CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbird track and field programs kicked off their indoor campaign on Friday at a pair of meets. The majority of the team competed at the Friday Night Duels hosted by NAU while other athletes competed at the Ed Jacoby Invitational hosted by Boise State.

Flagstaff, Ariz.

Freshman sprinter Tre James had a gigantic debut for the Thunderbirds, as the former Junior Olympian posted the top 60-meter time at the meet with a 6.70 which set a new school record in the event. James is the son of William James, who holds the SUU record in the 100-meter dash. His adjusted time is a 6.74 which is the fastest in school history.   

Novell Reid also had a strong debut in the 60-meter, finishing with the 11th best time of 7.00.

James also had a solid time in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 21.65 and landing in second place.

In the 400-meter SUU's Brandan Harley set the fourth fastest time in school history with a 47.97. This is also the top current mark in the Big Sky Conference.

Coming off a strong cross country season, Josie Riggs and Sharlie Dimick both had big performances to start the indoor season. They finished first and second in the women's mile with times of 5:10.11 and 5:10.57 respectively. Madeline Kauffman also had a solid performance in the same event, with a time of 5:28.11.

The men's mile was strikingly similar, in regards to the top two. Kasey Knevelbaard claimed the top spot with a 4:13.62 and Josh Collins was right behind his teammate with a 4:14.05. The two are now number five and six all time in the SUU record book after conversions.

The record book continued to be changed in the men's 3,000-meter as Collins (1st, 8:35.89), Knevelbaard (2nd, 8:36.39) and Matt Wright (3rd, 8:38.05) took over the fourth, sixth and eighth spots all time respectively.

George Espino finished third overall in the 600-meter, hitting a mark of 1:21.10.

Freshman Linnea Saltz had a big first meet for the Thunderbirds, finishing second in the 600-meter with a 1:36.63. Paige Cardiff finished in third in the same event, with a time of 1:37.23.   

Freshman Peyton Green had a nice performance in the 200-meter dash, finishing fourth overall with a 25.27. Adjusted, the time is 25.41 which is the top mark in the Big Sky currently.  

Jayson Kovar started his senior campaign with a weight throw of 16.85 to land him in third overall and a sixth place finish in the shot put with a throw of 16.15.

“It was a really, really good opener for us,” SUU head coach Eric Houle said. “From the sprinters, to the throwers, to the distance team, it was a very solid start.”  

Nampa, Idaho

In Idaho Nico Fonzi competed in the pole vault for the T-Bird men's team, where he finished eighth in the field with a 4.10-meter clear.

Dillon Dopp is competing in the heptathlon for SUU, where he ran a 7.72 in the 60-meter dash, jumped 5.67 meters and threw a shot put 9.38 meters.

Celia Halpin jumped for the T-Birds in Idaho, finishing 11th in the long jump with a 5.05 and sixth in the triple jump with a 10.67. 

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