POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State track and field competed at a trio of meets this weekend in California and Texas. The meets were a chance to show the Bengals' strength against schools from across the nation as the outdoor season gears up.
Some of the Bengal distance runners went west to the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in San Francisco, Calif.
Another group of Bengal throwers, jumpers and hurdlers went down to the Lone Star State to compete in the Texas Relays at the University of Texas and the Bobcat Invitational at Texas State University.
Mike Fanelli Track Classic
A number of the Bengal distance runners competed at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic this weekend in San Francisco, Calif.
"The meet was definitely a success," remarked Associate Head Track and Field Coach Nate Houle. "We had PRs in the majority of the races we ran including two top 10 all-time marks. Coming to California for better weather, lack of wind and low elevation obviously makes a huge difference. Distance races also really benefit from races with competition and evenly-paced heats which these types of meets provide. It's always great to see the athletes step up to the occasion and perform when they get the shot."
Thursday afternoon, Eric Christen and Brandon Walker competed in the men's 3000 steeplechase against 49 other competitors. Christen finished 10th with a PR time of 9:20.42 and Walker set a new PR with a run of 9:40.25.
Headed into Friday's events, Presley Timmons was the lone Bengal in a 1500m field of 163 competitors. The Bengal stepped up setting a new personal best and finishing 2nd in her section and 14th overall.
In the men's 5000m, Cade Smith finished with a time of 15:00.42.
In a packed women's 5000m race, Cassandra Vasquez ran the 7th-best time in Bengal history winning her section with a time of 17:18.33 and finishing 29th overall.
In the final day of events was highlighted by the women's 800m. Timmons returning from Friday's 1500m, beat out a field of 103 runners with a time of 2:09.73. The mark is the 4th fastest in Idaho State track and field history and the fastest in the Big Sky conference so far this season.
Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays
Another group of Bengals headed south to the Austin, Texas to take part in the 95th annual Texas Relays hosted by the University of Texas.
The prestigious meet allowed the Bengals to compete against the top track and field athletes in the nation and 28 combined top-25 ranked programs.
The meet is also the site of the 2023 NCAA Outdoor track and field championships and gives the Bengals a preview of the site for the summer.
"This weekend was an important week for some of our team who have hit certain standards of performance," remarked Director of Track and Field Hillary Merkley post-meet. "It's not an easy meet to get into and it's not an easy meet to compete at. It's lots of logistics from a coaching perspective and yet it's the best athletes and competition in the country at the Texas Relays. It's important that these athletes get experience at these meets so that they can see where they fit in at this level and also see what they need to do to get to the next level.
We got a glimpse of it this weekend and though some performances went well and some were not quite at we had hoped I think each athlete took away a valuable learning opportunity that is going to help them down the road this year and years to come for the younger ones."
The meet started Thursday afternoon with the women's hammer throw. Destinee Rose Haas started the Bengals off with a top-20 finish, throwing a mark of 58.52m (192-0).
Next up was the women's timed 400m hurdles. Bengal sprinter Kyndal Martin took on a field of 76 runners from across the nation and finished 29th with a time of 1:02.96.
Zachary Cox followed in the men's 400mH running a time of 53.67 seconds, and 14.50 in the 110mH
Headed into Friday, Axel Tirado Sanchez opened the meet in the discus. The Bengal thrower finished ninth in the event with a throw of 53.80m (176-6).
Kylee Dimick picked up a top-five finish in the women's high jump. The Bengal jumper cleared 5-7 to finish fifth in her event.
Martin came back in the 100mH running a time of 14.16 seconds, just behind her personal best.
In the men's high jump, Michael Shulikov cleared 6-8.75 in his section.
Bobcat Invitational
Not done in Texas, the Bengals also competed in the Bobcat Invitational hosted by Texas State University in San Marcos.
The meet opened for the Bengals on Thursday with the men's discus throw. Axel Tirado-Sanchez finished with a best throw of 50.02m (164-1) and Zack Ramos followed with a throw of 48.79m (160-1).
Owen Mitchell represented the Bengals in the men's high jump. Mitchell cleared 1.97m (6-5.5).
After competing at the Texas Relays, Kyndal Martin and Zackary Cox came back to run in the 110mH and 100mH
Competing against a field of 48, Cox tied for 14th with a time of 14.44 seconds. Martin crossed the line in 14.52 seconds finishing 27th.
Kylee Dimick came back in the high jump, finishing T-8 after clearing 1.66m (5-5.25).
In her second hammer throw of the weekend, Rose-Hass finished 14th with a throw of 57.24m (187-10)
Ramos and Tirado Sanchez both showed progress in the men's shot put. Ramos finished third throwing a new personal-best throw of 18.15m (59-6.5). The mark improves Ramos' 4th-best all-time mark in the ISU record book.
Tirado Sanchez earned a spot on the Bengals' top-10 list after throwing a personal best distance of 16.97m (55-8). The Throw was the 9th farthest in Bengal history.
Next Up
The Bengals head to Salt Lake City to compete at the Utah Invitational hosted by the University of Utah.