All three Vandals competing Friday at Palo Alto, Calif., finished in the top 10 in their events at the Stanford Invitational — a meet that regularly features more than 3,000 competitors.“I couldn’t have asked for any better of performances,” Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said. “These three all performed very well and could all most likely be NCAA finalists.”
Senior Barry Britt ran a career-best 14 minute, 3.48-second time to finish sixth in the third section of the men’s 5000-meter run. His time moves him to second all-time in the Idaho record book and ranks first in the WAC by 46 seconds.
“Barry had a great race,” Phipps said. “His performance was fantastic and I am sure he is going to have a great season.”
In the field, Idaho sophomore Matt Sullivan and senior Jeremy Klas each surpassed 16 feet, 10.75 inches in the pole-vault. It was a career-best mark for Sullivan, who finished third in the invitational section of the event. Klas finished fifth based on number of attempts. The marks tie them for second-best in the WAC so far this season.
The three Vandals competed in hopes to secure times and marks that will qualify for nationals at the end of the season. After a great start, they now have chances to expand on these marks throughout the season.
The Vandals are now set to make their full-team debut at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Sam Adams Invitational in Spokane this weekend.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]