The indoor season may have ended for the Idaho track and field team several weeks ago, but the program transitioned to the outdoor season over the weekend.
The Vandals hosted the University of Idaho Invitational at the Dan O’Brien Track and Field Complex Saturday, battling cold and windy conditions throughout the meet.
Several Vandals ended the day with individual victories, as the program competed against regional opponents Gonzaga and Washington State.
Vandal winners included sprinters Erin Hagen and Ben Ayesu-Attah, as well as field competitors Arphaxad Carroll and Derek Haas.
Idaho took the top two spots in javelin, as Haas earned the winning throw with a distance of 62.12 meters. Redshirt junior Ian Middleton finished second with a throw of 61.57 meters.
Carrol took home the long jump title with a distance of 6.70 meters, defeating unattached competitor Emmanuel Panchol by 0.14 meters.
In women’s events, freshman Reed Richardson won the high jump with a leap of 1.45 meters and senior Tayler Feinauer earned first place in javelin with a throw of 37.41 meters.
The team of Ayesu-Attah, Middleton, Kaizer Gillispie and Drew Thompson earned a time of 42.59 seconds in the men’s 4×100 meter relay.
Ayesu-Attah said the team’s victory was unique because the program has not had the opportunity to practice their relay races.
“I was looking out for my teammates,” Ayesu-Attah said. “I was making sure we had a smooth handoff so I can push hard and get through the line as fast as I could. I’m proud of my teammates for that and it made it easy for me honestly.”
Ayesu-Attah also won the 100-meter and 200-meter events with respective times of 11.27 and 22.47 seconds.
In the closing stages in the first heat of the men’s 1500m run, freshman Levi Wintz muscled his way past Gonzaga’s Andy Thomas in the final 100 meters to finish first with a time of 4:05.06.
“I had gone out pretty conservative through the first 800-meters,” Wintz said. “I got into a position where I gave myself an opportunity to be able to have a good run down the stretch. Coming in the last 100-meters, I saw that I could catch (Thomas), so I went for it.”
Wintz’s time was 10th overall, as redshirt junior Nathan Stark earned the best time for Idaho at 3:55.60, falling short of Gonzaga’s Sumner Goodwin’s time of 3:55.59.
“Being able to win my heat race really gave me a lot of confidence going into the outdoor season,” Wintz said. “I got my personal best and I really like what assistant coach (Travis) Floeck is doing. PR-ing this early in the season is great and I’m looking forward to competing for the rest of the season.”
Hagen won the women’s 800-meter run with a personal-best of 2:18.55, despite a battle with the wind.
“It was kind of challenging but I had fun with it,” Hagen said. “I just had to dig deep the last 200-meters and tough it out through the wind.”
Ayesu-Attah said competing in the winds adds a different challenge as a runner.
“It’s tough and you have to deal with conditions every day no matter where you are,” Ayesu-Attah said. “We practice at the track and field complex every day so we’re kind of used to it. But it’s still tough in competition setting.”
Idaho track and field director Tim Cawley said the wind is an integral part of spring competition.
“The winds always make the competition difficult,” Cawley said. “It’s just part of spring time and outdoor track and field, so the conditions weren’t ideal. But we had some good sun, some decent performances and the team supporting each other is fantastic.”
Junior distance runner Emma Balazs said the winds were challenging for her in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Prior to Saturday, Balazs had never competed in hurdles.
“The coaches suggested that I try it and so I did,” Balazs said. “I was happy with my performance but winds were pretty tough. However, I was going a little faster at least due to my distance experience.”
Fellow distance runner and junior Marquita Palmer crossed the line first in the 1500-meter event at 4:43.06.
The final gun of the afternoon was for the women’s 4×400 meter relay. The team of Balazs, Wednesday Walton, Kaleala Bass and Meghan Palesch earned the best time in the event with a finish of 4:07.87.
Cawley said the team performed well in its only home meet of the season.
“I thought the team did great on going out there and competing Saturday,” Cawley said. “These early meets are about getting out and competing and doing what you can from there. I don’t think you could ask for much better this time of year.”
The Vandals will travel to Missoula to compete in the University of Montana Dual this weekend.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles