Looking to repeat WAC title
Utah State’s men’s and women’s track and field teams begin the 2008 outdoor season Friday as they participate in the Willie Williams Invitational in Tuscon Arizona.
The men enter the outdoor season after winning the Western Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships March 1.
The women enter the season after finishing fourth at the indoor championships.
A year ago, the men claimed the outdoor WAC championship while the women claimed a fifth-place finish.
Returning for the men is senior John Strang, who took first in the decathlon and second in the high jump at the 2007 championships.
Distance runner Seth Wold also returns after finishing fifth place in the 5,000-meter race.
The women return start runner Stacey Dorius, who claimed first place in the 3,000-meter race. Kathryn Thatcher, a junior from Paradise, Utah returns after taking second place as a sophomore in the 400-meter hurdles.
The transition from the indoor season to the outdoor season is well received by the athletes because it is generally easier and quicker to run outside.
“Its always easier to run a bigger track, on the shorter events, like the 200, on outdoor you only have to go around one curve whereas in indoor you have to go around two,” said head coach Gregg Gensel.
Gensel said that times for outdoor are usually about a quarter to a second faster for each quarter mile ran.
The season will last until May when the teams compete in the WAC championships in Boise, Idaho from May 14-17. If athletes qualify, they compete in the regional and national races in late May and June.
An athlete can qualify for the region meet a couple of different ways. The first is by reaching a mark or standard for an event, the second is by winning that event at the WAC championships. If an athlete competes in regionals they can qualify for nationals by finishing in the top five of an event or by being selected as one of a few at large bids.
-sam.bryner@aggiemail.usu.edu