BRONCO CHALLENGE MEET INFO | BRONCO CHALLENGE LIVE RESULTS | TYSON INVITE MEET INFO | TYSON INVITE LIVE RESULTS

MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho track and field team is set for competition at the Tyson Invitational and the Bronco Challenge this weekend. Both meets will begin on Friday, with competition concluding on Saturday.

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Coming out of high school, Ben Doucette only had one Division I offer – the University of Idaho. Now a grad student, the Bellingham, Wash., native has three podium finishes at the Big Sky Championships, including a first place finish his freshman year in the 60-meter indoor hurdles.

Doucette loves to run so much that "even the hard stuff is easy."

"Every day I wake up excited about the process of getting better," said Doucette. "I want to keep competing and training until it doesn't feel that way."

He has had a lot of ups and downs in his career. Following a breakout freshman season in which he won the 60-meter hurdles at the BSC Indoor Championship and took third in the 110-meter hurdles at the Outdoor Championship, Doucette's performance on the track took a dip his sophomore season.

"It was good as a human to go through that," noted Doucette. "It let me fall back in love with the sport my junior year."

However, just as he regained his love, he was injured. He missed 10 weeks of the track and field season his junior year, but was able to return just in time for the Big Sky Outdoor Championship, where he took second in the 110-meter hurdles.

Doucette feels like he is not near to his full potential yet, but the fact that he has had success despite that fact gives him even more confidence. He knows he has "more to give, more to grow."

That extra room to grow and give is not just on the track, however. Doucette is in his first semester as a student in the Curriculum and Instruction master's program. Eventually, after he exhausts his passion for competing, he wants to become a high school history teacher. He plans to coach as well, and he has already begun coaching youths in the Moscow area.

"Sports offered me an outlet when life wasn't going the best in high school," said Doucette. "It provided me a solid foundation for the life I'm living now, and I honestly don't think I'd be in college if I hadn't had that opportunity. I want to provide that opportunity to others."

Doucette has time before he focuses on something else. He still has the remainder of this indoor season, and two outdoor seasons to finish competition, and he is expecting great things. He currently has the top time in the Big Sky Conference for the 60-meter hurdles (7.90) and is tied for 13th on the performance list for the 60-meter dash. Doucette also has the fifth best time this season in the conference in the 200-meter dash.

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Check back with GoVandals.com after the meets for the full recap and results.
 
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