The biggest indoor track and field event of the season took place over the weekend in Bozeman.
The elite competitors of the Big Sky Conference fought for top conference honors during the three-day event.
When the final gun sounded, several athletes from Idaho found they had earned conference honors.
University of Idaho seniors Ben Ayesu-Attah and Kinsey Gomez both won events in the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
Ayesu-Attah won an intense 400-meter dash Saturday, beating Northern Colorado’s Alex Wesley by sixth hundredths of a second with a time of 48.33. The sprinter’s win also earned him All-Big Sky honors.
Ayesu-Attah finished fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.17 seconds. Northern Arizona’s James Fisher won the event.
Idaho coach Tim Cawley said he was proud of Ayesu-Attah’s performance over the weekend.
“Ben had a great weekend,” said Cawley. “The 400-meters was tight, even though he dominated his heat in the final…Then to be ranked low in the 200 but step up and earn fourth with a great finish and anchor the 4×400 meters to a photo-finish win.”
Cawley said Ayesu-Attah’s resilience stood out at the competition in Bozeman.
“He’s a tough kid. A really talented kid,” Cawley said. “Credit to him and assistant coach Cathleen (Cawley) for their plan this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Gomez earned two all-Big Sky honors during the tournament, finishing second in the mile run Saturday with a time of 4:55.38. Jamie Stokes of Weber State won the event at 4:51.95.
But it was Gomez’s strength on long distance running that won the conference officials over Friday. In the longest race of the meet, Gomez took the 5000-meter title at 17:02.64. Weber State’s Ellie Child finished over three seconds behind Gomez.
Cawley said the preparation and strategy this week for Gomez paid off.
“Kinsey ran extremely well on Friday night,” Cawley said. “She and distance coach Travis Floeck came up with a great plan and she executed it beautifully. To watch that race unfold the way she wanted it to, with her command and confidence in the final few laps, it really was exciting to watch.”
Junior Drew Thompson began the tournament leading the heptathlon through four events Thursday. The following day, Thompson finished the event in second and earned All-Big Sky honors with a personal best of 5,031 points.
Thompson also won the 60-meter hurdles by one-hundredth of a second over Montana State’s Mason Storm.
“Drew was a great surprise this weekend,” Cawley said. “We weren’t really sure how everything would go, after his injury, but he competed hard and got fantastic results. To PR in the heptathlon there, and then go into the hurdles after two long days, he’s a tough kid.”
Other Vandals to earn personal bests in the tournament were Jesse Villies and Faith Eruwa. Villas earned a personal best in the individual 60m hurdles with 8.23 seconds, while Eruwa finished the triple jump at 11.57 meters.
The Vandals will begin their outdoor season in Moscow. The team will host the Mike Keller Invitational Mar. 26.
Cawley said he was proud of the team’s ability to compete in a tough competition.
“Things went well this weekend, I’m proud of this team,” said Cawley. “They all competed hard, and extremely well. And it was just fun to watch. We’re definitely moving in the right direction.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles
(Photo Courtesy by Spencer Farrin)