POCATELLO, Idaho - The atmosphere was electric during the Mountain State Games at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho this weekend. Forty-two Nighthawks competed in the two-day meet against other programs ranging from NAIA to NCAA Division I.
Senior captain Colton Burr won the weight throw, smashing his personal record with a toss of 17.55 meters.
"I felt ready — I was nervous, but I've worked hard to get to this point and all I needed was to line it all up for it to click. Today it did."
With a mighty yell, Burr launched his final throw of the night and saw it land near the 18-meter mark.
"The throw felt effortless and that's what we were looking for. As soon as it hit the ground I just felt a wave of emotion. Coach Peterson reacted with the same energy I had; it's nice to know I have a coach that's invested in me as much as I've invested in myself."
Burr's mark puts him 3rd in NNU History for the weight throw.
Another outstanding performance took place on the track when junior Abbey Wood won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.73 seconds, still only hundredths of a second away from the school record. She was in disbelief after crossing the line in front of many Division I athletes — and her teammates' response was overwhelming.
"It's a little frustrating to get so close to the school record each meet, but every time I compete, I find something that I need to tweak for next time. It's been a great learning experience trying to reach that goal."
Shortly after winning the 60m, Wood snagged second place in the 200m dash with a time of 25.66 seconds, putting her 3rd in NNU history.
Keeping with the trend in personal records, men's heptathletes Turner Nye and Steven Schmidt had top performances in almost every event. Nye placed second in the heptathlon with 4798 points while Schmidt came in third with 4608.
Schmidt PR'd in the 60m, shot put, long jump, and high jump. His winning high jump of 2.06 meters puts him 2nd in NNU history, 7th in GNAC history, and meets the NCAA DII Provisional Mark for high jump.
"Today, I was warming up and felt decent, but I felt a lot of doubt and started comparing myself to last year. But this time, I kept making my jumps and feeling better. I was ready to jump high today and I did. My dad was there and it was great to do that jump in front of him."
Fellow heptathlete Turner Nye achieved personal records in almost every one of his events while also improving his overall score by almost 1000 points.
"I was pretty excited about my overall PR and my PR in the 1000m run. One benefit of being quarantined for a few weeks was doing long runs by myself and seeing it pay off on the 1000m," Nye laughed. "I'm really proud of how Steven and I did against all the DI people as well."
Nye also met the NCAA DII Provisional Mark with his overall heptathlon score.
Head Coach Danny Bowman was proud to see the team's results reflect the hard work they have put in this season.
"I'm in awe of how hard everyone has worked the last couple of months to get to this point right now. The team dynamic was amazing at the meet with everyone cheering on everybody. I am so excited to see how this momentum can lead into conference championships next week.
"We have some great coaches who care about the athletes and some great athletes who care about each other."
In the coming week the Nighthawks will be gearing up for the GNAC Championships on February 21-22 at The Podium Indoor Track in Spokane, Wash.
