The Vandal men’s and women’s track and field teams begin the indoor season at Washington State Friday for the 10th Annual Washington State University Open.
The players and coaches are ready for the season to finally be underway after a long offseason of training.
“The (team) training has gone really well,” said Idaho track and field coach Julie Taylor. “We definitely have some kids that are ready to put out some good marks (and times) to start the season.”
The Vandals are no strangers to opening their season at WSU.
“(The WSU Open) is a perfect meet,” Taylor said. “For this time of year and for us just starting out, it’s perfect.”
The proximity between Idaho and WSU and the years of competition between the schools have helped to form a sense of rivalry between the athletes.
“It’s great to have a caliber of school like WSU so close because you always know you are going to have good competition,” Taylor said. “Anytime we come against WSU it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
Idaho has matched up well with the Cougars in the past but one of the strengths of the Idaho team — its distance runners — will most likely not compete.
“We probably won’t race anybody over a 400 meter this meet just because it’s the first meet coming back,” Taylor said. “Mainly, the first meet is a gauge to see where the kids are running and what times they’re getting and where the marks are.”
The WSU coaches and athletes will also use the first meet as a springboard for the future. Track and field training is such that the athletes want to hit their peaks at the end of the season.
“The first competition of the year is always going to be getting your feet wet and getting started, but we are anxious to compete,” said WSU coach Rick Sloan. “It’s time to put on the uniform and see where we are.”
Idaho’s strategy is similar, and Taylor said her goals lie five months down the road at the WAC Championship meet.
“It’s a low-key meet, it’s not real intense,” Taylor said. “A lot
of our training that we’re doing right now is going to go through these meets because really we’re
focusing on preparing
for a conference championship.”