The performance of the WSU track and field teams has, as of late, been trending upward. Their next competition however, takes them down south.

The Cougars travel to Austin, Texas for the Texas Relays in hopes of continuing their upward trend after the men and women defeated the UCLA Bruins in the first outdoor meet of the season. 

Among the 12 Cougars competing in the relays are, freshman Dino Dodig, redshirt senior Spencer Wordell, and for the women freshman Alissa Brooks-Johnson. Head Coach Rick Sloan said it’s a big meet for the team and should be a great competition. Sloan said he’ll be watching for specific final marks from Dodig, Wordell and Brooks-Johnson, but is also looking for solid performances from them. 

“I think that you’re always going into a combined events competition with the idea of that one event at a time type mentality, you don’t look at the whole (event),” Sloan said in a press release. “Dino has been sick with a bad cold for the last couple weeks now, but I think he’s coming out of it so he should be back up to speed and ready to go. I think the three of them are ready to make a good score.”

Sloan is hopeful that Dodig, Wordell and Brooks-Johnson can place high enough for a national championship. 

“Alissa (Brooks-Johnson) this will be her first collegiate heptathlon, but she’s shown good resilience indoors and had some great performances,” he said. “She’s a great competitor as well (and) I look for her to rise to that occasion.  If we can get her up over 5,000, maybe 5,100 points, I’d be real happy with that performance.” 

The Cougar men joining Dodig and Wordell are Garrett Gerling, Josiah Sims, Sam Ferenchak and Kyle Stevens. The women competing with Brooks-Johnson include Danielle Darden, Dominique Keel, Shaquana Logan, Candice McFarland, Erin Allen, Charlotte Muschamp, Holly Parent and Kristine Felix.

The lone WSU relay team competing in Texas is a 4×100 squad made up of Keel, Darden, Logan and McFarland.

“It will be a small group of people that we have down there, but we’ll be represented well with the people that we take,” Sloan said.