MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho track and field split up this weekend in their final competitions before the Big Sky Indoor Championship at the end of February. Seven Vandals will head to Seattle for the Husky Classic to compete in distance events while 10 Vandals will travel down to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Don Kirby Elite Invite in the sprint and field events. The rest of the squad will be at The Podium in Spokane for the Whitworth Invitational.
Husky Classic
The Husky Classic will include many teams from the pacific northwest as well as many from across the country. Several squads from power-five conferences will also be in attendance including Iowa State, Kentucky, Washington, Gonzaga, USC, Utah, Arkansas, Oregon, and more.
Katja Pattis will compete in the women's 800m and the mile. Pattis has not competed in the 800m yet this season but has a personal best time of 2:13.77. In the mile, Pattis is ranked seventh in the conference with a personal best time of 4:48.83.
Maya Kobylanski will join Pattis in the mile. This will be the freshman's debut in the event. The mile will take place on Saturday at noon followed by the 800m at 1:45 p.m.
Kelsey Swenson is set to compete in the women's 5,000m run at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Swenson has not competed in the 5,000m run this season but has a personal best time of 16:47.63 from the 2022 season.
Shea Mattson and
Tim Stevens will line up for the men's mile at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday. Mattson and Stevens both rank in the top 20 times in the Big Sky. Mattson sits at 13th with a time of 4:08.74 and Stevens is at 19th with a time of 4:11.32.
Zac Bright and
Lorenz Herrmann will compete in the men's 800m run on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. Herrmann's personal best time of 1:50.01 ranks second in the conference and 64th in the NCAA. Bright it right behind Herrmann, sitting at fifth in the Big Sky with a time of 1:52.19.
Don Kirby Elite Invite
The Don Kirby Elite Invite has a stacked field with competition from Florida State, Texas Tech, Alabama, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, and more.
Camryn Crouch will compete in the 60m dash and the 200m dash. Crouch will race in the women's unseeded 200m at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and then she will race in the 60m prelims at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. Crouch has the third-fastest time in the Big Sky at 7.50s in the 60m and the sixth-fastest in the 200m at 24.65s.
Annika Jozin and
Tayler LyDay will compete for the women in the jump events. Jozin will compete in the high jump, with the fifth-highest mark in the Big Sky at 1.69m. LyDay will enter in the long jump and the triple jump. LyDay is in the top 10 in the Big Sky in both events. The long jump and high jump will take place on Friday at 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Mia Sylvester will throw in the shot put and the weight throw. She has the top mark in the conference with a personal best distance of 14.85m in the shot put. Sylvester will start with the weight throw on Friday at 1:00 p.m. followed by the shot put on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
Mika Brouwer will compete in the men's 60m and 200m dashes. Brouwer will compete in the 200m on Friday at 6:00 p.m. followed by the 60m qualifiers at 10:40 a.m. He has the second-fastest time in the Big Sky in the 200m with a mark of 21.65s.
In the jumps,
Joseph Ruddell and
Joe Reiber will compete in the high jump on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Ruddell and Reiber are both top-five in the event in the conference. Reiber will also compete in the long jump along with Zach Nunis and
Justyn Rogers on Friday at 9:00 a.m. Nunis will compete in the triple jump as well, with the third longest distances in both events in the Big Sky.
Noah Culbertson will be the lone thrower representing the men's side. He will compete in the shot put on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. He has the second-furthest mark in the conference at 17.56m.
Whitworth Invitational
The rest of the squad will be at the Whitworth Invitational at The Podium in Spokane. Most of the teams in attendance are from the pacific northwest region including Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Washington State, and Portland State.
On Friday, the Vandals will compete in the 5,000m as well as the long jump and weight throw. Four Vandals will represent the men while two will compete for the women in the 5,000m.
Anna Spatz will compete for the women in the long jump joined by
Cash Jones and
Landon Peterson for the men. Idaho will have two athletes throw in the weight throw for both the men and women.
Saturday will be a busy day as we have athletes competing in the 60m dash, 60m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 800m, mile, and 3,000m on the track. Athletes will also be competing in the high jump, shot put, and triple jump in the field.
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