple jump with a mark of 45-01.50.

Freshman Matt Sullivan finished second in the men’s pole vault with a vault of 15-07.00. Sullivan’s height was good enough to tie for first but he fell to second place based on the number of vaults attempted.

“Matt Sullivan competed very (well) in the pole vault,” Taylor said. “That was a great start for him.”

In throwing events, sophomore Kyle Rothwell won the men’s hammer throw by more than 10 feet with his 180-08 foot toss. In the shot put, sophomore Audrey Levkiv’s toss of 53-7.75 placed him second in the event. Rothwell and Levkiv’s throws were personal records.

“Audrey Levkiv finished second (in the shot put) but that’s about a 3-foot (personal record) to start the season so I was very happy with his performances.”

Going into the meet, the Vandals did not focus solely on winning, Taylor said. Some athletes competed in events they weren’t used to, such as the men’s 400-meter runners competing in the 800-meter instead.

“There was really no thought as far as, going into (the meet), for the team title or anything like that,” Taylor said. “That wasn’t really a concern at all because we knew that we’re not going to have the whole team. So I’m obviously pretty happy with the fact that even though it wasn’t necessarily a goal of ours (to win) I was happy that we could actually do that well. It’s not bad for the approach and team that we took.”

Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]

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Stephan Wiebe Sports reporter Sophomore in journalism Can be reached at [email protected]

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