The Greatest

Senior Joachim Olsen capped a stellar career at Idaho by capturing his 4th consecutive Big West title in the shot put (setting a new meet record in the event) and a second title in the discus. With his career at Idaho over, he will set his sights again on Nationals (along with teammate Simon Stewart) and the world stage. Overall, the men finished the weekend with a 3rd Place finish, while the Women's team finished 5th.

After winning 2 consecutive Big West Championships (the Men have won the Big West 3 of the past 6 years), the Idaho Men fell short this year with a 3rd Place finish this weekend, dispite missing 6 key athletes from the team. Senior Nikela Ndebele won three Big West Championships in the 100- and 200-meter dash and the 4x100 relay, while senior Simon Stewart was 2nd in the discus, 3rd in the shot, and 3rd in the hammer.

The toast of the tournament was the performance of world-class thrower Joachim Olsen. He beat the rest of the competition in the shot put by 6 feet (breaking his own meet record with a throw just shy of 70 feet), and beat the third ranked discus thrower in the nation to win the discus event by 12 feet. He's had a remarkable career at Idaho, to say the very least. Both Olsen and Stewart will now be preparing for competition at Nationals.

The Idaho Women fielded one of the youngest teams at the event, and saw several freshmen step up to the challenge (several of the Vandal Women's most experienced athletes redshirted this season). Freshman Cathy Schmidt finished 2nd in the javilin, freshman Tanya Pater finished 2nd in the 100, and freshman Vernee Samuel finished 3rd in the 200. It was an excellent learning experience for this young group of athletes.

Read more:

Official U of I Press Release

Spokesman Review article