Idaho track and field set to compete against its former championship coach
This weekend marks the first time the Idaho track and field team and its new coach Tim Cawley travel across the border to face former Idaho championship winning coach Wayne Phipps.
Nathan Romans | Argonaut
Senior sprinter Alijah Medellin rounds the corner at practice Wednesday in
the Kibbie Dome. Idaho will compete in the WSU Open Friday and Saturday.
Phipps won 16 conference titles at Idaho before taking over at WSU July 1, 2014.
Now, his new team will compete against several of the players he won championships with last spring.
The WSU Open takes place Friday and Saturday in Pullman. The first events start at 12:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
Cawley said he thinks Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and some of the schools from the Idaho Collegiate might be in Pullman this weekend, but he isn’t too concerned about the competition — even WSU.
“You don’t really change too much whether it’s going against Pac-12 or Big Sky or WAC,” Cawley said. “You just go out and compete and try to do your best and execute the best you can.”
At the UW Invitational, the Vandals posted several career and season-best results.
“You always want to do better than the races before and I think, especially now, we’re getting into the stages of seeing where everyone’s at,” sophomore sprinter Andrea Pikes said. “We’ve been training for months and months doing hard workouts and stuff, so I think we’re kind of seeing the results of that.”
Since Idaho rarely hosts track and field meets or gets to compete close to Moscow, the Vandals are going to try to take advantage of what competing close to home has to offer.
“It’s fantastic anytime you get the chance for the athletes to sleep in their own bed, not miss as much class,” Cawley said. “They can still compete on Friday and still maybe get back and catch a class or get to class in the morning. I love trying to not miss class. That’s a big part of it.”
Senior thrower Zach Trumbauer said he also doesn’t like to miss class and looks forward to staying home.
“It’s nice,” he said. “We get to go to classes on Friday, which we always miss classes on Friday because we gotta be gone. It’s really nice to be home, sleep in your own bed.”
However, Trumbauer also said he loves to travel to see different areas and different throwing rings.
Trumbauer, who attended Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle, got to compete in front of his family last Friday and Saturday at the UW Invitational. He will be visiting again when Idaho goes back to Seattle for the Husky Classic.
“My parents always come to U-Dub meets,” Trumbauer said. “They love it. It’s really the only time I get to see them this semester because we’re always so busy. You always want to impress them, so it’s always a good time having people there that you know.”
Nathan Romans | Argonaut
Senior sprinter Alijah Medellin rests after practice Wednesday in the Kibbie Dome.
Trumbauer said he also has friends who go to UW and who watched him compete at the UW Invitational.
“You get a little extra pressure, but it’s always good to see everyone back there,” he said.
Before seeing family and friends again in Seattle, he will compete in Pullman first.
“We like competing with those guys,” Trumbauer said of WSU. “They’re good friends of ours. The coaches are our old coaches. We all knew them going in. It’s just fun to see everyone again.”
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]