Vandal track and field finding early season success
After a successful Idaho Collegiate last week, the Idaho track and field team kept the momentum going as it hit the road to compete in the University of Washington Invitational Friday and Saturday in Seattle.
With a number of personal records, including one from senior Taylor Hewett in the 800-meter run, Idaho coach Tim Cawley said the team continued to perform well on a week-to-week basis as the team continues to head toward the conference portion of the schedule.
The Vandals will be back in Washington next weekend when they travel across the border to compete in the Washington State Open Friday to Saturday in Pullman.
Compared to the Idaho Collegiate they competed in last weekend in the Kibbie Dome, this invite brought programs from outside of the Northwest. Teams like San Jose State and Alaska-Anchorage attended.
Idaho needs to be prepared to face off with schools from across the nation as some Vandals to prepare for a run at the national championship meet.
The national championships are nearing in March, but they aren’t concerned with that and are instead focusing on the here and now, Cawley said. The strategy may be a good one as they continue to have career best outings early in the season.
“I thought it was fantastic, the athletes competed great, we had a whole lot of PRs (personal records) and all-in-all it was a great meet,” he said. “It shows we are moving in the right direction.”
Even after two previous solid outings this season, the UW Invitational against some stiff competition may be the most impressive on the young season.
“I thought we competed much better this week,” Cawley said. “With each week, we are moving in the right direction — we are taking step forward as we move closer to conference.”
Coming off a weekend with six track athletes getting event wins, Idaho slowed down a bit in Seattle as Emmanuel Panchol was the sole Vandal to get a victory.
Along with the senior jumper and Hewett, Ally Ginther, Valerie Mitchell and Tim Delcourt also had career-best weekends in Seattle.
“I thought all areas did quite well,” Cawley said. “We had one win out there by Emmanuel. I thought that was pretty good. I thought our distance kids did their main events for the first time so that was good.”
These types of performances could be aided by the style in which Cawley’s team prepares for each meet. He said they look at each meet as if it is their last but they never get too high or low, which will be key in the championships meets later in the season.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]