Taylor Pebley and Jonevan DiSimone don't have trouble getting to class on time.
And while the WSU sprinters ended up in purple through different lanes, both are part of a sprinting corps that's ready to take flight today at the Big Sky Conference indoor track and field championships in Bozeman, Mont.
Transferring this summer from Monterey Peninsula (Calif.) College, DiSimone found his way to Ogden through friends from home that had come to play football for the Wildcats.
"He's one of the best surprises we've had this year and I'm really pleased with what he's been doing," said WSU men's coach Dan Walker.
The Salinas, Calif., native's first indoor season at WSU gave the team a lift in the 55- and 60-meter hurdles when he posted the second fastest time in school history in the 60-meter hurdles (8.07) on Jan. 16, followed by a blistering 7.52 in the 55-meter hurdles in last weekend's Wildcat Open.
DiSimone easily won the event and is eager to prove himself in the conference.
"I'm just trying to work hard," he said. "I feel like our coaches know what they're doing and trained us properly and conference is where I'm really going to find out how well I've done so far."
Pebley, a senior, has been part of the WSU track program since 2005 after following in the shoes of two brothers who also ran for the Wildcats.
Hailing from West Haven via Fremont High School, Pebley redshirted in 2008 after serving an LDS Church mission. He's been at the core of the WSU sprinters since then, winning countless medals in both indoor and outdoor events.
This weekend he's hoping to grab gold in the three events he's excelled in throughout his career.
"I'm competing in the 400 meters and the 200 meters," he said. "I hope to win both of them to be honest, I think it would be a great way to finish my last indoor season. I'm also competing in the 4x400-meter relay and so far our time in that category is far superior to any of the other team in the conference."
Pebley, Tyler McBee, Matt White and Cylor Morgan are ready to defend their conference leading 3:14.61 time in the 4x400 this weekend.
The men will be well represented with 20 athletes making the trip north, including Ryan Shelton and Zach Parry, two sophomores that qualified in the shot put; senior standout Jace Nye who qualified in four events; Steve Shepherd in the 5,000 meters and John Coyle in the mile.
"We're young in the field events this year," Walker said. "Our sprints and hurdles are strong so the distances and field events are going to have to add everywhere they can."
Led by another pair of seniors, Ally Dean and Michaela North, the Lady Wildcats are just as prepared for the conference showdown.
"Ally is probably one of the premiere runners in the conference right now," said women's coach Jim Blaisdell. "She is just on top of her game and she has the best time in both the 400 and the 200 and it's going to take a big performance from someone else to beat her."
Dean was named Big Sky women's athlete of the week for running her personal best time last week in the 200 meters (24.90), ninth best in WSU history, and the 400 meters (55.06), the second best time in the Weber State record books.
Twenty-one other athletes will be competing for the women with a balanced attack in the short events as well as distance and field.
Among them Camille Lott and Jerica Wilson will run with Dean in the 400 meters; Natalie Haws and Sarah Callister in the 5,000 and 3,000 meters; and junior Alex Filiaga in the shot put and weight throw.
The WSU women also have four athletes within the top nine times in the mile.
"I've never seen such a paritdy in the Big Sky Conference," Blaisdell said. "There are four teams that all have a very good opportunity to win the championships and it's going to boil down to who performs, and who gets the job done."
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