PULLMAN, Wash. - Facing tough competition, the University of Idaho men's and women's track and field teams opened the Cougar Indoor with a set of strong performances on Friday.
"It's a great level of competition," Idaho director of track and field Wayne Phipps said. "You've got a conference rival in Utah State, a pair of Pac-12 programs in UCLA and Washington State and a solid regional rival in Montana, so it's great competition this early in the year."
Seniors Jeremy Klas and Gabby Midles led the team on the first day of the meet with a pair of runner-up finishes. Klas cleared 17-2.75 (5.25m) in the men's pole vault, while Midles hit a season-best 55-5 (16.89m) in the women's weight throw.
Sophomore Kyle Rothwell and junior Joseph Charles each hit personal bests in the men's weight throw, as Rothwell took third at 55-4.25 (16.87m) and Charles finished fifth with a toss of 52-8.25 (16.06m). Redshirt freshman Zach Trumbauer also threw 46-3.25 (14.10m) for a career best and ninth-place finish.
"It's a lot of fun," Rothwell said of the level of competition in the event. "Not only with the guys from other schools, but even with teammates. Joseph threw really well, and he and I were pretty back and forth, so it was fun."
Junior Jason Lorentz tied his career best with a jump of 22-3.75 (6.80m) in a fourth-place finish in the men's long jump. Sophomore Dylan Watts cleared 15-5 (4.70m) and came up less than an inch below his career-best height in the pole vault with a fourth-place finish.
The meet also featured a women's pentathlon and the first half of the men's heptathlon. True freshman Taylor Hewett scored 3,251 in the women's five-event competition, including the winning 800m time of 2:22.48.
"I was kind of intimidated at first, because a lot of them are good scorers and are more experienced, so it was good to compete with them," Hewett said after the event.
Junior Alyssa Covington scored 3,053 for sixth, while redshirt freshman Reba Eggert tallied 2,438 for ninth. Freshman Johanna Hockstaller won the women's shot put with a toss 43-10 (13.36m), but didn't compete in the 800m to complete the competition.
Phipps said that he was impressed with the way all four competed, especially considering it was the first for each of them.
"Our new pentathletes did a really good job, because the combined total experience between those four is zero, so for them to come out and perform that well in their very first attempt is very good," Phipps said.
The remainder of the meet will be Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. with the first event of the men's heptathlon, the 60m hurdles. Senior Andrew Blaser sits in sixth with 2,755 points through four events, while junior Colin Briggs is 10th with 2,483 points in his first career heptathlon.
"I'm excited for the races tomorrow," Phipps said. "We're still holding out a couple of our top distance guys, but most of the women will be there and I'm really looking forward to what we can do."
