Bobcats Open Track Season Saturday
1/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Dale Kennedy isn't treating this weekend's season-opening Western States Track and Field Classic as just a season-opening event. He's treating it as a benchmark.
"This meet will be a check point for us," said MSU's long-time track and field coach. "We have so many young kids that are competing at the collegiate level for the first time, we'll really be watching them closely." His Bobcats compete at the Idaho Sports Pavillion in Nampa on Saturday beginning at 10 am against a powerful field that includes Stanford and Arizona of the Pac 10, Boise State, and Idaho State.
With several standout freshmen along, the Bobcats charge into the season-opening event behind a talented, experienced group of throwers, jumpers, and distance runners. "This will be a challenging test for us," Kennedy said. "I'll be watching to see how we respond. We have a veteran crew of distance runners on the men's side, with Casey Jermyn, Jonathan Gibson, Kevin Clary, Ned Miller. They've been in this situation before." Defending Big Sky Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet Ariana Lee leads the women's distance crew.
Standout triple jumpers Erin Jones, who has already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the pentathlon, and Kelsey Kirkpatrick are both over 39-feet in the preseason. They lead the jumps crew. Four-time conference champion Blake Jackson and school record-holder Jen Allen lead what Kennedy calls "strong and deep" throws groups. "(Assistant coach) Mike Carignan) has really assembled an incredibly strong group of throwers."
"This meet will be a check point for us," said MSU's long-time track and field coach. "We have so many young kids that are competing at the collegiate level for the first time, we'll really be watching them closely." His Bobcats compete at the Idaho Sports Pavillion in Nampa on Saturday beginning at 10 am against a powerful field that includes Stanford and Arizona of the Pac 10, Boise State, and Idaho State.
With several standout freshmen along, the Bobcats charge into the season-opening event behind a talented, experienced group of throwers, jumpers, and distance runners. "This will be a challenging test for us," Kennedy said. "I'll be watching to see how we respond. We have a veteran crew of distance runners on the men's side, with Casey Jermyn, Jonathan Gibson, Kevin Clary, Ned Miller. They've been in this situation before." Defending Big Sky Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet Ariana Lee leads the women's distance crew.
Standout triple jumpers Erin Jones, who has already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the pentathlon, and Kelsey Kirkpatrick are both over 39-feet in the preseason. They lead the jumps crew. Four-time conference champion Blake Jackson and school record-holder Jen Allen lead what Kennedy calls "strong and deep" throws groups. "(Assistant coach) Mike Carignan) has really assembled an incredibly strong group of throwers."
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