New coach, same results for Idaho track and field at Idaho Collegiate
The first home meet of the year can be stressful for any track and field program, but even more so for Idaho’s new director of track and field, Tim Cawley.
The former Colorado State coach made his Kibbie Dome debut Friday afternoon, as the Vandals hosted schools from around the Northwest for the Idaho Collegiate.
Idaho’s track and field team made Cawley look good, however, as nine athletes achieved career best marks and six finished with individual wins.
“We had a lot of personal bests, which is what I was looking for,” Cawley said. “People slowly moving in the right direction. I thought they competed great for what I did get to see, running my first home meet … Every opportunity is another step.”
The Vandals weren’t competing against a few no-name programs either. The Idaho Collegiate brought programs like Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and five other teams from around the region.
The Vandals will compete again Jan. 30-31, when they travel to Seattle to compete in the University of Washington Invitational.
Cawley said last week’s performance could help boost the Vandals through the rest of their season, which could prove to be key as they move toward the Big Sky Championships.
“Confidence is a fickle beast,” he said. “As the confidence builds, it is amazing how much it can snowball, and I always think that’s good.”
Along with the confidence it brings during competition, it could also make the transition easier on the new coaching staff.
“Being an entirely new coaching staff, I think that kind of helps with the buy-in and that kind of stuff too,” Cawley said. “The old coaching staff did a lot of great things here and these kids love them — so it takes time. As they start to progress and P.R. (personal record) and see that, I think it helps the team build closer.”
Cawley said it was hard to pinpoint one or two performances that stood out. It was a complete team effort, he said.
This may have been aided by the way the team prepared. Cawley said the team has relaxed practices and keeps the same attitude as they compete.
Idaho doesn’t place one meet over another as far as preparation goes. The team looks at each meet as if it is the NCAA championship, Cawley said.
One of the hardest things about being a new coach is getting to know the players, Cawley said. Usually when a coach goes into a season they just have to worry about building relationships with incoming freshmen and the occasional transfers. But when Cawley and his staff took on the new job, the coach and his staff had to start from scratch, building relationships with every athlete and in this case, over 60 of them.
With each athlete having a different personality, Cawley said sometimes you must coach each of them differently. Meets like last week’s could help build some of that early rapport, which is key according to Cawley.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]