The University of Idaho Argonaut

The University of Idaho track and field team continued to impress this week at the Vandal Indoor Friday, setting 16 personal bests and 13 Western Athletic Conference top-five marks.

For the second week in a row, the meet featured the discus, an event normally reserved for April and May. This week, however, the event featured what could be a preview to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Idaho thrower Russ Winger and Washington State’s Matt Lamb, both NCAA all-Americans, competed in the event. Winger’s final throw of 192-7 was just good enough to edge Lamb, who came in second hitting 192-6.

Winger’s throw didn’t just beat the meet competition though, it was also good enough to bring down a school record set by 10 time NCAA All-American Joachim Olsen.
Olsen set the University of Idaho school record for the indoor discus with a throw of 192-6. The record was set in 2001.

“Olsen is probably not going to be too happy,” Idaho coach Julie Taylor said. “Beating his record has always been kind of a goal for Russ, so for him to do that here, in this setting, is a great achievement.”

Winger improved his NCAA lead in the men’s shot put for the third consecutive competition as well. With a throw of 65-8 1/4, Winger blew away the competition by nearly an eight foot margin of victory.
Winger said that he was happy to beat the discuss record, but the school shot put record, also set by Olsen at 70-5 1/2, is what he’s really after.
“It’s still early, but I’m building pretty evenly each week,” Winger said. “The big throws are there, but I’ve still got some little things to tweak.”

True freshman Paul Dittmer had another good week, improving his personal best and WAC leading time to 8.01 in the 60-meter hurdles.

“That was a lifetime best for Paul,” Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said. “He usually runs faster in the finals, but he had a great start and hit some hurdles and just couldn’t recover. I think that it’s just a matter of time before he goes well under eight seconds.”
Returning two-time WAC 800-meter champion Bastien Tardy made his debut running 1:53.58, a time good enough to win the event.

Sophomore Mike Carpenter re—claimed WAC lead in the pole vault from teammate Lucas Pope clearing a height of 16-6 1/4. Pope placed second with a 16-1/4 mark.
Idaho has only two WAC vaulters to clear 16 feet. The nearest competition stands at 15-1.

Idaho sophomore AshLee Rey had a false start disqualification in the women’s 400-meter dash, but later made up for the miscue by bringing the 4x400-meter relay team to a come-from-behind victory.
Rey overtook a Washington State runner on the backstretch to give the Vandals a victory in the event, and a WAC best time of 3:51.52.

“AshLee Rey did a fantastic job,” Idaho coach Yogi Teevens said. “The way she came back after that 400 and ran a 56-flat split to win (the relay) was just great.”
After competing in several low key meets, Wayne Phipps said the Vandal Indoor provided an energy and excitement filled atmosphere.

“The atmosphere was awesome,” Phipps said. “We go to a lot of meets and we host some where there really just isn’t the excitement or the enthusiasm or the atmosphere, but this one was way different. People were into all the races and very supportive and it means so much to our athletes to have that.”