March 1, 2008

Official 2008 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Page

Pocatello, ID --- Cassie Merkley won three events, the pentathlon, the 60-meter hurdles, and the high jump as the Idaho State Bengals finished in a tie for fourth place in the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Idaho State University. Sacramento State won the title by one point over Weber State.

Merkley's three titles gave her 71 career indoor championship points, the fourth-most in conference history, and it easily pushed her to be the all-time points leader for Idaho State. Merkley won the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday with a time of 8.59, and that win was coupled with wins in the pentathlon (with an NCAA qualifying mark of 3,892 points) and a win in the high jump as well.

Ironically, Merkley was passed over for track athlete and field athlete of the meet for Montana's Lonnie Perkins-Judisch, who won two events, and Montana State's Elouise Rudy, who won the pole vault with an NCAA best mark of 14-1 ¼, which was also a championship record.

The Bengals, who finished second in the indoor championships last year in Bozeman by one point, picked up only two other all-conference honors. Sydney Wendt set a personal best in the pentathlon with 3,709 points, and the Bengals also picked up a silver in the distance medley relay. The team of Gemma Maini, Lois Ricardi, Jenny Downey, and Jessica Bobert finished second behind Montana with a time of 11:47.53.

ISU narrowly missed a pair of medals in the pole vault, as Kassie Scott finished fourth with the same height, 12-5 ½ as the second and third place finishers, but she suffered more misses. Kylee Gleason also finished fifth in the pole vault.

Idaho State will now look towards a last chance meet before the NCAA championships March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.