For the first time since November, Tomlinson Stadium will be hosting a competition and it’s not spring football practice.

Central is hosting the Spike Arlt Invitational on April 22 and 23, the only home track and field meet of the season, with the Wildcats at the tail end of their outdoor season.

Assistant jumps coach Tony Monroe said the meet is a good place to showcase the track team to alumni and record holders. The stands are filled with their peers, friends and family who create a unique environment for the athletes.

Teams came from Washington and Oregon to compete in the event last season. The Wildcats won on both the men’s and women’s sides.

Home cookin’

The comfort of being at the place they practice is a nice change of pace for the constantly traveling track and field squad.

“Other meets we are traveling three to four hours, getting off a bus then competing and here you can sleep in a little bit,” said senior Marinah Bentley, triple jumper. “You just walk over to the track and you’re ready to go.”

Her twin sister, senior Moriah Bentley, high jumper, agrees.

“I feel like a lot of people hit [personal records] a lot at the home meet because we’re comfortable here, and this is the place we’ve been practicing at for so long,” Moriah Bentley said. “When competition comes it makes us go a little harder.”

Junior sprinter Diamond Martin said the coaches have her and the team look up pictures of the track in order to visualize and give them a sense of setting. She will not have to do that at the home meet.

“It’s your track and you’ve been practicing on it all year so you know what it’s all about,” Martin said.

She also believes that the home track meet gives other Central sport teams a look at what track is all about and the passion the team brings to the sport.

Many athletes look forward to the event all season.

“Last year we had the football players out, had a whole bunch of families and it was great weather so it’s really fun – it’s my favorite meet of the season,” Marinah Bentley said.

Over the weekend the Wildcats’ coaching staff sent some of their athletes to Long Beach, California for the Beach Invite while many others went to the Northwest Nazarene University Invite in Nampa, Idaho.

“The top mark holders in our conference are going to California and the next bunch of 20 people are going to Idaho , and the rest the kids are resting,” Monroe said.

Wildcats a leap above the competition

Central is home to some of the top jumpers in the GNAC.

Senior jumper Luke Plummer got a season best of 14.98 in the triple jump last weekend in California, he is also leading the GNAC in the event.

“[Central] is his favorite place to jump, so looking for a good performance,” Monroe said.

Junior McKenna Emert is sitting 23rd in the country for the pole vault, which is good for first in the GNAC. 

Senior jumper Tayler Fettig also had her season best in the high jump over the weekend.

“She’s sitting right now 12th in the country, and couple weeks ago she was sitting sixth,” Monroe said.

According to Monroe, a jumper who is sitting under the radar for Central is freshman Zach Whittaker.

“Zach’s been having some hard luck getting onto the board, kinda coming in becoming a first year collegiate athlete, getting used to it,” Monroe said. “He’s got really solid marks — he could easily be out there with Luke and be one of the top three in the conference.”

Speed demons

Two weekends ago, at the War IX in Spokane, a team made up of freshman Mariyah Vongsaveng, junior Tianna Banfro, senior Ashley Harmon and junior Madison Garcia broke the school record for the 4×100 meter relay and finished in first place at the meet.

The runners set a goal time before the race that they felt they could hit with perfect handoff execution, according to sprinters coach Bryan Mack.

“They came out and did it perfectly and ended up running faster than what they had they set for themselves,” Mack said.

Two of the top Central sprinters, Garcia and senior Jordan Todd, both competed in California last weekend.

Mack believes that competing in a big meet with some of the nation’s top athletes and then coming back to compete again the next weekend can be physically, mentally and emotionally draining for some of Central’s competitors.

Mack rested sophomore sprinter Garrett Steuk, who is the first leg of the men’s 4×100, in order to give him fresh legs going into the home meet.

“He’s going to come out at the home meet and I think he’s going to run a season’s best in the 100, got a good feeling about that one,” Mack said.