POCATELLO, Idaho – The Bengals came out strong on day one of the 2021 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Ashley VanVleet-Sturgis and Brianna VanVleet led the group, finishing the first four events of the heptathlon in second and fourth place, respectively.

VanVleet-Sturgis ended day one with 3164 points and VanVleet followed closely with 3019 points. That put them both in a great spot moving forward into day two. The women competed in the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200m dash. 

On the men's side, freshman Ethan Garrett, sits at sixth in the decathlon after five events with 3219 points. The men competed in the 100m dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400m.

Kaitlyn Neff and Cade Ricks, both freshman competing in their second heptathlon and decathlon, finished the first day of the conference meet with improved day one totals.

VanVleet-Sturgis earned a new personal best in the 100m hurdles and the 200m. She ran a 14.78 in the hurdles for 871 points and 25.51 for 841 points in the 200m. In the high jump she jumped 1.68m (5' 6") for 830 points and in the shot, she threw 11.41m (37' 5.25") for 622 points.

VanVleet ran a 14.94 for 850 points in the 100m hurdles. The jumped 1.65m (5' 5") in the high jump for 795 points. In the shot put she threw 11.43m (37' 6") for 623 points and in the 200m she ran a 26.54 for 751 points.

Garrett earned three personal bests, in the 100m, long jump, and 400m, on day one of competition. In the 100m he ran a 11.72 for 707 points. For the long jump he jumped 6.29m (20' 7.6") for 650 points. He threw 8.66m (28' 5") for 406 points in the shot put and jumped 1.92m (6' 3.5") for 731 points in the high jump. He ended the day running a 52 in the 200m for 725 points.

Overall, Ricks showed improvement from his last time competing in the decathlon, earning new personal best in four of the five events he competed in today. His personal records were in the 100m (12.31 – 591 points), shot put (9.98m (32' 9") – 484 points), high jump (1.86m (6' 1.25") – 679 points) and the 400m (54.72 – 610 points). He finished the day with 2858 points.

Neff also showed improvement earning three personal records in the 100m hurdles (15.20 – 815 points), shot put (8.02m (26' 3.75") – 401 points), and 200m (27.06 – 707 points). She finished the day with 2455 points.

On Thursday, the Bengals will finish the remaining events in the heptathlon: the long jump, javelin, and 800m and the decathlon which are the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500m.