(Editor’s note: Montana State University press release)
BOZEMAN – The Montana State track and field program competes in its final meet ahead of the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships when the Bobcats host the Tom Gage Classic Friday, May 3, at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex.
The meet is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. and features a recognition of Montana State’s senior student-athletes. MSU will be participating alongside members of Montana and Montana Western’s teams at the Tom Gage Classic.
“This tends to be a really fun meet for the athletes because they are finished up with finals and it’s the week before conference,” Montana State director of track and field Lyle Weese said. “They get to compete pretty free which tends to lead to some pretty good performances.”
Montana State returns to its home track after completing a Cat-Griz Dual sweep over Montana on Saturday. The Bobcat women earned a 108-92 victory, while the MSU men’s squad topped Montana 100-92 in Bozeman. Despite windy conditions during the last half of the meet, Weese noted several groups that saw success that could have been affected.
“It looks like our sprinters, jumpers and throwers are really starting to build some momentum coming out of the Cat-Griz Dual,” Weese said. That is a really good sign heading into conference.”
The Bobcats will have a variety of athletes taking part in Friday’s meet. Both of MSU’s teams are allowed to bring 28 athletes apiece to compete at the conference championships. The women’s squad has 29 competitors that currently have at least one time or mark on the Big Sky performance list’s top 20 rankings. MSU’s mean’s team has 21 on the Big Sky’s list.
“This meet mostly is just for fine tuning for some of our athletes, getting in one more competition before the Big Sky Championship,” Weese said. “Others may not compete just to get some extra rest. The others that do compete will get to stay in a regular routine so that they don’t have any nerves heading in to the conference meet.”
MSU’s track and field program gears up for the final meet of the regular season and is slated to recognize 15 student-athletes that will be graduating or completing their athletic eligibility. The group features a variety of individuals who have represented MSU in the classroom and in competition.
“We have some great seniors graduating this year,” Weese said. “They’re incredible students, incredible athletes and great people. I was actually surprised at how many there are. It didn’t seem like that we had that many, but we realized how many we’ll be recognizing on Friday and we also recognized three indoors. It’s exciting to see how many individuals that have worked to get their degree.”
Friday’s Tom Gage Classic begins with field events starting at 3:30 p.m. Live results for the meet are available at msubobcats.com/trackresults. The Bobcats’ Senior Ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
