Track & Field | 05/11/2018

RESULTS

MOSCOW, Idaho – Despite the weather it was another great day at the Dan O'Brien Track and Field Complex on Friday, with competition at the 2018 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships presented by Red Lion Hotels Corporation wrapping.
 
The top performer on the day was Andrea Condie.  Condie didn't get the meet off to the start she had hoped for in the 10k on Thursday, but bounced back with an inspired performance in the 5k on Friday.  She took second overall with a time of 16:38.19, just over one second behind the winner.  Condie is currently ranked 49^th in the West in the event.
 
Zachary Short scored in a second event as well, taking sixth in the discus throw with a personal-best toss of 51.36 meters (168-6).  Short entered the meet ranked eighth in the event.
 
"We always focus on 'beat your rank' and we try to celebrate that.  We're going to go to dinner as a team and get everyone up that beat their rank and celebrate it," director of track and field/cross country, Tim Cawley, said.  "It's just a big part of it.  If you have enough people beat their ranks, then the team beats its rank and we keep moving up.  We had a lot of people perform really well."
 
A pair of Vandals scored in the 1500-meters.  Erin Hagen attacked the final lap, passing the field to take the lead for a brief stretch.  She would go on to finish fourth, running a personal-best time of 4:30.44 and beating her rank by five spots.  Krista Story was close behind, finishing in fifth at 4:31.64.
 
A group of young student-athletes outperformed expectations as well.  Caleb Seely entered the meet ranked 14^th in the 1500, but advanced to the final through Thursday's prelims and went on to finish fifth with a tie of 3:52.78.  Jenner Higgins also posted a fifth-place finish, in the 800-meters with a time of 1:53.61, beating his rank of 11^th.
 
Nik Chappee took sixth in the 400-meters with a personal-best time of 48.42, beating his rank of 16^th by 10 places.  Kaleala Bass jumped up from her rank of 11^th in the 800 to finish seventh overall at 2:12.30.
 
Idaho also scored on both sides of the triple jump.  Jonny Magee placed sixth on the men's side with a personal-best leap of 14.71 meters (48-3.25), while Jordyn Rauer took seventh on the women's side at 11.81 meters (38-9.00).
 
"I thought they did fantastic.  We had a lot of young kids stepping up and scoring and we had a lot of people getting themselves into scoring position which was exciting," Cawley said.  "I think we scored more points on both sides than we thought we would, with where we're at with redshirting as many athletes as we have as we build for the future.  I thought the kids did fantastic.
 
"It was fun to watch.  The team rallied.  And then just watching the team.  Of the kids redshirting, of the kids not competing, just what they did to help run the meet was great."
 
The challenges of hosting a conference championship event were many, but Cawley and his staff, along with the student-athletes, rallied to put on a great show.
 
"It's always tough in track and field.  The coaching staff has to do a lot in terms of configuring and things like that, so it's not always the home field advantage you think it is in a lot of other sports," he added.  "You're trying to run a meet and coach at the same time.  But the staff did an incredible job.  Cathleen just works so hard, it's pretty amazing.  Travis did an incredible job getting the volunteers and staff here, and Jason does everything asked of him and just works so hard.  They all did amazing.
 
"And even just seeing the rest of the staff, we had so many people from the athletics department come out and help, volunteer, watch, so it was a neat experience.  I got a lot of compliments from other schools.  I think we at least gave the athletes a championship experience and that's what I was looking for."
 
Now, with the Big Sky Championships over, the team awaits the final participant list for the NCAA First Round, announced this week.
 
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