Bengal Track and Field Looking Ahead to 2024-25 Indoor Season

Pocatello, ID - The snow is (sort of) falling, the calendar has turned to December, and we're finally beginning to wrap up the annual tryptophan-induced turkey naps from Thanksgiving weekend.

In other words, it's track and field season.

The Idaho State Bengals have been putting in the work all offseason long, which included the men's and women's distance squads each finishing in the top five in the Big Sky Cross-Country Championships. Now, the teams are back together again for 2025 and ready to build off of a strong 2024 campaign. 

The Big Sky Conference is expected to release its annual preseason polls for T&F in the coming days, and the Bengals are no stranger to defying expectations. Last year, projected seventh, the ISU women rallied to finish in third place, aided by at least a half-dozen new school records set in the indoor season.

A CLOSER LOOK - INDOOR SEASON
For ISU, the indoor season will consist of seven meets, a noteworthy four of which will take place inside the comforts of the ICCU Dome. The venue will play host to one of the first track meets in the country this Friday at the inaugural Idaho State Winter Open on December 6th. 

The Bengals will then get a break for finals week and the holidays before returning to action at the start of the new year. The first of three annual meets, the Snake River Open, will be held on January 6th and 7th here in Pocatello. Idaho State will then hit the road for the first time in 2025 with back-to-back road meets in back-to-back weekends. First, they will head to the barren tundra that is Bozeman, MT for the Montana State Open on Jan. 25. After that, it's over to Spokane, WA, for the Whitworth Invitational on Feb. 1.

After the fortnight of road competition, it's back home for another pair of weekends in the dome. The Stacy Dragila Invitational, named after the proud Bengal alum and olympian Pole Vault gold medalist, will attract a loaded competition on Feb. 7. The week after, the indoor regular season will close for the orange and black with the two-day Mountain State Games from Feb. 14-15. 

The Big Sky Indoor Championships, hosted by Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, will take place across three days from Feb. 27-Mar. 1, where Idaho State will once again display their talent among one of the top groups in Division 1 Track and Field, setting their sights to compete beyond in the NCAA National Championships.

IDAHO STATE TRACK - THE ROSTER
Last year, Idaho State featured highlights from the senior leaders and fresh faces, with amazing moments coming from every grade. 

Record-setting runners Kyndal Martin and Presley Timmons graduated this past spring, and were joined by top-10 mainstays Sarah Wilensky, Rachael Dyck, Madi Kenyon, Sergio Garcia-Jinenez, Tenleigh Smith, and Lindsey Jones-Sagendorf.  

The men's team features a slew of the best athletes in the Big Sky returning to continue their storied careers in orange and black. The distance squad will be led by junior Seth Babbel and Senior Cade Smith. Babbel currently holds the fourth-best 5000m time (14:29.78) and the 10th-fastest 3,000m (8:24.41) in school history, while Smith has the ninth-fastest time (8:23.65) in the latter. 

Zachary Cox will headline the men's hurdles group. A multiple-time Big Sky medalist, Cox holds the second-fastest 60mH time (7.86) in ISU history, trailing only Bengal great and current Miami Dolphin TE Tanner Conner. Alongside Cox, sophomore Alex Conner and junior Khutsisa Rampete are coming off of career campaigns, which featured Conner running the sixth-fastest 60mH (8.19) in his first indoor season and Rampete dominating the sprints with a 6.84 second 60m dash (T-4th all-time) and a 21.46 second 200m (6th all-time) in last years indoor conference championships. 

Seniors Cade Ricks and Ekhardt Van Der Watt highlight the men's pole vault group. Ricks made impressive strides in his junior campaign, and Van Der Watt, a Big Sky gold medalist, returns for his final season in orange and black.

The men's throwers are led by returning record-holder and multiple-time conference champion Axel Tirado-Sanchez. The senior holds the best discus (198'2) and weight throw (62'7.75") marks in Idaho State history, as well as the sixth-farthest shot put mark (56'8.5") Fellow senior Ryan Spaeth has been a consistent scorer for ISU in his decorated career, and they lead a squad that will surely be one of the best in the Big Sky.

Looking at the women's team, the distance squad will feature a number of Bengal runners coming off of breakout cross country seasons in the fall. Cassandra Vasquez and Sulette Ferreyra Serna have established themselves as consistent contenders and senior leaders, and the sophomore Liv and Liv combo (Olivia Kendell and Alivia Johnson) have emerged as two of the top distance runners in the conference in their second seasons.

ISU Track and Field has had major success from two-sport athletes in recent years, a list that features NFL player Tanner Conner and current Bengal wide receiver Mike Shulikov earning school records in the 60mH and high jump, respectively. More recently, Saydree Bell alternated between the soccer pitch and the track, setting the fifth-fastest 60m time (7.70) in her first indoor season.
This trend will look to continue, as current ISU freshman Megan Charley, is following in Bell's footsteps. After starting in 16 games for the soccer team in the fall, Charley will join the middle-distance squad and look to continue the dominance of two-sport athletes for the Bengals.

The multis group is coming off of a strong 2023-24 campaign, thanks in large part to sophomore Josie Settle, who set multiple top-10 marks in her first season in Pocatello and earning an all-conference nod at last year's indoor championship. Juniors Kaila Mederios and Kenadee Tracy made notable strides last season, and senior Kylee Dimick is back to add another conference medal to her loaded trophy case.

The women's pole vault squad has the potential to be one of the best in the Big Sky this season. Junior Brielle Davis is back after a sensational breakout campaign where she captured both the indoor (4.16m) and outdoor (4.24m) school records, both of which are also top-five marks in Big Sky Conference History. Senior Elliotte Stockham returns with both of the fifth-best indoor (3.97m) and outdoor (3.98m) marks in ISU history, and the Stockham bloodline is strong with her sister Izzie Stockham joining the Bengals as a highly-touted freshman, giving the team a unique pairing of siblings in the same event. 

Junior Mikaela Hill, who has made multiple appearances on the top-10 list, will highlight the sprinters for the ISU women. Senior Sage Wood has returned for her final season in orange and black, and Presley Berger is looking to make a big impact after earning key experience as a freshman.

The throwers squad features a large veteran presence, with seniors Katelyn Dickemore, Emrey Maxfield, and Kait Ward returning after strong 2024 campaigns to lead the pack. Laura Young is set to build on a promising sophomore campaign, and Zoie Kessinger and Maddie Romberg made impacts early as freshmen. The squad was bolstered in the offseason by the addition of three promising newcomers, Isabelle Brown, Jordyn Kearn, and Isabella Shelton. 

With a lot to look forward to this winter, anticipation for the indoor season couldn't be higher, and December 6 cannot come soon enough. The Bengals have some of the best talent in the Big Sky, and the time has come to go and show it.