Despite competing in poor weather conditions, the Vandal men finished as the top Division 1 team and the Vandal women finished as the second-best Division 1 team Friday and Saturday at the War VI Regional Dual. The Idaho men finished with 146 points while the women earned 159. In all, Idaho had eight individual victories over the weekend.“We had a very good meet,” Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said. “I was very impressed by our throwers, 400 hurdlers and 400-meter runners.”
The Vandals battled snow flurries and winds up to 30 mph in addition to facing competitors from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
“We train in it so you have to be able to compete in it,” coach Julie Taylor said of the weather. “It wasn’t great conditions. Saturday turned out a little bit better than Friday … I don’t want to lose an opportunity to compete because of the weather so that’s our approach.”
The throwing crew had the most success for Idaho over the weekend. On the women’s side, sophomore Johanna Hocketstaller won the shot put with a toss of 14.74 meters. She also placed third in the discus with a throw of 43.56. The versatile Hocketstaller rounded out her performances with a second-place finish in the long jump with her her leap of 5.21 meters.
Teammate Kristine Leonard added a victory in the women’s discus with her toss of 46.66. The senior also had second-place marks in the shot put (14.23) and the hammer (52.67).
Senior Sarah Nutsch finished atop all competitors in the hammer throw (53.98) and Ellen Rouse won the javelin (43.10) completing Idaho’s sweep of the throwing events.
“We swept all the women’s throws, which was kind of exciting,” Taylor said. “We didn’t really realize it until after (the meet).”
On the men’s side, junior Kyle Rothwell won the men’s hammer throw by more than four meters with his toss of 60.13. His throw lands him at No. 51 in the country so far this season.
“Kyle led everybody,” Taylor said. “That was a personal best. It was completely dark, they had lights going and rain going during that competition, so it was really cool to see him compete like that.”
Idaho’s other three victories came on the track, with two of them coming in the 400-meter dash. On the men’s side, sophomore Ben Ayesu-Attah won the 400 in 48.34 seconds while senior Lauren Schaffer won on the women’s side in 56.22.
Junior Cait Rowland seized the final Idaho victory in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 1:05.20. The hurdle events are one of the most dangerous events to compete in during bad conditions but Rowland wasn’t fazed.
“She went into it with the attitude that she was going to compete no matter what,” Taylor said. “It’s great to see someone, in not the greatest conditions, be able to come out and run close to a personal best.”
The Vandals are back in action again this weekend competing in a multitude of meets in southern California headlined by the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, while also taking a squad to the Cougar Invitational in Pullman.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]