USU track team geared for lone home meet of season
The Utah State University track team will host teams from Weber State University, Montana State University, Southern Utah University, BYU-Idaho and Utah Valley State College as well as individuals from BYU and the University of Utah in its only home meet this season.
“It’s a lot bigger than I anticipated it being,” Head Coach Gregg Gensel said. “But I’m looking forward to it.”
Gensel said the team has been preparing for it’s home meet, the Mark Faldmo Invitational, for several weeks and he hopes the weather cooperates.
“If the weather’s good, I expect us to have some nice improvements,” he said. “We should break out and get better.”
He said if the weather is not good, he may have some athletes compete in different events than they had planned or not compete at all to avoid injuries.
The field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., and the running events will start at 11 a.m. Gensel said the meet will end at 3 p.m.
Aggies Kristi Connors, Sandra Reategui, Shae Bair, Maurice Jenkins and Dwayne Foster have a good shot at qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, La., May 29 to June 6, Gensel said.
But Gensel said he may not run Foster if the weather is bad.
So far, Brett Guymon is the only Aggie to qualify for nationals this season, which he did in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational in Ogden. Bair has provisionally qualified in the pole vault.
Multi-eventers Joel Johnson and Brad Bair competed in the decathlon at the Cal/Nevada Multis in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday and Thursday.
Johnson and Bair swept past the competition as the USU teammates finished first and second, respectively. Not only did Johnson win the event, he set a school-record (7,586 points) in the process. Both competitors set personal best marks in five events.
“Brad and Joel are on pace to get national qualifying marks down in California,” Gensel said. “The qualifying mark is 7,300 points. Brad will probably be just under that.”
Assistant coach Steve Reeder said the Aggies traditionally compete well at home and enjoy running in front of their friends and family.
“Home meets are great because our friends and family can come watch us,” Reeder said.
Gensel said he hopes students and other members of the community support the athletes by coming to the meet.
“If we can get people to come out, it should be good,” Gensel said.