This Week

Southern Utah indoor track and field will start its season when the Thunderbirds travel to Pocatello, Idaho for the Bengal Shootout on Friday afternoon.  SUU will be in the hunt for its third indoor conference title on the men's side and fifth title on the women's side.

“At the beginning of the year we are not out to break records or beat up on teams,” head coach Eric Houle said.  “Typically we don't come out with our best performances because our training system is to peak in May.  We hope to get in and get some people to compete who haven't for the last year.”

Last Week

Southern Utah has been idle since the NCAA Mountain Regionals during the cross country season.  Prior to that meet the Thunderbirds captured their third consecutive Summit League cross country title with the women finishing in third place.

Next Week

Southern Utah will take the first of three trips during the indoor season to Flagstaff, Ariz. next week when the team participates in the Lumber Jack Invitational.

SUU Track & Field Remembers Coach Dolegiewicz

When the indoor track and field season starts this Friday, SUU track and field will be without an important piece of its family.  Zbigniew “Bishop” Dolegiewicz, an assistant coach with Southern Utah University track and field from 1994-1998, passed away on October 29, 2008.  Bish was the first full-time assistant coach under head coach Eric Houle and was a three-time Olympian and World's Strongest Man competitor.

Dolegiewicz listed personal best lifts of: bench press (605 lbs), competition squat (800 lbs), power clean (450 lbs), deal lift (800 lbs) and over push press (530 lbs).  As an Olympic athlete for Canada, Dolegiewicz won two gold medals at the Pan Am Games, two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, 13 medals at the Canadian Championships and finished 11th in the shot put at the 1984 L.A. Olympics.  He also finished fourth in the 1980 World's Strongest Man competition.

“This program has had a lot of success and with any successful program, you sit back and think where a turning point might have been,” Houle said.  “Bish really helped to establish us as a legitimate Division I university for the short time he was here and for that, we thank him.  He helped us a great deal and his expertise in strength and conditioning and throwing events really made us powerful in our conference and throughout the state.”

Dolegiewicz is survived by his wife, Anna (a former SUU athlete), his father and mother and his brother and sister-in-law, Richard Dole and Wanda Dorosz.

For the complete release, please click on the link at the top of the page.