USU track ends break, competes at Weber St.

Katrina Cartwright

The USU track team will compete at Weber State University Saturday against four other schools after a two- week break.

The men’s and women’s teams haven’t competed since the UC Irvine Invitational March 24, but they will take on Montana State University, Boise State University, Brigham Young University and WSU, as well as individuals from several other schools.

“This meet we are trying to get back into the swing of things,” said head coach Gregg Gensel. “We’ve had a couple of weeks off, and now we have to get ready for the conference meet.”

The Big West Championships will be held May 16-19 in Long Beach, Calif., and the teams have five more season meets to prepare for it.

James Parker and Brick Bergeson have qualified for the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Eugene, Ore., May 30-June 2. Gensel said several other athletes are near the qualifying mark, but he doesn’t expect any to meet it Saturday.

“We’ve got a lot of people that are close to qualifying,” he said. “But we’re not planning on having it done this weekend.”

Gensel said he expects many athletes to perform well individually. He said he thinks Maurice Jenkins, who competed at nationals in indoor track this season, and Debra Barker will do well in the pole vault, and Jessica Owen, Candice Workman and Parker are expected to compete well in the throwing events, he said.

Sprinters Danielle Kot, Joel Johnson and Anthony Stewart and distance runners Rebecca Thornley and Bergeson are also projected to finish in the top individually.

The meet will begin at 10:15 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Gensel said he’s looking forward to competing again.

“It’s time to get back into it and work hard,” he said.