CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Southern Utah University Thunderbird track and field teams are preparing for competition at the ISU Mountain State Games in Pocatello, Idaho on Friday, February 7 and Saturday, February 8.

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds most recently competed at the UW Invite and the NAU Mountain T's Invite.

At the UW Invite, Linnea Saltz competed in the 800-meter where she broke her own school record with a time of 2:07.86. This time places Saltz 22nd in the nation at the time of publication and confirmed her as Big Sky Track and Field Athlete of the Week.

Tre James competed in Arizona at the Mountain T's Invite where he finished with a time of 6.73 in the 60-meter placing him first in the Big Sky Conference at the time of publication.

Max Spence also appeared in Arizona where he broke into school records in the 600-meter. Spence timed 1:23.6 in the event placing him second in the T-Bird record book. He was followed by Bryan Pearson with a time of 1:25.23 ranking eighth in school records.

Athletes to Watch This Week

Alexis McAllister will be returning to the field in her 2020 indoor campaign debut. In the 2019 outdoor season, McAllister broke the school record in the javelin twice and currently holds the T-Bird record marking 157' 9". The junior athlete also represented the Thunderbirds at the NCAA DI West Region Preliminaries.

Sinclair Watson will be competing on the track in Idaho this weekend. At NAU, Watson competed in the 60-meter where she finished the event fourth overall with a time of 7.58.

Jordan Porcaro can be seen on the field at the Mountain State Games. Porcaro most recently competed at the Snake River Open as an individual where he finished first in the weight throw with a mark of 59'. 

Christina Ricketts will also be competing in Idaho this weekend. Ricketts most recently competed at UW where he finished with a time of 14:23.97 in the 5,000-meter. This time places Ricketts tenth in the Thunderbird record book.

Words from Coach Houle

"It's good to see that we are on the right track after this weekend," commented head coach Eric Houle. "Starting late in the season is hard but these athletes are responding to their conditioning and giving us the results we are looking for."

"We have several athletes in the field coming back this week that will be exciting to watch," added Houle. "Coach Kovar has done a phenomenal job with these throwers and I am excited to see what will happen as they get back into competition."

"It's good to have a meet where we can travel as a full team," concluded Houle. "We don't get to see this very much, especially travelling to a meet where there is real competition. It will be a good thing for these athletes to see each other in action and hopefully it will be a great weekend."

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