CEDAR CITY, Utah - With the indoor track and field season in the books, the Thunderbirds are headed outside as their 2017 outdoor campaign will kick off this weekend when they open up competition at the UNLV Invitational.  

Indoor Recap

SUU's indoor season was one to remember, as several school records went down and both men's and women's teams set solid marks at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.

On the sprinting side of things, freshman Tre James set a new school record in the 60-meter dash with a 6.74 and sophomore Devon Montgomery did the same in the 60-meter hurdles with a 8.04. Jayson Kovar broke his own school record in the indoor shot put with a 58'½''. And the men's distance medley relay team set a new school record as well.

“This is probably the best position we've been in,” SUU head coach Eric Houle said. “Even though we were second in the conference on the men's side, it's still the best team we've ever had.”

On the women's side there were a lot of new additions to the record book as well, as the young group of Thunderbird women's athletes continue to make huge improvements. Sharlie Dimick set the second-fastest mile time in SUU history with a 4:46.96. Freshman Peyton Green got herself in the record book in the 60-meter, the 200-meter and the 400-meter with a very strong start to her freshman campaign. And not to be outdone, fellow freshman Linnea Saltz entered the record book in both the 400-meter and the 800-meter.

Welcome Back

As the outdoor season opens the Thunderbirds will welcome two big-time student-athletes back from their redshirt seasons, as both Mike Tate and Justin Lewis are set to start competing for the Thunderbirds once again.

“Bringing back Mike and Justin will strengthen our team for this outdoor season,” Houle said. “I think most of the outdoor teams, both men and women, get stronger because you add more events.”

When it comes to their outdoor performances, both Tate and Lewis have put up some all-time marks. Tate is currently second all-time in the SUU record book in the 1,500-meter, and appears in the top-10 on the 800-meter list, the 3,000-meter list and the 5,000-meter list.

Lewis appears in the top-10 in the record book in three events, the 100-meter, the 200-meter and the 400-meter. He was also part of the 4x100 meter team that set the second-fastest time in school history.

Meet Information

UNLV's Spring Invitational/Sheila Tarr-Smith Multis will run from Thursday to Saturday, with the majority of the action taking place in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The Thunderbirds will be running against in-state rivals BYU and Utah Valley, and conference foes Idaho State and Northern Colorado.

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