PORTLAND, Ore. – A pair of Idaho track and field alums continue to make the program proud, this time competing at the most prestigious indoor meet of the year, the World Indoor Championships.
“To see two former athletes at that level is always good,” said director of track and field Tim Cawley. “I think it shows what this program has done in the past, it shows the history and it shows the future too, what people can accomplish.”
Angela Whyte and Liga Velvere competed for their respective nations at the meet in Portland last month. Whyte, competing for Canada, took fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, while Velvere, competing for Latvia, placed 13th in the 800-meters.
“This was my third World Indoor Championship that I've been to in my career because I'm not typically the strongest 60-meter hurdler. It was a good thing to do late in my career,” said Whyte.
“My race didn't go as well as I hoped,” Velvere said. “I was very disappointed with it and had a hard time understanding what went wrong. It was a learning experience for me. But I talked to my family and they were all very proud of me and made sure I knew that 13th in the world is not bad at all.”
For both, the opportunity to compete so close to home was too good to pass up.
“I was very happy and excited to get a chance to compete at the World Championships. It was a great atmosphere; having Worlds in Portland was awesome,” Velvere said. “It felt familiar to me, because of the location and friends who came out in support.”
“I loved the fact that it was in Portland,” Whyte said. “Most of the time, the majority of the time, these championships are held in Europe. It can be really rough because you have to travel well in advance to get used to the time difference. It was really nice to have it essentially in your backyard.”
Vandal Pride was on full display, as both found time to support each other during the competition.
“I was able to stay and watch Liga's preliminary round,” said Whyte. “It's always nice to see familiar faces. I ran into Tim Cawley the day before I competed. I just ran into him, I didn't know he was named to the US team as a coach. When he told me I said that was amazing, it's awesome. Cathleen Cawley was also there, volunteering. I saw her when I was getting my accreditation. I thought that was really cool to be able to see some familiar faces and faces representing Idaho.”
“I did watch Angela's race and I know she was there to watch mine,” said Velvere. “Angela has always been there for me, her support has carried over from my first meet at Idaho all the way to the world level competition.”
Next up, both will take their shots at Olympic glory, beginning with national qualifying in the coming months.
“The extra five hurdles are always a challenge,” said Whyte. “I'm working hard to try to make the Canadian team for the Olympics. At this point I'm just trying to get in some good training before the Canadian Championships.”
“Next up is the outdoor season,” Velvere said. “Latvian Nationals, Latvian Olympics, European Championships and hopefully the Olympics.”
The journey to becoming a world class athlete went through Moscow for both of these athletes. Whyte wouldn't have it any other way.
“I started where they are. I think that's another really cool part to it,” Whyte said. “I went to the University of Idaho and I was able to make Olympic teams and an Olympic final and a World Championship final. If I can do it, I know that if it's within them and it's something that they really want to do that they can do it too and they can do it from the Palouse.”
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