Devon Burningham

Sports Writer

Idaho State University’s men and women’s track and field teams competed in the Mountain State Games last Friday and Saturday inside Holt Arena.

The 200-meter dash had Treyshon Malone earning the top spot with a time of 21.41. In the 800-meter run, Molly Olsen secured a first place finish with a time of 2:15.12 on the women’s side while Jesse Allen earned a second place finish with a final time of 1:54.13 for the men.

“It was a good meet,” said head coach Hillary Merkley. “We had really good improvements this year and this week in all of the different event areas for everybody.”

The 5000-meter run had ISU sweeping the podium for the women as Laura-Louise Alicke earned first with 15:06.57, Haven Labrite with second at 18:24.67 and Mya McKown earning third with a time of 18:25.44.

Alongside the women’s sweep of the 5000-meter run, the men decided to go for a sweep of their own in the 60-meter hurdles as Tanner Conner earned the top spot with a time of 7.92 seconds, in which he tied the school record that he already holds, Treyshon Malone earning second place with a finish of 8.16 seconds and Caleb Brown falling barely behind into third with 8.18 seconds.

“[You] just gotta take it one event at a time and focus on the event that you’re in and if the events overlap, you just gotta figure out a way to manage your time and your thoughts in what event you are going to do,” Malone said of his win. “I’m able to go into each event and just think of that event and think of a game plan and how I’m gonna get through it.”

In the fifty events that took place—twenty five for men and twenty five for women—the Orange and Black ended up in the top three a total of forty five times, with fourteen of those finishes being in first place.

The next time the Bengals compete will be at the Big Sky Tuner in Bozeman, Montana on Feb. 21, followed by the hosting of the Big Sky Championships in Holt Arena on Feb. 27-29.

“Working hard is important, but resting is just as important,” Merkley said. “This weekend gives us a break mentally and physically to be a little bit fresher. We’re unloading things as we move into conference.”