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Three seniors to compete at NCAA Indoor Championships
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College Station, Texas will be welcoming three Boise State athletes this Friday as the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships get underway.
Seniors Ryan Grinnell, Simon Wardhaugh, and Eleni Kafourou took off Wednesday for the meet and will be competing Friday and Saturday. The three athletes took home individual titles at the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships Feb. 26-28 in Nampa. The men took home their fourth indoor conference title while the women finished third.
“What’s exciting about winning a number of championships is what it does to the team,” head coach Mike Maynard said. “It’s one of the coolest things as a coach, to watch how the team comes together, how they win a championship, how they celebrate a championship. It’s very gratifying.”
Grinnell, originally from Idaho Falls, has had an outstanding career at Boise State University after transferring from the University of Montana upon finishing the 2006-07 season. He has claimed two indoor track titles as a triple jumper and one as a high jumper.
“Ryan is such an exciting person to watch because he’s a total adrenaline junkie,” Maynard said. “He feeds off the energy of competition. He’s also a local talent and moved to the highest level of our sport. I’m very excited for him to compete this weekend.”
This season, Grinnell was named the WAC Men’s Outstanding Field Athlete and, with 28 points, snagged the High Point Award as well. Grinnell will be competing as the No. 13 ranked men’s high jumper (7-1.75/2.18m) and No. 10 ranked triple jumper (52-10.25/16.11m).
Wardhaugh, ranked No. 3 in the weight throw, became a Bronco after transferring from the University of Queensland in 2005. His achievements include 2008 and 2009 WAC indoor champion in the weight throw and breaking the Boise State record with a throw of 73-00.00 (22.25m) earlier in the season.
Both Grinnell and Wardhaugh received All-American honors last season as juniors.
On the women’s side, Eleni Kafourou, originally from Athens, Greece, will be representing Boise State as a No. 7 ranked athlete in both triple jump and long jump. Kafourou posted a 19-10.75 (6.06m) long jump and a 43-07.00 (13.28m) triple jump. She was also named WAC women’s co-Outstanding Field Athlete and the High Point Award winner, also with 28 points.
“Eleni is the female counterpart to Ryan,” Maynard said. “She is as successful on the women’s side as Ryan is on the men’s side. To have two dominant competitive personalities on your team is a great thing.”
All three athletes competed at the NCAA meet last season, proving to be seasoned athletes, and are expected to do well this weekend.
Maynard has seen 23 All-American titles claimed by Broncos since his start at Boise State eight years ago, and will most likely add a few more to the list this weekend.
“We’re definitely prepared for this,” Maynard said. “The performances thus far and the championships throughout the season show that. The athletes are very well-trained, as well as exceptional competitors. We feel good that we have a legitimate chance of winning, and I feel comfortable saying that I couldn’t imagine taking three more prepared people to the championships."
SILVER HENRY
Arbiter Journalist
