yote notes - Edition 6

COMING UP: at NAIA Indoor National Championships, Thursday-Saturday, Geneva, Ohio

LAST WEEK: Idle

LIVE SCORING: Live scoring throughout the NAIA Indoor National Championships will be available online at http://lightningtiming.com/results/20120301/index.htm?DB_OEM_ID=27900.

INDOOR NATIONALS CALLING THE YOTES: A group of nine athletes will represent The C of I this weekend in Geneva, Ohio, as the 32nd Annual NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships.  The event, held at the SPIRE Institute Track and Field Sports Complex, will begin Thursday with multi-events and relay preliminary events, with finals set for Saturday.

HISTORY AT INDOOR MEET: It marks the fifth-straight year that the Lady Yotes have sent runners to the National Meet, and look to score at the event for the third time. In 2008, the squad finished in a tie for 21st, while in 2009, the Lady Yotes finished in 30th-place. The men’s team will be making their second-straight appearance at Indoor Nationals, with their best finish a 31st-place effort in 2008.

BIG GROUP OF YOTES IN OHIO: The Yotes will have a big contingent in Ohio this weekend, as four men and three women will compete in individual events, along with the women’s Distance Medley Relay.  The C of I will have competitors in the men’s heptathlon for the first time, as Austin Basterrechea (Gooding, Idaho / Gooding HS) is seeded fifth among the 16 competitors, with Mike Hurd (Payette, Idaho / Payette HS) is ranked No. 12.  Two Yotes will also race in the men’s mile, as outdoor track and cross country All-American Greg Montgomery (Boise, Idaho / Boise HS) is seeded No. 8, with Dominic Bolin (Payette, Idaho / Payette HS) No. 12.  The women’s team is led by outdoor track and cross country All-American Hillary Holt (Boise, Idaho / Mountain View HS), who has the second-best time in the NAIA in the mile run.  Senior Kayloni Perry (Nine Mile Falls, Wash. / Lakeside HS) is seeded No. 8 in the 800, with cross country All-American Sora Klopfenstein (Meridian, Idaho / Meridian HS) seeded No. 14 in a deep field in the 3,000.  The women’s trio, along with sophomores Sarah Johnson (Shelton, Wash. / Shelton HS) and Jasmine Sibert (Boise, Idaho / Centennial HS) will combine to run the Distance Medley Relay – having the second-best time in the NAIA coming into the national championships.

WHEN WILL THEY COMPETE: The heptathlon will be broken into two days – beginning Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and Friday at 10 a.m., while the prelims of the men’s mile is set to start at 2:20 p.m.  The women’s DMR will have their semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night, while semifinals of the women’s mile at 2:05 p.m., the 800 at 4:15 p.m., and the 3,000 at 5:25 p.m.

CONFERENCE WELL REPRESENTED: The Coyotes will be joined in the Buckeye State by fellow Cascade Conference teams Concordia, Eastern Oregon, Evergreen, Northwest, and Southern Oregon, as 42 athletes and five relay teams will represent the CCC.  The squads will be chasing Shorter (Ga.), the defending men’s team champion, and Oklahoma Baptist, the two-time defending women’s champ.

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.