Bengals Give Top-Notch Performances at the Bronco Twilight :: Junior Cassie Merkley Earns Seventh NCAA Qualifying Mark

May 3, 2008

Boise, ID--The Bengal track and field team traveled to the capital city of Idaho to compete at the Bronco Twilight in Bronco Stadium Friday afternoon in preparation for the Big Sky Championship. Idaho State collected 21 Big Sky qualifying marks and a single NCAA qualifying mark in the javelin throw from junior Cassie Merkley.

The women's team captured five first place finishes and seven second place finishes. Merkley captured her seventh NCAA qualifying mark with her javelin throw of 155.08.00 her personal best. Three of her seven NCAA marks were acquired from the javelin throw. Her performance in Boise gave her the second best javelin throw in school history just two feet and 11 inches under the school record of 158-07 set by Sandy Bean in 1983. Merkley also ran a performance best in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.26 giving her the eighth best performance in school history.

Junior Trinelle McKinley ran a time of 56.92 in the 400-meter dash to capture second place. Senior Jenny Downey and junior Gemma Maini ran well together in the 800-meter run when Downey took first with a time of 2:13.61 and Maini ran the track in 2:14.58 for second place. Lois Ricardi, a senior, paired with freshman Erica Wendt to be the only two people to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Ricardi captured first place with a time of 11:01.0 while Wendt finished in 11:19.0 for second place.

In the 4x400-meter relay Idaho State captured first and second place with a 3:52.74 and 3:58.77 finish. The Bengals also captured second place with a time of 47.31 in the 4x100-meter relay.

Sophomore Sydney Wendt competed well and surpassed her competition by four inches when she reached a height of 5-07.00 in the high jump for a first place finish. Wendt also captured first place in the triple jumps when she reached a distance of 37-11.25. Both of Wendt's performances met Big Sky qualifying marks.

For the men, junior Darin Williams ran a time of 49.14 in the 400-meter dash to capture third place. In the 800-meter run freshmans Eric Strand and Zac Barrett ran together. Strand took second place with a time of 1:54.93 while Barrett ran a time of 1:55.02 for third place. Sophomore Sam Pierson vaulted a Big Sky qualifying height of 16-00.75 to capture fifth place.

Senior Tysun Rickards ran a time of 3:56.19 in the 1,500-meter run to capture first place. Brandon Graef, a sophomore, ran a Big Sky qualifying time of 15.10 in the 110-meter hurdles for a sixth place finish. Graef also teamed with Williams, Thomas Thiel and Sergio Jones to run a time of 42.21 in the 4x100-meter relay to capture second place. Jones ran both relays teaming with Strand, Williams and Clayton Kohler in the 4x400 to run a time of 3:21.38 for first place.

The Bengals will prepare for the culmination of their season until May 14th when they compete at the Big Sky Conference Championships in Sacramento, Calif.