by Aidan Shelton and Nick Escalada
The Lumberjacks debuted for their third ever indoor track season at the Silver State Invitational and Multis on Dec. 4-6, hosted by Nevada State in Reno. Being on the cutting edge of the CCAA by actually having an indoor track program, hype was building for Humboldt track.
One of the athletes to watch going into the meet was sophomore pole vaulter Michael Payan. After breaking the school record in pole vault and placing 5th in D2 Nationals as a freshman last season, hopes were high for the young All-American.
“My goal is probably to break 17 again,” Payan said. “That’s all I want. I want to get on the same poles I was on last year and just dial in for the rest of the season.”
While just falling short of 17-feet, Payan flew as he cleared 16-8.75, earning himself a NCAA provisional mark and a new indoor school record. While he might be vaulting in both the indoor and outdoor, different conditions and runways make the experience quite different.
“Everything is different about indoor to outdoor,” Payan said. “I’d say indoor is way less mental, but honestly just kind of more taxing on your mind and body.”
While the field conditions have small changes that make big differences indoors, the indoor track is fundamentally different from an outdoor one. An indoor track is only 200 meters around compared to an outdoor track’s 400 and the banked curves create a sense of verticality. A 60 meter strip sits in the middle of the track like a gladiatorial arena, in place of the 100 meter dash. While the 100m has very little room for error, the 60m has none. Throw some hurdles into the mix and you’ve got yourself one ruthless race.
“If you mess up on the first hurdle, your race is basically done,” Kasso said. “It’s so much easier to mess up on a 60 hurdle than a 60 meter, it just has to be perfect. So, it’s really nerve wracking at the beginning.”
Kasso won the hurdles event within the Heptathlon competition. While most track and field athletes focus on one event group, multis athletes like Kasso and graduate student Cocome McKamey have to be a jack of all trades, balancing, practicing and competing in a plethora of event groups from sprints, throws, jumps, distance running and hurdles.
“In order to qualify to the NCAA, you have to hit not only the provisional mark, but also be in the top 16 [nationwide],” McKamey said.
McKamey earned a NCAA provisional mark in the 6 event pentathlon, getting her foot in the door to compete at indoor nationals.
Something that sets track and field apart from other college sports is the diversity of competition. While other sports are more limited by division and conference, track and field athletes can find themselves competing against D1 athletes and other divisions, club athletes and even athletes representing a country on their jersey. For throws captain Joseph Gonzalez, the competition comes as an afterthought to the performance itself.
“I knew I was ranked first going into it,” Gonzalez said. “From a competition aspect, I was not expecting to win, but that was the standard I was holding myself to. I don’t really care about who I’m competing against. It’s just like, I’m always trying to do my best, and if I do my best, I usually place pretty high or win. So, the D1 competition is cool, but sometimes they’re not as good as you think they would be.”
Gonzalez’s mindset paid off, winning the shot put event and setting a new indoor school record with a mark of 15.89 meters. In addition, Dylan Ochoa ran a record in the 400m, Caitlyn Dougherty ran a record in the 200m and Kelsi Lytle ran a record in the 60m.
The Jacks will continue their indoor track season in Spokane, Washington, at the Riverfront Invitational and Multis on Feb. 5-7, 2026.
Nick is the news editor at The Lumberjack, and studies wildlife and journalism with the goal of spreading his love of nature through media.
Aidan Shelton is a journalism major with a minor in environmental ethics and the Sports Editor of the Lumberjack.
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