Taylor Meeks

Sports Editor

The Idaho State University men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the Snake River Open tournament last Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10-11, inside Holt Arena to kick off the 2020 indoor season.

The Bengals had impressive finishes on the weekend with veterans Ashley VanVleet-Sturgis, Brianna VanVleet, Treyshon Malone and Cory Mullanix leading the way. The meet was the first of four that Idaho State hosts this indoor season.

“We have a great facility, probably one of the best facilities in the [Big Sky] Conference in terms of layout and things being viewable,” said head coach Hillary Merkley. “It’s a great competition venue.”

Idaho State showed significant improvement in the 2019 indoor season compared to previous years in both personal and team results. At the conference championships in Bozeman, Mont. last year, the men’s team placed sixth and the women’s team finished seventh.

The Bengals also produced a few conference champions and saw multiple school records broken last season. Despite losing a few key point scorers, both teams hope to continue to improve upon last year’s accomplishments headed into the 2020 season.

“We lost some key people, but our goal as a team is to not lose ground,” Merkley said. “Our goal is to continue to get better, to continue to work hard and see if we can maintain those places or improve upon them a little bit.”

Returning for the men’s team are top scorers Tanner Conner, Treyshon Malone, Kodee Vining, Cory Mullanix, Jesse Allen and Joe Simmons.

Conner led Idaho State in the 60-meter hurdles last season, winning every meet he attended. The reigning Big Sky champion took the event at the conference championships with a time of 7.92 seconds, smashing the ISU 60mH all-time record.

Malone had a dominant 2019 season as well and looks to further improve his performances in several events. The senior athlete broke the all-time record in the long jump with a mark of 7.66m (25’1.75”) at the Weber State Indoor Invitational meet and his own 200m record at the Nike/Jackson’s Indoor Invitational with a new time of 21.30 seconds. Malone re-broke his long jump ISU record last weekend with a new mark of 7.82m (25’8”).

Vining and Mullanix return for the Bengal runners after having strong outdoor season performances. The four athletes, including Connor and Malone, were a part of the 4x400m relay squad that broke the all-time ISU record during last year’s outdoor season.

“I think Hillary has prepared us well endurance and speed wise,” Mullanix said. “As a team, I feel like we are a lot farther along than what we were last year at this point, so I am excited.”

Allen and Simmons look to lead the distance events this season after showcasing their strengths at the indoor conference championships last year. Allen finished eighth in the mile while Simmons took sixth in the 3,000m and fifth in the 5,000m.

In field events, the Bengals return two pole-vaulters in Antonio Chavez and Harlan Benedict. Chavez contributed 1.5 points to the overall team score at the indoor championships last season with his pole-vault performance.

A solid group of returners for the women’s team looks to improve last year’s seventh-place finish at the conference championships. Leading the way in the pentathlon are the

VanVleet sisters who accounted for nine points for the team.

“I feel ready,” said VanVleet-Sturgis. “This will be my fourth year that I’ve been here at ISU, my third competing, so I know what to expect. I’m confident, and I think it will be a good year.”

VanVleet-Sturgis notched herself in the record books for her 3,803-point performance in the pentathlon during the 2019 season, placing her third all-time. She hopes to improve her high jump mark of 1.73m (5’8”) this 2020 season to help her at the Big Sky Championships at the end of February.

Brianna VanVleet is close behind her sister and is determined to improve her personal best score of 3,791 points in the pentathlon, a score that earned her a fourth-place finish at the 2019 championships as well as a fourth-place notch in the ISU record book.

ISU pole-vaulter Jessica Swannack returns for the team after winning the 2019 Indoor Conference Championship with a height of 4.13m (13’6.5”), not only setting another ISU record but also ranking her fourth all-time in the Big Sky Conference. Other pole vault returners include Sierra Kiser and Brooke Anger.

“We have a lot of young people who are back and looking better,” said Merkley. “We are excited, and it should be good. We’ve got some new blood in our 400m on the women’s side, so we will see how those ladies do, we will see who rises to the top.”

In the 2020 preseason polls, the Bengals were picked to finish eighth on the men’s side and ninth on the women’s side. As compared to last year’s polls of ninth and tenth place predictions, respectively, Idaho State is showing a steady increase.

The 2020 schedule will prove to be one of the busiest home schedules for ISU, hosting four home meets including the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 27-29.

“I am thrilled that we are on our home track,” said VanVleet-Sturgis. “This is our comfort zone, so we know what to expect, we’ve been on the track, we run on it on the daily. I think it’s great we are hosting conference, and I think it’s going to be awesome.”

The Bengals will return to Holt Arena on Jan. 17 to host the second annual Stacy Dragila Invite.