Prior to returning to Moscow on Monday, Idaho track and field coach Wayne Phipps estimated he’s spent maybe 36 hours in the Palouse the two weeks prior. He spent the last two weekends in Tempe, Ariz., and Walnut, Calif., though his program had split to compete in six different meets over that time period.
The schedule isn’t as hectic or complicated this week — the Vandals will be in Pullman on Saturday participating in the Cougar Invitational.
“It’s awesome, especially after two hectic weekends,” Phipps said. “It’s really nice having our team all together, playing at WSU. We won’t compete everybody, but anybody who’s competing will compete at WSU. (It’s like) having a home meet without all the work that has to go into hosting a home meet.”
The Vandals competed in meets from Los Angeles, to Azusa, Calif., Spokane and Walnut, Calif., and split the squad between meets in Spokane and Tempe, Ariz., the weekend prior.
Phipps split the squad between so many meets to try and peg athletes in events that would best help them achieve NCAA qualifying marks, which is a mark that results in a top 48 rankings nationally.
“Logistically it’s pretty hectic, but we’re usually prepared for something like this weekend — we’ve done it in the past,” Phipps said. “As logistically challenging as it was, it was definitely a good plan to try and get as many opportunities to get in there with as many good performances as possible.”
Split squads are largely done with. Idaho will spend two of its next three weekends on the Palouse, beginning with Saturday’s meet at Washington State. Idaho will host the Vandal Jamboree on May 9 and 10.
Phipps highlighted his throwers as a group that’s been consistent throughout the year and that he expects to have big weekends in Pullman.
“We’ve also had some good performances from our throwers and I think we’ve had a number of people who are performing well and are ready for a big breakthrough to move up into that top 48 or to bump up even higher than they are currently in the top 48,” Phipps said.
The Cougar Invitational starts a stretch where the Vandals will generally stay close to home. Next weekend the team will go to Corvallis, Ore., for a meet, with some going to Palo Alto, Calif. The WAC Championship is three weeks away, taking place in Orem, Utah.
“I like having some home meets later in the year, weather is better and then also with how hectic it for the student at this time of year, preparing for final exams and getting final projects,” Phipps said. “It’s just a lot easier on them when you can stay close to home. We’ve got good competition and we can stay close to home, that’s an ideal situation for us.”
For Phipps and the Vandals, the push is still to prepare for the WAC Championships and to set up NCAA qualifying marks. So far, eight Vandals lead the WAC in their respective categories. This includes Alycia Butterworth, who set her mark in the 3k steeplechase last weekend at the Mt. Sac Relays with a time of 10 minutes 14.26 seconds.
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]