Denim Millward

Sports Editor

With just a handful of meets completed thus far, the Idaho State University track and field team will have already ensured there will be plenty of black and orange when the Big Sky Conference Championships roll around.

An impressive overall showing for the Bengals in the Mountain State Games resulted in eight competitors qualifying for the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track Championships, which will be held Feb.  27 through March 1 at Holt Arena.

Senior, and reigning indoor pole vault champion, Caitlin Maulin took first in the women’s collegiate pole vault by clearing a height of 3 9/10 meters.  Seniors Rebecca Clark and Vannessa Bawden also qualified for the Big Sky Indoor Championships with heights of 3 7/10 meters and 3 6/10 meters, respectively.  Sophomore Samantha Simmons was victorious in the women’s open pole vault with a 3 6/10 meters qualifying height, while senior Glola Ibrahim came in second with an identical 3 6/10 meters in height.

In the women’s triple jump, junior Kaitlin Sorensen leapt to a career best qualifying distance of 11 83/100 meters, which was good enough for first place.  The impressive leap was sixth-best of all time at ISU.

Freshman distance runner Korbin Traughber won the women’s open 800-meter run with a time of 2:24.20, over six-tenths of a second faster than her nearest competitor.  In the women’s collegiate high jump, junior Brittany Hottel took first, clearing a height of 1 6/10 meter to do so.  Junior Shayla Richardson-Neibaur topped the women’s open high jump with a height of 1 55/100 meter.

On the men’s side, first- and second-place finishes weren’t quite as abundant as they were with the females, but good showings were had in multiple events nonetheless.  The men’s 4×400-meter collegiate relay team narrowly topped the Weber State squad, winning by a slim margin of .05 seconds.

The team, composed of sophomore Logan Henderson, sophomore Corbin Latimore, senior Justin Critser-Lucas and senior Jesse Sorensen, won the event with a time of 3:17.58. Sorensen was also responsible for the second-best performance for the Bengals on the men’s side when he came in second place in the men’s invitational 400 meter with a time of 48.45, which is a Big Sky standard.

The impressive showing at the Mountain State Games continued a positive trend for the Bengals, who qualified six for the conference championships at the MSU Duals a week prior.  Sophomore Katie Nicholls posted a Big Sky qualifying time of 5:00.32 in the women’s mile, good for a career best and an event win.  Caitlin Maulin and Rebecca Clark posted respective first- and third-place finishes in the women’s pole vault at the Duals.

For the men, senior and Auerbach, Germany native Christoph Lange qualified for the conference championships with a victory in the men’s triple jump.  Lange jumped 45-07.75 to earn the first-place finish and championship qualification.

In the men’s pole vault event at the MSU duals, sophomore Steven Wacker qualified for the championships with a second-place height of 15-11.  Joining him in the championships will be graduate student Andy Curry, who took third in the same event with an identical height of 15-11.

“I think we’re rounding into shape,” Head Track and Field Coach Dave Nielsen said to the ISU Sports Information Department on Feb. 1.  “We’re looking much better but we still have a long way to go.”

The “long way” Nielsen mentioned will need to be traversed relatively quickly.

Only two events remain before the Big Sky Indoor Track Championships.  The men’s and women’s track teams will next head west to the Boise State Open, which will be held Feb. 8.  Following the Boise State Open, the Bengals will be off until Feb. 21-22, when the Conference Tune-Up will give them a final meet to prepare for the Big Sky Championships Feb. 27-March 1.

With the current wave of momentum many of the track team members are currently riding, and with two of the next three events being held inside the familiar confines of Holt Arena, the ISU men’s and women’s track teams have a great chance to continue their winning ways and bring home multiple conference championships.

For the lucky few who win a conference championship and qualify for nationals, the NCAA Indoor Track Championships will be held March 13-15 in Albuquerque, N.M.