The University of Idaho Argonaut

 

The first home meet for the Idaho track and field team resulted in strong performances and a fun meet for all Vandals. Coach Wayne Phipps said he thinks the team really enjoyed competing at home and there was great support.

That support pushed the Idaho athletes to high levels with multiple outstanding performances. The team did well,  finishing with six event titles Friday night — only one behind Washington State.

Leading the team was senior Mykael Bothum, who won the shot put with a throw of 55-4 3/4. This throw broke not only her own school record, but moved Bothum up in the rankings to No. 4 in the NCAA. The throw was three-quarters of an inch off from an automatic NCAA standard, but it will probably secure her spot at nationals.

The Bulldogs come into Wednesday night’s game against Idaho riding an 11-game winning streak. The Bulldogs’ last loss came on Jan. 30 to Stanford, in a lopsided 68-44 decision.

In contrast, Idaho enters the game with only one win in the last four games, but despite the record the Vandals look ready to start a winning streak of their own. Newlee said the team is playing its best basketball of the season, and the losses came not from a lack of effort on the Vandals’ part.

“All year, that ball has been hanging on the rim and coming off,” Newlee said, referencing the team’s ability to hang in with the best in the WAC but never getting the breaks and closing out games. Idaho’s past three losses were decided by single digits, and in every game Idaho had a chance to put the game away but failed to do so.

 

 

The Idaho women’s basketball team is full of explosive players, but none have come on as strong in the past three years as junior Rachele Kloke, who has doubled her season statistics from her freshman year.

Kloke, along with Shaena Kuehu and Yinka Olorunnife, makes up the bulk of Idaho’s offense on the court. She leads all Idaho players with 16.6 points per game, averaging just under 50 percent shooting from the field as well as leading the team in blocks this conference season.

But this wasn’t always the case — while Kloke had an outstanding high school career where she was a four-sport athlete, the adjustment to college basketball was a tough one to make.

“In high school, you can get away (with) just being athletic,” Kloke said. “In college ball, there is a lot more work and time and thought that has to go into it.”

 

Women's Tennis Taking on two teams in one day is a daunting task, but the Idaho women’s tennis team took the challenge in stride. Idaho beat Eastern Washington and went on to beat Gonzaga in Saturday’s match-up. Idaho traveled to Cheney, Wash., then to Spokane for their double-header. The team held their composure in the close match-ups to take home two victories. Idaho prevailed over EWU in a close 4-3 win, then beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 6-1, to finish the day.

 

The outcome of the game was exactly what the Vandals wanted: a big win over a state rival. Not only did Idaho win the basketball game, Idaho outplayed and outhustled Boise State in the Taco Bell Arena.

The game was all Idaho. The Vandals knew what they had to do going into the hostile environment of Boise State and they executed well, ending in a 79-55 win over their rivals. Boise State was lacking the enthusiasm Idaho had, and it showed on the court with several Boise State turnovers and no completion.

With this win, Idaho is now 11-11 overall and 3-7 in WAC play. Boise State fell to 11-12 overall and 2-8 in the WAC.

The Idaho swimming and diving team showed improvements in its previous home meet. Idaho beat rival Washington State University 123-108 at Saturday’s home meet.
Seniors led the team in four of eight victories against the Cougars. Coach Tom Jager said he was proud to see his seniors swim so well.