Bulldogs Back On The Track At Idaho Collegiate
1/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
SPOKANE, Wash. — After traveling to Seattle for its first indoor meet of the season, the Gonzaga track team will stay in the Inland Empire this week. The Bulldogs will make the short trek to Moscow, Idaho, to compete in the Idaho Collegiate on Friday.
The meet, which also features Inland Empire neighbors Washington State and Eastern Washington, takes place in the Kibbie Dome on the campus of the University of Idaho. Field events start at 11 a.m. with races beginning three hours later. Only collegiate and unattached athletes will compete.
"It's good for their development because it gives our kids a chance to gauge themselves and push themselves," women's coach Patty Ley said. "It's a chance to see where you're at and what you need to do to keep progressing forward."
Like last week, when only 14 women competed for Gonzaga in the UW Preview due to injuries, Ley is again taking a small crew to the Idaho Collegiate. Still, Ley views this meet as an opportunity to develop some younger runners.
"We want to give them a chance to compete and shine a little bit," Ley said. "So for them, it's important."
The GU women will compete in three events Friday, including the 400 meters, the mile and the 3,000 meters. Ley said she expects to see big improvements from her freshmen, especially Emily Anderson, Julie Henling and Melanie Stralen.
"We're teaching them to be a little more aggressive and a little stronger in the middle," Ley said, "because they are plenty strong enough."
After a solid showing last week at the UW Preview, and a return trip to Seattle on tap next week, the Gonzaga men are also taking a small and relatively young squad to the Idaho Collegiate. Just 10 Zags, seven of who are freshmen, will travel to Moscow and compete in three events, including the 800 meters, the mile and the 3,000 meters.
"The purpose we see of indoor is to get some test efforts," men's coach and program director Pat Tyson said. "We want to use it as a gauge to see where our fitness is so we can base our workouts on reaching their goal pace by late May or early June. So to race every kid every week is not a good thing."
One of those runners skipping this meet is Willie Milam, who smashed the school record in the 3,000 meters at the UW Preview. The redshirt junior's time of 8:07.79 is the third fastest in the country so far this season. The 16 individuals who post the best times over the course of the season will qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
"We realize there is a lot of racing ahead," Tyson said. "But it's pretty cool to be ranked right now — that's never been done before. To put a guy in the top 16, and then you're ranked in the 25 percent of that list, that's cool."
