USU track to compete in Nampa, Idaho
After only winning two events in Boise, Idaho the Utah State track and field team rebounded to win five titles in last weekend’s Montana State Invitational in Bozeman.
“I’m not too worried with the titles,” said Head Coach Gregg Gensel. “The titles aren’t as important as the improvements the athletes are making. The athletes that got the wins this week improved significantly.”
With a personal best throw of 60-02.25, Josh Sides not only won the shot put event for the third time this season, but also moved into a tie for third all-time on the USU indoor top 10 list.
Utah State’s Mark Burton finished in second place, behind Sides with a throw of 56-00.05. This marked the fourth time Sides and Burton have both finished in the top three this season.
“We’ve been looking for a breakout performance from Sides and it came,” Gensel said. “He needed a big time performance to get the monkey off his back.”
Two other Aggie men took home titles from the MSU invite. Dustin Vetica posted a 7.63 in the 55-meter hurdles, and in the high jump Matt Price recorded a mark of 6-10.25. Both were personal bests.
Second-place finishers for the men were Nick Seedall (400-meter, 48.00), Joel Johnson (pole vault, 16-04.75), and the 4 x400-meter relay team (3:17.02).
Third place finishers include Justin Wickard (55-meter, 6.46), Cedric Young (200-meter, 22.01), Dan Messick (long jump, 21-10.25), and Danny Elggren (400-meter, 48.34).
For the women, Keli Burton and Chalise Withers both came home with titles. With a throw of 48-05.50, Burton recorded her second victory of the season. Withers recorded a personal best 5-05.00 in the high jump.
The only other Aggie top-three finisher was Debra Barker, who recorded an 11-09.75 in the pole vault, to finish in third place.
As a team the Aggie men came in second, behind Montana State, with a score of 36. The women came in fourth with a score of 14. But Gensel isn’t overly worried about either team’s performance.
“I don’t really worry about either one more than the other,” Gensel said. “It would be like having a favorite child. It’s great if they win, but progress and improvement are more important.”
The Aggies will return to action Friday and Saturday in Nampa, Idaho to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship. Events will begin at noon Friday, and 10 a.m. Saturday.
“This is a tough indoor conference,” Gensel said. “If we come out and perform, I think we’ll finish in the top half.”
–acfalk@cc.usu.edu