| Meet proves to be powerful |
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| Written by Lisa Short - Argonaut | ||||||
| Monday, 08 February 2010 | ||||||
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 Vandal hurdlers Maurice Shaw, left, and Paul Dittmer compete in the 60-meter high-hurdles Friday evening in the Kibbe Dome at the Vandal Indoor meet. Dittmer won the event and led an Idaho sweep of the event with Shaw and Andrew Blaser behind him. Nick Groff/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. Bothum’s feat is grand in nature, but the coaches and the team were not surprised. They have been working hard and seeing progress each week, but they expect that kind of outstanding performance from her, Phipps said.Beside Bothum in the field was senior Ben Wood, who won the weight toss with a throw of 60-8 1/4. KC Dahlgren had another strong meet, competing in the pole vault neck-in-neck with WSU’s Kendall Mays. Both cleared 13 -4 1/4 to tie for No. 22 in t NCAA, and it was KC’s best jump of the season, extending her lead in the WAC. “I think it was nice too with Angela announcing,” Phipps said. “It kept people involved in the field events and it was nice for those athletes to get that recognition.” On the track, junior Paul Dittmer took the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.94 seconds to tie for No. 2 in the WAC, only to beat that time Saturday and finish with 7.93 seconds to lead the WAC. Although he won both races, Dittmer said he “still needs to run faster.” Juniors Maurice Shaw and Andrew Blaser followed Dittmer with personal best times of 8.13 seconds and 8.23 seconds, respectively. Sophomore Lauren Schaffer took the women’s 800-meter with a personal best time and best time in the conference with a run of 2 minutes, 11 seconds. Junior Erica Digby ran a season’s best mile time of five minutes, four seconds, that stands at No. 3 in the conference. On Saturday, Idaho put a strong field forward and yielded some positive results consistently from team leaders. Senior Lucas Pope continues to soar with another school record of 17-6 1/2 to win and move to tie for No. 11 in the NCAA. Since breaking the 25-year record in the first meet, Pope has cleared almost a foot above that record. Underclassmen also contributed to the successful meet. Freshman Karlene Hurrel earned career bests and second in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash. Phipps said he was also pleased by the performance of freshmen in the men’s 800-meter. Junior Josh Dalton has continually dominated the men’s 800-meter and Phipps said he can see the leadership role Dalton takes on. It is a motivating factor for the younger athletes and the success they are seeing, he said.  Add as favorites (12) | Views: 301
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