May 12, 2008

Big Sky Top 17 Bests Outdoor List

Pocatello, ID--The Idaho State track and field team includes 37 athletes in the final top 17 best results this outdoor season in the Big Sky Conference. The Bengal women's team has had an excellent outdoor season so far and hopes to recapture their Big Sky Conference Championship title. The men look to improve upon their 5th place finish. Idaho State plan to benefit from the athleticism of their 2007 Indoor Pentathlon and Heptathlon Champions, Cassie Merkley and Brad Silvester.

In the top 17 list the Bengals post Big Sky qualifying marks for 26 athletes. Coach Dave Nielsen will send 25 women and 25 men to the Big Sky Championship, 19 of the women were in the top 17 list as well as seven of the men's team. These athletes often reached multiple Big Sky marks in various events giving the Bengals 59 Big Sky marks in the top 17 list alone for the conference. Two Bengals, Lois Ricardi and Sergio Jones have already saved their seat for the NCAA Regional's while Merkley is guaranteed a spot at the NCAA Nationals.

The 2007 women's pentathlon indoor champion Merkley achieved seven Big Sky qualifying times in her best performances of the season, of which four met NCAA qualifying standards and leads the Big Sky Conference in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, and heptathlon. Merkley ran an Idaho State school record of 13.77 in the 100-meter hurdles at Cal State Northridge running under the NCAA regional qualifying time by 0.15 seconds. In the high jump she met the NCAA regional qualifying height of 5-08.75 at Provo and holds the lead with junior Rachel Stevens of Northern Colorado who met the height in Laramie.

Merkley's greatest accomplishment of the season came from her heptathlon performance at Cal State Northridge where she captured 5,563 points, surpassing the automatic National qualifying standard by 63 points giving her the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Championship Final June 11-14th in Des Moines, Iowa. Merkley will be a driving force for the Bengals in the Big Sky Outdoor Championship as she was in during the indoor season where she won three events.

Senior Ricardi attained three Big Sky qualifying times in her best performances of the season in the 1,500-meter run, 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run. Ricardi's greatest accomplishment of the season came when she met the NCAA regional qualifying standard in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with an altitude adjusted time of 10:30.45 in Provo, the second best time in the Big Sky conference. With her performance in the steeplechase Ricardi will compete in the NCAA Regional Championship on May 30-31st in Northridge, Calif. Her excellent time had an additional benefit that qualifies Ricardi to compete in the 10,000-meter run at the Big Sky Conference.

Other Bengal women to watch include junior Jessica Johnson in the 100-meter dash. Johnson's qualifying time was achieved when she ran an altitude adjusted time of 12.28 in Logan. Junior Trinelle McKinley and senior Jessica Bobert were in the top-half of the top 17 list for the 400-meter run and will have notable finishes. Gemma Maini, a junior, holds the eighth best time in the conference with her altitude adjusted time of 4:34.20 in the 1,500-meter run.

Freshman Erica Wendt has performed well in the distance runs and will certainly leave her mark at conference. Erica Wendt's older sister Sydney Wendt, a sophomore, has earned Big Sky qualifying marks in six different events with jumps being her specialty. Sophomore Wendt holds the third best high jump performance with a height of 5-07.00 for the outdoor season. Another great performer in the jumps is senior Erin Bell who jumped a distance of 18-09.75 in the long jump to tie with Sophomore Wendt as the sixth best performance in the conference.

The Bengals continue to perform well in the pole vault event with three Bengals achieving Big Sky Championship marks. Freshman Kylee Gleason and Senior Emmy Korth both vaulted a height of 11-09.00 in Ogden to tie for the eighth best Big Sky performance. Junior Kasie Scott vaulted a height of 11-07.75 in Provo to qualify for the Championship. In throws Carrie Talbot, sophomore, leads the Bengals with a distance of 42-11.00 in the shot put and a distance of 152-04 in the discus throw giving her the fourth best performance this season.

For the men, Sergio Jones achieved three Big Sky Conference standards from his best performances of the season, two of which were NCAA Regional qualifying marks. Jones excels in sprints for the Bengals when he achieved the third best 100-meter dash performance with an altitude adjusted time of 10.50 and the second best 200-meter dash performance with an altitude adjusted time of 21.19 in Logan. He will also compete in the long jump where he holds the third best performance in the Big Sky when he jumped a distance of 23-03.50 achieved in Logan.

The 2007 Indoor Heptathlon Champion Silvester is sure to have an excellent performance in the Big Sky Championship decathlon event. Silvester qualified when he earned 5,659 points at Cal State Northridge, 159 points above the standard. Another big performer for the Bengals will be sophomore Brandon Graef who met two Big Sky qualifying marks. Graef ran a time of 15.10 in the 110-meter hurdles in Boise and holds the sixth best decathlon performance in the Big Sky this season with 5,965 points, 465 points above the standard.

Coach Nielsen continues to maintain produce excellent pole vaulters as he has five Bengals in the top 17 performances list for the Big Sky Conference, two more athletes than any other University in the conference. Sophomore Sam Pierson leads the Bengals with fifth best performance, when he vaulted a height of 16-00.75 in Provo. Freshman Thomas Thiel surpassed the Big Sky Conference standard by 0.25 inches when he vaulted a height of 15-06.25 in Ogden.

Senior Tysun Rickards will perform in the distance events where he achieved a Big Sky qualifying altitude adjusted time of 1:54.85 in the 800-meters and leads the Bengals with an altitude adjusted time of 3:55.05 in the 1,500-meter run. Eric Strand, a freshman, leads the men's team with his Big Sky qualifying, altitude adjusted time of 1:54.60 in the 800-meters.

Junior Jacob Keller leads Idaho State in the top 17 list with a high jump of 6-04.75 and in the javelin throw with a distance of 162-04 achieved in Boise. Freshman Brandon McNew has been a steady performer for the Bengals and finds his name on the top 17 list three times; in the high jump, triple jump and decathlon.