POCATELLO — Upon entering the historic minidome and proceeding down the gray concrete ramp that descends to the field you are met with the sights and sounds of track and field athletes engaged in fervid competition.

Every several minutes, the clamor of the competitors is punctuated by the crack of a starter pistol as racers dart around the 200-meter banked-board track, one of the fastest in North America. In one corner, contenders launch themselves across soft brown sand which is hastily raked by nearby staff members to ready it for the next jump. In another section, vaulters line up bearing their poles readying themselves once they are called to begin their attempt.

These events are only a fraction of the track and field competitions hosted at the 44th annual Simplot Games held at Idaho State University’s ICCU Dome in Pocatello. The renowned event invites premier high school track and field athletes from across the nation and beyond to showcase their talents and attempt to make a name for themselves.

The ICCU Dome, formerly known as Holt Area, has seen an assortment of legendary athletes begin their sporting career at the Simplot Games. Icons like Olympic gold medalist Stacey Dragila launched into her pole-vaulting career while at Idaho State University. This year, household names like Olympians Andre Phillips and Willie Banks as well as Paralympians Tyson Gunter and John Register will also be at the games, which end Saturday at 5 p.m.

Also attending this year is former No. 1 skeleton racer in the world, Olympic silver medalist, two-time world champion and 26-time World Cup medalist Noelle Pikus-Pace. She sat down with the Idaho State Journal to reflect on her legacy and future as she supports her daughter, who is now competing in the games herself.

“The Simplot Games is an exceptional event,” Pikus-Pace said. “My first time here was when I was a sophomore in high school, and being able to come here with the caliber of athletes that come from all over the nation is something that I had never experienced before. It opened my eyes to possibilities and opportunities around me and really kind of gave me that foundation as I paved my path to the Olympic Games in skeleton, so this was really at the beginning of it.”

Competing in the heptathlon for the University of Utah, Pikus-Pace was in Pocatello during the 2002 Olympic Games after athletes were taken out of the dorms and sent to other places to go compete in their respective sports.

“I remember after finishing a training session here at the Holt Arena, going straight back to our hotel as a University of Utah athlete and flipping on the TV to watch my teammates for skeleton competing in the 2002 Winter Olympics and they won silver and they won gold,” Pikus-Pace said. “That was when it really lit a fire in me that I could do this as a possibility for the Olympic Games — that this could be my future. I saw them reach the highest level of success in the world. I thought, ‘I could do this. I’m going to be there in four years. I will be at the Olympic Games.’ So that was my challenge to myself and four years later, I was first in the world.”

Skeleton racing can be one of the most dangerous and thrilling sports. Riders will lay face down and head first on a small bobsled, shooting down an icy track, reaching speeds over 80 mph and accelerating to high level G-forces. The sports’ namesake is attributed to the boney appearance of the sled.

“Skeleton is an absolute adrenaline rush,” Pikus-Pace said. “As an elite athlete, once we reach the top of our game, we’re always wanting to go faster and faster. Our workouts are basically track and field workouts where we do a lot of sprinting, a lot of lifting. Then it really transfers over to skeleton and bobsled.”

Pikus-Pace continued, “I fell in love with it when I first went down the track. I didn’t know what it was called. I didn’t know what I was doing. Little by little, line upon line, I started learning it and picking up on it and studying the best in the world, which works for anything in our lives to study the best and learn from them. It led me step by step towards the America’s Cup, World Cup and ultimately the Olympic Games.”

Even with all her accomplishments, titles and victories, the greatest achievement for Pikus-Pace isn’t any medal but rather seeing her daughter compete and succeed in life.

“My proudest accomplishment is my kids and being here at the Holt Arena at the Simplot Games being able to cheer on my daughter,” Pikus-Pace said. “She’s 16. She’s a sophomore, and she’s competing in shotput, pole vault and the 400 meter, which don’t all come together but she wants to be a multi-athlete as well. This is my proudest accomplishment, not about the results, but just about supporting and being there for my kids and being able to see them grow and cheer them on and just love them.”

Gunter is a world champion silver medalist in high jump in 2013 and 2017, who is readying himself for the upcoming Paralympics held in Paris that kick off at the end of August 2024.

“Paralympics are elite competition and performance in track and field for athletes with physical disabilities,” Gunter said. “I have a vision disability. A lot of people are familiar with wheelchair racers or amputees with blades. They also have a disability class for vision. We compete against those that have similar disabilities for us. I’m not jumping against amputees. It’s fairly even as far as our modifications go for our disabilities in the competitions.”

Gunter continued, “We’re held to the same standard as the Olympians as far as training protocols. It’s all about winning, right? We have certain standards we have to (meet). If we hit those standards, we’re able to continue to compete and move on to the next or the next biggest thing.”

Often times, people conflate the Special Olympics with the Paralympics. Where the Special Olympics are based on inclusion and involvement, the Paralympics have an Olympic set of standards for the athletes competing so the two are radically different in their approach and skill levels.

Regarding his greatest accomplishments, Gunter is proud of his ability to continually compete and overcome adversity that he is faced with.

“I think my proudest accomplishment is I’m still competing even though I’m getting old,” Gunter said. “I’m not old, old, but I’m as fast as I’ve ever been. I’m still jumping as well as I ever have. There’s been a lot of contributions to that. This last November, I won the gold medal at the Parapan American Games.”

Gunter continued, “That in itself wasn’t the biggest accomplishment, winning the medal, but the fact that I was coming off an injury and I had gone through a specific process to get back to competing, I was more proud about the fact that I stuck to the process and was able to get back and compete at my best regardless of what place I got. That ended up going well and I won.”

The passion Gunter has for track and field burns as bright and eternally as the Olympic flame, using his love of the sport as inspiration to continue competing.

“I love track and field,” Gunter said. “I love the opportunity to compete and where I’m still at the top of the world in my classification. Like I love competing and opportunity. I’m going to still do it for at least the short term this year (since) the Paralympic games (are) here...I have a lot of support from my wife and my family and friends. We have little kids and so it’s really hard, but my wife is super supportive and that helps a ton for me to be able to keep going.”

Gunter continued, “I don’t know if the general public in our area understand how big of a deal and how big of a competition the Simplot Games actually is. It’s cool because we have most of the local athletes from around here competing, but then we also have some of the best kids in the nation that are going to be in the Olympics. There’ll be two or three kids here that are going to be in the Olympics soon. It’s a free event. Simplot is so awesome to be able to support this and Idaho State University. I just want to say thanks to them as a track fan to keep bringing it back to Pocatello.”