MEET INFO | WATCHBIGSKY

MOSCOW, Idaho – The 2019 indoor track and field season is here, beginning with the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open in the Kibbie Dome.  Multi events get started on Friday at 10:40 a.m., with competition starting back up at 8:55 a.m. on Saturday.  For the full meet schedule, check the links at the top of the article.
 
Idaho track and field has chosen to honor the memory of the late Lauren McCluskey for the season-opening meet.  McCluskey, a native of Pullman, Wash., was a student-athlete on the University of Utah track and field team before being she was tragically killed on Oct. 22.  With the staff looking to rename the regular season opener, McCluskey was the obvious choice.
 
"When we got here in 2014 Lauren was a senior in high school, and we recruited her," said director of track and field/cross country, Tim Cawley.  "I think she was one of the first athletes I met.  She and her mom were out on the track training, because she was over here training all the time.  She competed at all of the indoor meets.  She was just a fixture around the Dome and we wanted to honor her this year, just do something to honor her memory."
 
The meet will take a break midway through the running events on Saturday for a video presentation and moment of silence in McCluskey's memory.
 
"Cathleen kind of came up with the idea of changing the name of this meet for different situations, and when the Lauren McCluskey tragedy happened we knew it was the right choice," Cawley said.  "We reached out to the family to see if that would be ok and they said yes."
 
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The Vandals return a ton of talented student-athletes, including seven with NCAA experience.
 
"It has been a fantastic offseason," Cawley said.  "We already have a little bit of a glimpse of where our distance team is at this point, from the cross country season.  They took a little break after that and they're right back to getting after it.  For offseason training for the rest of the student-athletes, we do testing along the way.  And even in our testing, which we've been doing here for five years, every time we do it we're rewriting the record books.  Everything is moving in the right direction."
 
Check back with GoVandals.com after the meet for the full results.
 
To stay current on all Vandal Athletics visit GoVandals.com, or follow the Vandals on Twitter, @Idaho_Vandals.
 
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho track and field/cross country by following the team on Twitter @IdahoTrack.