tflagstad@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - A familiar feeling returned to Nicole Anderson on Friday night as she stepped to the line in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries.

It had been a while since the junior multi-event athlete experienced the anxiousness that only competition can trigger.

"I get nervous. I get really nervous," Anderson said. "I just wanted to make it through. I had my goals in mind and just wanted to keep my technique."

Admittedly, her maiden race of 2009 was a little hard, but Anderson finished in xx.x seconds, which was good enough to advance to the finals, where she ended up in xx.

Anderson, like every other Idaho State track and field athlete, competed in an official meet for the first time Friday at Holt Arena, as the team hosted the Bengal Shootout. After four months of nothing but training, the event was something the athletes had in the back of their minds.

"Not really circled, but we've definitely been aware of it," said junior pole vaulter Sam Pierson, who cleared xx-xx Friday. "Once we get here and beyond, it's the payoff for all the work we put in during the fall. Everyone's excited to see how it turns out."

Before leaving for Christmas break, the Bengals did compete in a meet against each other, but the Bengal Shootout provided the chance to go head-to-head with teams wearing other colors.

BYU, Cal State-Northridge, Weber State and Southern Utah served as the opposition.

"It's a little bit more pressure, but there's a little more excitement, too," senior multi-event athlete Ashley Turner said about facing other teams. "There's more people to go against and more competition."

Turner only had a few minutes to rest while moving from the high jump - where she cleared x-x - to the opening heat of 60-meter hurdles - where she finished in xx.xx.

Still, that quick turnaround was welcome after the weeks of workouts the athletes endured from September through December.

"We have really quick practices - they're like a half hour - but they're extremely hard," Turner said. "It gets old pretty quick."

Freshman Corban Latimore had never experienced such an extended period of strenuous work to prepare for track before.

As a standout at Highland, his sport of choice changed with the seasons. Focusing on sprinting for four months before hearing the bang of a starting gun certainly was a change.

"It was long, but it was nice getting to know everybody and getting in shape," he said before competing in the 60- and 200-meter dashes and the 4x400 relay. "I feel bettered prepared coming into the season, which is different from high school."

Following the Bengal Shootout, the team will compete in three other meets before heading to the Big Sky championships, which start Feb. 27 in Flagstaff, Ariz.

With that in mind, the athletes didn't seem too upset if their marks weren't where they will be in a few months.

"We realize it's the first meet of the season, and it's a long season," Anderson said. "There's outdoors, also, so it's not too frustrating. Hopefully, it'll get better."