A by-product of Kibbie Dome renovations left the Idaho track and field team on the road for the entirety of last season.
The nomadic Vandals finally return to Moscow to host the Vandal Indoor today and the Idaho Indoor Open Saturday. Field events start at 11 a.m. and running events at 6 p.m. Friday and the Idaho Open starts at 11 a.m. Both meets are in the Dome. The Vandal Indoor will feature more than 35 Vandals competing against runners from more than 10 schools and clubs. The Idaho Indoor Open Saturday will feature more than 1,200 competitors.
Director of Track and Field Wayne Phipps called it “awesome” that sophomores on the team who haven’t competed at home will get the opportunity to do so. “It’s going to be neat for them,” he said.
This will be the fourth meet the Vandals have competed in this season, but for most of the team it will only be the third, because only a partial squad participated in the Bronco Invitational two weeks ago.
“We got our feet wet with our first race, just seeing how it would go. I think a lot of people were happy with what we did,” runner Hannah Kiser said. “It kind of showed (us) we were in better shape than we thought. They had a time and were able to respond like ‘OK it was good, but we could have done this better.'”
Kiser said this is the part of the season in which runners start to think about short distance strategy, and running fast.
The Vandals will get their opportunity to test themselves against runners from schools across Idaho, Washington and Oregon in an invitation-only competition.
Those not accepted to the Vandal Indoor will get an opportunity at Saturday’s Idaho Indoor Open.
Phipps said if his team continues to compete they will be where they need to be by the time WAC Championships roll around. Phipps also believes competition against schools like UCLA and Washington State in prior weeks has gone a long way toward getting his team ready.
“That really helps, when you can compete against those types of teams, really gets you ready for a conference championship,” he said. “This meet (Vandal Indoor) will be very comparable. Continuing to compete well against a high level of competition.”
Pole-vaulter Jeremy Klas echoed his sentiments.
“As a team we are all trying really hard to get ready for WAC Championships in a couple weeks because we have a chance to win it. Everybody is trying to get real fast times in,” Klas said.
The WAC Indoor Championships will be held Feb. 23.