Idaho State track and field heads to Sacramento, California, for the 2017 Big Sky Conference outdoor championships from Wednesday-Saturday. The four-day meet features 54 events and the best athletes in the Big Sky at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.

Champions

Justin Franz won the lone title for Idaho State at the 2017 Big Sky Conference indoor championships. Franz claimed the first shot put championship for the Bengals since 2006 with a 17.87-meter (58-07 1/2) throw. He has the second-best throw in the conference this season and ranks No. 49 in the nation.

The Bengals’ Deante Gaines enters the meet as the defending Most Valuable Athlete after claiming the triple jump title at the 2016 outdoor conference championships. Gaines also earned all-conference status in the long jump and high jump. The senior heads to the conference championship meet with the second-best marks in the triple jump and long jump.

What to Watch For

Daniel Garz leads a deep field for ISU in the 800-meter race. Garz has the best time in the conference at 1:49.71 and finished second in the indoor conference championship race. Teammates Jesse Allen, Wyatt Didericksen and Jake Meeker all have top-16 times in the 800.

Bailey Woodbury is Idaho State’s only athlete with four appearances on the conference performance lists. The senior has the fourth-best time in the 100-meter hurdles and the sixth-best score in the heptathlon. Her 4,985-point finish at the California Invitational places her at No. 71 in the nation.

ISU’s Jenica Dodge and Sasha Kent each hold top-five spots on the performance lists. Dodge ranks third in the 10,000-meter race and ninth in the 5,000-meter race. She earned all-conference status in the 5,000 with a second-place finish in the indoor conference championship race. Kent finished 10th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2016 conference championships, but enters the 2017 postseason with the fourth-best time in the Big Sky. She also ranks ninth in the 1,500-meter race.

Idaho State’s Kyle Searle’s 6,575-point total in the decathlon at California Invitational ranks second on the conference performance list. Teammates James Rodeman and Dyllan James rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the decathlon.

2016 Conference Championships

A season ago, the ISU men finished seventh and the ISU women finished 11th at the outdoor conference championships in Greeley, Colo.

Polls

The conference coaches selected Idaho State track and field to finish sixth on the men’s side and 10th on the women’s side in the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Coaches’ Preseason Poll, released by conference officials March 21.

The ISU men’s team is No. 15 and the women’s team is No. 19 in the latest Mountain Region Poll released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Idaho State’s decathlon team is ranked No. 6 in the most recent NCAA Division I National Sqad Rankings, released by the USTFCCCA. The women’s 10,000-meter team ranked ninth in the nation in the USTFCCCA poll.

Roster Selection

This is the first outdoor season in the Big Sky without qualifying standards. Coaches are able to fill rosters any way they choose with a limit of 28 athletes per side.