The University of Idaho Argonaut

Following a sleau of personal bests and new school records for the University of Idaho track and field team in recent meets, it was Mykael Bothum’s turn for the spotlight.
The sophomore threw a personal best and broke Idaho’s record for the women’s shot put at the WSU Indoor II meet in Pullman Saturday.

Her third throw of the day landed 50 feet, 4 inches away from where she stood. It was good enough to beat not only Washington State’s McKenzie Garberg by three feet, but also shattered her own personal record by seven inches.
“I’m glad I got a hold of one,” Bothum said. “I’ve been working on some little things in practice and it just hadn’t been coming together. I got things to come together a little bit today, but I think I can do even more.”
In the action that took place on Saturday, UI athletes hit 12 personal bests, giving them a total of 17 for the weekend.

Sophomore transfer Lucas Pope increased his personal best pole vault height to 16-4.75, — a winning effort at the meet. Pope took three attempts at 16-9.25, a mark that would have beat the 23-year-old UI record held by Steve Ott. Pope failed to clear the bar, but is optimistic he will get there soon.
“I used a couple new poles we just got and it gave me a little bit of an extra push I needed to get over that height,” Pope said. “I’m feeling really good about next weekend. It’s going to be a good competition, because Mike (Carpenter) and I really push each other and we should both do really well.”

Carpenter tied for second with a height of 16-0.75. Carpenter and Pope have the best heights in the Western Athletic Conference and are the only two jumpers to clear 16 feet.
It was business as usual for Matt Wauters in the weight throw Friday. Wauters hit an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 68-9.75, just short of his season best 68-10. Wauters won the event by more than five feet.

“He’s at a fine line between really catching it and just missing it and kind of falling away and not getting the finish that he wants right now,” Idaho throws coach Tim Taylor said. “He’s getting to the point right now where he’s getting more consistent and he’s finishing strong with both feet on the ground.”
The indoor track and field regular season ended for Vandal athletes at the WSU Indoor open II, clearing the way to Nampa for the WAC Championships next weekend. The meet will begin with the multi-events on Thursday and run through Saturday.