There are many moving parts and variables in track and field.

The first official meet for WSU is no exception. There will be three different locations the team will be traveling to start off the season. One athlete will be heading to the Ed Jacoby Invitational/Multis in Idaho, the throwers and a couple of jumpers will also go to Idaho, to the Kibbie Dome and the rest of the team will drive across the state to the University of Washington Indoor Preview.

Junior, Dino Dodig will head to Idaho to compete in the men’s heptathlon. At the Ed Jacoby Invitational/Multis hosted by Boise State University in Nampa, Idaho, he will be a contender in seven different events over a two-day stretch. Dodig, at 6-feet-2-inches will run a 200-meter dash as well as 800-meter, jump high and long, throw shot put and the javelin and the 100-meter hurdle.

A thrower going to the Kibbie Dome in Moscow for the Vandal Indoor is glad to be headed to the Idaho Indoor Invitational instead of UW.

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“I actually think that Idaho is a better facility than UW,” sophomore Brock Eager said. “UW has a wooden ring on turf whereas Idaho has an actual concrete ring that you would normally throw in and we practice in a concrete ring so it’s a little bit easier to transition into that.”

Having the opportunity to compete in the same capacity as practice helps the new athletes relax into the season and improves the overall scores. After an officially held unofficial meet amongst the WSU track and field athletes complete with digital timers and a starting gun, the numerous walk-ons and freshman had the chance to see how a meet is run. However, nerves are common for the first big race of the season and one of the captains of the sprinters, senior Terrance Chambers who is off to UW this weekend, has some advice to help settle the butterflies.

“Honestly, just run your race,” Chambers said. “Don’t be intimidated by the competition. You know what you can do. Do what you’ve been doing the whole semester as far as training.”

Overall though, the goal is to look forward to the end of the indoor season and continually prepare for the outdoor NCAA Championship meets in June.

“For the most part, our groups will train through these meets and use this as much a training opportunity as ‘race practice’ or ‘meet-practice’ as anything,” head coach Wayne Phipps said.

Dodig will begin his competition Jan. 15 at Ed Jacoby Invite/Multis in Nampa, Idaho and will compete through Jan. 16. The rest of the team will begin their competitions either in Moscow, Idaho or Seattle, Washington on Jan. 16. The results will be posted on www.wsucougars.com when the meets are completed.