Setting personal bests each competition has been the norm for the Idaho outdoor track and field team.
This pattern of success continued during events in Southern California over the weekend.
Several Vandals competed in multiple locations to punch their ticket to the Big Sky Tournament May 11-14 in Greely, Colorado.
One of the competitors to qualify for the tournament was senior pole vaulter Matt Sullivan, who cleared 5.03 meters at the Long Beach Invitational Saturday. The senior finished eight and his clearance was the second best mark in the conference.
Junior Drew Thompson continued to excel on the track, finishing seventh and earning a personal best of 6296 points in the decathlon. His performance also qualified the athlete for the conference tournament.
Junior distance runner Nathan Stark ran the ninth fastest 3000-meter steeplechase in program history over the weekend.
Following a record breaking run in the 10K meter event at the Stanford Invitational April 1, senior Kinsey Gomez continued to set personal-best in other events. Gomez had her best time yet in the 1500-meter run at the Bryan Clay Invitational with 4:22.10, the fastest conference mark of the season.
Two Vandals made their first event attempts of the season Thursday, as Kaleala Bass took part in her first heptathlon at the Mt. SAC Relays as part of the California Invitational. Bass finished in 48th with 3,384 points, falling 2,520 behind Texas A&M winner Annie Kunz.
Bass also set personal bests in the 800-meter event (2:24.29) and the high jump (1.48 meters).
Senior Katelyn Peterson made her season debut in the high jump at the Cal State LA Twilight Open, taking third with a mark of 1.65 meters.
Andrea Pikes earned a career-best time of 12.08 seconds in the 100-meter dash and finished second.
The following day, senior sprinter Ben Ayesu-Attah finished second in the 400-meter dash with a career-best 46.60 seconds during the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Freshman Zion Stuffle also earned second place and a career-best time of 52.75 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.
During the team’s final day in Southern California, field competitors also made their marks in the record book.
After finishing 12th in discus throw with a toss of 42.90 meters, junior Kolcie Bates threw a season-best 44.27 meters in discus.
Sophomore Arphaxad Carroll finished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 7.44 meters, extending his conference best jump of 7.42 meters set Thursday. Carroll’s jump is now the eighth best in school history.
The Vandals return to the Northwest, travelling to Spokane for the Spokane Memorial Open Saturday.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles