In her first outdoor track and field meet of the season, Idaho junior Hannah Kiser showed no rust as she crushed the WAC record in the women’s 5000-meter run by 17 seconds. The prestigious Mt. SAC Relays at Walnut, Calif., was the distance runner’s first competition since the Indoor National Championships on March 9.
Freshman Zac Homer tosses the discus April 18 at the Dan O’Brien Track and Field Complex. The Vandals split forces this weekend, competing at multiple meets in Southern California. During the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., Hannah Kiser smashed the WAC record in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15 minutes, 44.06 seconds.
Kiser’s time of 15 minutes, 44.06 seconds placed her 12th in the invitational elite section and 5th out of the collegiate athletes. She also beat several professional athletes.
“It was a lot of fun to watch her compete,” Idaho coach Julie Taylor said. “She always starts in the back and then she slowly picks off people as she runs and kept getting stronger and stronger.”
Kiser wasn’t the only one to post an impressive mark at the Mt. SAC Relays, which took place from Thursday to Saturday. Competing for the third straight day in the men’s hammer throw didn’t deter Kyle Rothwell. On Saturday, the junior threw for his second personal best in three days and moved from 10th all-time to fifth all-time in the men’s hammer throw at Idaho. He finished third in the event with his toss of 204 feet, 10 inches.
“Kyle Rothwell actually had the opportunity to compete at three meets and two of the meets he passed his (personal record),” Taylor said.
On the track, a pair of senior 800-meter runners posted impressive times for Idaho. James Clark finished fifth in his section of the men’s 800 with his season-best time of 1:52.79 while teammate Liga Velvere crossed the finish line in 2:09.34 to finish 10th in her section of the event.
Sophomore Ben Ayesu-Attah was the only Vandal to compete at Mt. SAC on Saturday, the final day of the meet. He responded by running a season-best time of 47.10 in the Olympic Development Elite portion of men’s 400-meter dash. His time ranks first in the WAC so far this season.
“He was in the invite section of the 400, which was a great experience for him to have that kind of meet,” Taylor said.
On Friday and Saturday, the Vandals also competed in the Beach Invitational hosted by
Cerritos College in Cerritos, Calif. That is where the javelin throwers shined. Senior Ellen Rouse improved her Idaho all-time top-10 in the women’s javelin throw with toss of 153-2 and a second place finish in the event. It was her second personal-best throw of the weekend.
On the men’s side, fellow senior Ugis Svazs had an almost identical performance. He also hit a career-best mark (228-1) while also placing second in the event. His throw moves him to first in the WAC so far this season.
This weekend was also the first competition for last year’s NCAA National Championship competitor Mike Marshall. Marshall finished third in the event behind Svazs with his throw of 216-0.
The Vandals also had a small squad compete at the Cougar Invitational in Pullman where two Vandal women took individual victories on Saturday to round out the multiple-meet weekend for Idaho.
“The weekend went well,” Taylor said. “I’m kind of tired from all the meets but it was definitely worth all the effort. We had some amazing performances as a team and we had some outstanding individual places.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]