(Editor's note: Montana State University news release)
FARMINGTON, Utah — Following a stellar season opener at home on Thursday, the Montana State track and field teams took home a pair of Big Sky Conference weekly awards, the conference office announced on Monday morning.
Ben Perrin was named Big Sky Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, while Hailey Coey was named Big Sky Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week.
Perrin, a senior from Kalispell, broke the school record in the 5,000 meters at last Thursday's season-opening Bobcat PReview inside Worthington Arena.
The distance star crossed the line in 13:59.80, which converts to a 13:29.16 when accounting for altitude. That mark broke the previous record set by Duncan Hamilton last season by five seconds, and also set a new facility record, eclipsing the previous time set by Tyler Day of Northern Arizona in 2018. Perrin's time is currently the 12th-fastest time in the country this season.
Coey, a sophomore from Billings, earns her first career Big Sky weekly honor after a standout day at the Bobcat PReview.
The jumper posted a leap of 5.96m (19-06.75), to push her into the No. 4 spot all-time in the long jump indoors. Coey turned in back-to-back jumps of over 5.95m on her first two tries of the season, going 5.95m on her first attempt and 5.96m on her second jump.
Later on in the evening, Coey followed up that performance with a 12.00m (39-04.5) mark in the triple jump, cementing her place at the No. 3 spot in the top-10 list.
Montana State returns to action January 12 at the Cougar Invite, hosted by Washington State at The Podium in Spokane, Washington.
