Last weekend, the Idaho track and field team hosted a pair of competitions. The Idaho Collegiate on Friday featured approximately 500 collegiate and post-collegiate athletes from around the area and on Saturday, Idaho hosted the Idaho Open, which was open to high school athletes as well.
Philip Vukelich | Argonaut
Zac Homer, a freshman from Eagle, Idaho, competes in his first set of home meets as a Vandal. The Idaho track and field team hosted the Idaho Collegiate and Idaho Open Friday, and Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.
“Both matches are important for us in terms of training and finding out where we are in the early part of the season, but only the Indoor (Collegiate) will be counted towards our NCAA matches,” Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said.
Phipps said it is important for the team to have these two matches on consecutive days, because it not only gives the runners and throwers a chance to compete for multiple days like they will be doing during NCAA finals, but it also helps bring in more athletes from other schools. Phipps said it also makes it worth the time of competitors who are traveling a distance, such as those traveling from Eastern Montana, because they have a chance to compete more than once as well.
On Friday, junior Taylor Hewett and junior Emmanuel Panchol both showed promise for their upcoming season. Hewett, who just returned to competition after recovering from an ACL surgery, hit a career-best mark in the 800-meter race with a time of 2 minutes, 16.51 seconds. This time beat her previous record by almost five seconds.
“This kind of exemplifies what she has been doing all fall and over Christmas break,” Phipps said. “She keeps surprising everybody, including herself and she is making improvements every week.”
A new Vandal, Panchol took first in an event for the second week in a row. During the season opening competition at WSU, Panchol took first and second in two events and continued his success at Idaho with another first-place finish this weekend in the men’s high jump with a final jump of 1.95 meters.
“I already feel at home here at Idaho, I just want to do as well as I can for my coaches,” Panchol said.
Saturday saw some exemplary performances from other Vandals as well. Junior Jesse Villines ended the day with two individual victories in the men’s 60 with a new personal best of 7.01. He also won the 200 with another personal best of 25.82.
“Jesse had a great day today, and overall a great weekend,” Phipps said. “He ran seven races in two days and hit career-bests in everything.”
Also setting a personal best on Saturday was junior thrower Zach Trumbauer, who placed third in the weight throw with a throw of 17.36 meters. Vandal senior Kyle Rothwell won the event with a throw of 17.51.
Idaho track and field will return to WSU this weekend for the second time this season at the Cougar Indoor on Friday.
Curtis Ginnetti can be reached at [email protected]