COMING UP: at NAIA National Championships, Marion, Ind., Thursday-Saturday.
LAST WEEK: at Cascade Conference Championships (Men 3rd of 10, Women 2nd of 10)
TRAVEL INFORMATION: The Coyote track and field team will be leaving Caldwell Tuesday for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Marion, Ind. The squad will fly via United Airlines to Fort Wayne, Ind., and van to the host site at Indiana Wesleyan University. The team will return to campus on Sunday.
C OF I HAS RECORD SETTING MEET: The C of I had a monster Cascade Conference Championships in Klamath Falls, Ore., as both the men's and women's teams set school records for highest finish and points scored. The Lady Yotes finished second to Concordia in the team race, scoring 164.5 points – crushing their former mark of 119.5 points in 2010. The Coyote men placed third overall, also their highest finish, scoring a school-record 121.5 points, trailing just Concordia and Southern Oregon. For the first time ever, both teams defeated rival Eastern Oregon at the CCC meet.
TRIO REPEAT AS CCC CHAMPS: The Coyotes had won a total of 18 CCC titles in the last seven years combined, but C of I athletes won four crowns this weekend alone. Three of the victors defended their titles from 2011, as Greg Montgomery (Boise, Idaho / Boise HS) bested the field in the 5,000-meters (15:05.69) for the second-straight year, Hillary Holt (Boise, Idaho / Mountain View HS) won the 1,500-meters (4:32.43) in a school record-setting time, with Jasmine Sibert (Boise, Idaho / Centennial HS) winning the 100-meter hurdles (15.50) for a second time.
YOUREN WINS HIGH JUMP WITH RECORD LEAP: One of the many big marks recorded by C of I athletes at the meet was by Audrey Youren (Gooding, Idaho / Gooding HS) in the high jump, as the true freshman became just the fourth C of I rookie to win a league title. Youren broke her own school record with a clearance of 5-5, hitting the NAIA "B" standard along the way, punching her ticket to the NAIA Championships.
OTHER RECORDS FALL: It was a record-setting three days for the Yotes, as multiple records fell in Klamath Falls. Mike Hurd (Payette, Idaho / Payette HS) broke his own record in the 400-meter hurdles (53.21), placing second overall, improving his NAIA "A" mark, while breaking the record in the pole vault (13-5 1/4). Austin Basterrechea (Gooding, Idaho / Gooding HS) broke a 38-year-old record in the long jump, becoming the first Coyote to ever break the 23-foot mark in the long jump (23-2 1/2), placing second, while both the Coyote 4x100 (42.80) and 4x400 (3:19.27) relay teams set new standards. On the women's side, Diamond Mitchell (San Diego, Calif. / Eastlake HS) broke her own record in the 100-meters (12.41) and the 200-meters (25.19), taking second in both events, while anchoring the 4x-100 relay team that broke the school record (48.09) in placing second. In the field events, Lexis Lange (Ephrata, Wash. / Ephrata HS) broke the school record in the pole vault (9-6 1/4), while Jessica Aguilar (Caldwell, Idaho / Caldwell HS) broke her own school record in the shot put (37-10 3/4).
MCCURRY EARNS HONOR: C of I head coach Pat McCurry was honored at the conclusion of the meet by his peers, as he was awarded the CCC Women's Coach of the Year award. It marks the third time in his career that he has won a CCC award – but the first time in track and field.
21 ATHLETES TO NATIONALS: The C of I will send a total of 21 competitors to the NAIA National Championships – by far their largest contingent in program history. Included in the group are a trio of relay teams – both the men's and women's 4x800 squads, along with the women's 4x100 team. Both teams will have their first-ever field event competitors – as Audrey Youren will compete in the high jump and Andre Archer (Caldwell, Idaho / Caldwell HS) will triple jump. Five of the athletes have been seeded in the Top-10 in their respective events heading into the meet.
HISTORY AT NATIONALS: It marks the eighth-straight year that the Coyotes will compete at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, with the Lady Yotes looking to score in the team race for a fourth consecutive year. Last season, the Coyote men finished in a tie for 55th-place, while the Lady Yotes finished in a tie for 43rd. The Coyote men have scored in the meet on two other occasions – taking 45th in 2006 and 51st in 2008, while the Lady Yotes took 37th in 2010 and 45th in 2009. Eight individuals have placed in the Top-8 at Nationals – David Fluckiger (6th in the 3,000-steeplechase in 2006), Tyler Hopper (6th in the 1,500-meters in 2008), Stephanie Helm (7th in the 5,000-meters in 2009), Emily McCutchan (8th in the heptathlon in 2010), Kristine Smith (8th in the 3,000-steeplechase in 2010), Maggie Miller (5th in the 1,500-meters in 2010), Hillary Holt (5th in the 800-meters in 2011), Greg Montgomery (8th in the 5,000 and 10,000 in 2011). The C of I has had one relay team place, as the women's 4x800 squad took seventh in 2009.
TOP MARKS IN THE NAIA: All of the competitors at the NAIA Championships are seeded within the Top-25 in each of their events. Sora Klopfenstein (Meridian, Idaho / Meridian HS) has the fourth fastest time in the 3,000-steeplechase, while Austin Basterrechea is No. 5 in the decathlon. Hillary Holt is fifth overall in the 1,500-meters and seventh in the 800-meters, while Mike Hurd (400-hurdles) and Greg Montgomery (5,000-meters) both are seeded eighth. Nick Hampton (Eagle, Idaho / Eagle HS) is No. 11 in the 800-meters, as is Sarah Johnson (Shelton, Wash. / Shelton HS) in the 1,500-meters, with Andrew Hugill (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Coronado HS) No. 14 in the 10,000-meters. Dominic Bolin (Payette, Idaho / Payette HS) and Kayloni Perry (Nine Mile Falls, Wash. / Lakeside HS) are both No. 15 in the 1,500-meters, Audrey Youren is No. 16 in the high jump, Andre Archer is No. 17 in the triple jump, Jasmine Sibert is No. 19 in the 400-meter hurdles, and Jason Hunt (Meridian, Idaho / Mountain View HS) is No. 23 in the 5,000-meters. The men's 4x800-relay is seeded ninth, while the women's 4x800-relay is seeded 14th and the 4x100-relay is seeded 15th.
QUALIFIERS: NAIA "A" Standard – Nick Hampton (800), Dominic Bolin (800, 1,500), Greg Montgomery (5,000), Austin Basterrechea (decathlon), Andre Archer (triple jump), Mike Hurd (400-hurdles, decathlon), Sora Klopfenstein (3,000-steeple), Sarah Johnson (1,500), Hillary Holt (800, 1,500), Women's 4x800-relay. NAIA "B" Standard – Jason Hunt (5,000), Kayloni Perry (1,500), Jasime Sibert (400-hurdles),Andrew Hugill (10,000), Audrey Youren (high jump), Women's 4x100-relay, Men's 4x800-relay.
ABOUT THE COACH: Pat McCurry enters his eighth year at the helm of the track & field and cross country programs at The C of I. In eight years (after the Coyote running programs were dormant for nearly 30 years), McCurry has built the Coyote men and women into perennial NAIA Top-25 programs - with the men's cross country team earning six berths to the NAIA Championships, with the Lady Yotes advancing to four-straight NAIA meets, winning the 2008, 2009, and 2011 CCC titles, with his 2011 squad placing seventh at Nationals. For his efforts, McCurry was named 2008, 2009, and 2011 CCC women's cross country Coach of the Year. Student-athletes have claimed 18 individual CCC titles on the track, 11 NAIA All-American awards in cross country and track & field, seven All-NAIA Region I awards in cross country, 38 All-CCC awards in cross country - along with 67 NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete awards. Prior to his arrival at The C of I, McCurry was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Eastern Oregon University, helping EOU to a national runner-up finish at the 2002 NAIA Men's Cross Country Championships and the 2003 CCC title in men's track & field. As an athlete at EOU from 1997-1999, McCurry claimed two consecutive CCC titles at 5000-meters and finished eighth at the NAIA Championships at 10,000-meters. His best athletic years came after college while running for Nike Portland, and later the Eastside Track Club - where at the 2003 University of Oregon Preview Meet, the Coyote skipper took home the title in the 3000-meters and has a personal best of 8:13 at that distance. He also holds the Willamette Invitational meet record and Charles Bowles track record at 10,000-meters from his 2004 performance there. McCurry has also claimed the title at many Treasure Valley area races, including the infamous Race to Robie Creek in 2005, 2009, and 2010, along with the City of Trees marathon.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more on The C of I track and field program, head to the official homepage of the Coyotes, http://www.collegeofidaho.edu/trackandfield.
