MOSCOW, Idaho - Keenan Kuntz broke his own school record, while
Jana Willems and
Hanna Tait wrote their names at the top of the Vandal history books, at the Idaho Team Challenge, the UI's final home meet of the indoor season.
HEAR FROM COACH
"It was a great meet today for our program," Director of Track and Field Tracy Hellman said post-meet Friday. "Keenan [Kuntz] setting the Big Sky and school record in the 60 was the highlight of the meet! It is super impressive to know that he's now the fastest ever in the history of the conference. We also had Jana Willems set the school record in the women's 60. To have both 60-meter records set in the same meet was super exciting. Hanna Tait setting the UI record in the long jump was another big highlight for our program tonight. She has been great all season and is really trending up at the right time. And finally, Griffen Parsells set a new record in the 600, which was just a great performance tonight. So overall, really great meet for our program and we are peaking at the right time of year!"
HOW IT HAPPENED
Kuntz was already familiar with the Idaho record book after his season-opening performance in Spokane, where he ran a 6.66, but he also etched it into the conference records on Friday with his run in the 60-meter final. Crossing the line in 6.61, Kuntz also slides into the 23rd spot in Division I this season. Willems reached the program peak with her 60m, running a 7.43 in both the prelims and finals, the fastest time in Idaho history and the third fastest in the conference this season. For the jumpers, Tait set a new school record of 6.32m, placing her 28th in the NCAA. This was a mega jump for the Aussie, as she topped the previous school record by 15 centimeters and soared past her previous college best of 5.90m.
Plenty of other personal bests were made on the Lauren McCluskey Track Friday afternoon, starting with sophomore Adeline Mitchell's 7.66 time in the 60m prelims. Continuing to build on the energy of the Vandals' sprint performances, graduate student Griffen Parsells ran a stellar 600m time of 1:19.85 against a field filled with Vandals. Another notable best came from Sydnie Zywina's 12.39m triple jump. Zywina has been flying up the Idaho record book and now finds her name third in Vandal history.
The men's 4x400m relay team posted a season best, finishing with a time of 3:16.68. The team consisted of freshmen Ryan LeClair & Logan Peterson, sophomore Myron Rethymniotakis, and Parsells. Together, they shaved off nearly five seconds compared to Idaho's squad at the Lauren McCluskey Invitational, the only other running of the event for Idaho this season.
UP NEXT
The Vandals will split up across the Evergreen State next weekend, sending athletes to the Husky Invite in Seattle and the Whitworth Indoor Invitational in Spokane.
FOLLOW THE VANDALS
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