Idaho track and field is up and running after the opening home meet and the WSU Indoor Competition Saturday.
The squad now prepares for the UW Invitational Meet in Seattle, Washington. Here is what you need to know from one meet to the next.
WSU Indoor Open, Jan. 19- 20
Sophomore Kasin Pendergrass-Anderson put up strong performances in both the long jump and the 60-meter dash. Pendergrass-Anderson brought home the victory in the long jump with a new personal-record jump of 7.46 meters. He also grabbed a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.99 seconds, but set a new personal best in the event in the qualifiers with a 6.93 finish.
Fellow sophomore sprinter Ben Doucette grabbed a second-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.12 seconds.
Freshman Britt Ipsen took third in his first collegiate long jump competition with a leap of 6.90 meters while sophomore Jonny Magee went 14.29 meters to take fourth in the triple jump.
Idaho showed out in the long sprints. Junior Kaizer Gillispe took the victory in the 200-meters with a time of 22.53 seconds. Sophomore Mack Baxter won the 300-meters in 36.66 seconds.
On the women’s side, sophomore Kaylee Hove finished second in the 200-meters with a time of 26.07 seconds, just short of her personal-best. She also nabbed a fourth-place finish in the 400-meters with a new personal record at 1:01.29.
Freshman Nik Chappee tested the waters in his first 400-meters as a Vandal and found success, taking the victory in the event with a time of 50.62 seconds.
UW Invitational, Jan. 26-27
Idaho will take a trip to the other side of Washington to compete at the UW Invitational beginning Friday in Seattle, Washington.
Idaho Director of Track and Field Cross-Country Tim Cawley said he has seen strong performances across the board in the opening weeks of the season, from distance to field events.
tastic and the really nice part of it is from all facets,” Cawley said. “The jumps have started off really well, especially the school record and everything, that is not a bad way to start the season. To the sprinters, to the hurdlers, to the throwers, I mean we are really in a solid place right now.”
After several weeks of intense practice and competition, Cawley said the team is on a recovery schedule before ramping up ahead of conference matchups.
“To have the performance we’ve had with the volume and intensity that we’ve put together these last few weeks, I’m just really proud of the team,” Cawley said.
Idaho opened the season on home turf before taking a quick trip to Pullman. Cawley said the next trip to Washington will give the athletes the opportunity to show their skills and give the new kids a bit of experience under their belt.
“Going to Washington, that is going to be a much more national-caliber meet,” Cawley said. “That is a huge meet, to where it gives some of our top-end kids a little bit of that chance to do it and it also gives amazing experience to some of our kids who are growing, to see some of that level. It is always good to kind of get themselves into some different environments, if you will, to get them prepared for conference.”
The Vandals will begin competition Friday in Seattle.
The Argonaut and Vandal Nation will continue to cover Idaho’s progress throughout the weekend.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]