(MSUB Athletics release)
SPOKANE, Wash. – Sautrday the Montana State University Billings track and field team took on a deep field of Division I and Division II competitors at the W.A.R. XI meet in Spokane, Wash. Great Northwest Athletic Conference rivals Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene also attended the meet giving the ‘Jackets their first look at conference competition during the outdoor season.
The NCAA squads also competed against teams from the NAIA and junior college level in the Washington versus region event.
Central Washington had the best finish among the GNAC schools in women’s events as the Wildcats earned a first-place finish with 115 points with NNU finishing seventh (40.5) and MSUB placing 13th (15.5) out of 19 teams. In the men’s ranks, NNU placed fourth (61) ahead of CWU in fifth (59) and MSUB in sixth (52).
Jorey Egeland was the sole Yellowjacket to win his event as the senior took first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Running away from the field, Egeland finished in a time of 9:19.96 more than 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher from Washington State.
“We had mixed results today but overall I am happy with what we were able to do,” head coach Jonathan Woehl said after the ‘Jackets battled the elements in Spokane. “We had a lot of rain and there was standing water that affected the field events. I thought Jorey’s performance was a highlight for us and we had good showings in the relays.”
Michaela Johnson also continued to impress against the steep competition. The sophomore took fourth in the 100-meter dash and third in the 100-hurdles. Both finishes were second among GNAC competitors.
Beau Ackerman had another 200-foot showing in the javelin with a throw of 200’ 3” (61.05m) ranking second at the meet. The throw was 40-foot better than the nearest GNAC competitor.
Two more top-2 finishes came in the 100 and 200-meter dash for the men’s group. Lamont Frisby placed second in the 100 while Sam Zook was second in the 200. Zook was right on the heels of Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis who won the 200-dash. Frisby earned a ninth place finish in the 200 in front of teammate Mason Schram in 10th.
The sprinting trio teamed up with Kaelen Shay to win the 4×100 relay in a time of 42.55. Northwest Nazarene took second in the relay and Central Washington finished sixth.
The women’s 4×100 took sixth in the final led off by Jewlz Collins followed by, Johnson, Mataia Robinson and Shaniah Schwend. CWU earned a second-place finish in the relay while Northwest Nazarene finished 11th.
In the 4×400 relay, Robinson led off with Brenna Beckett, Rachel Hiner and Jerrica Martin finishing the race in second-place (4:21.96). The men’s 4×400 took sixth (3:32.65) while running Rahkei Eyer, Kyle McLaughlin, Drake Henson and Isaiah Girard.
Eyer earned a seventh-place finish in the 400-dash with a time of 50.66.
Nikki Aiken took eighth in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase finishing second among GNAC athletes with a time of 11:39.75.
Ivan Colmenero set a personal-best in the 10K finishing in 15th with a time of 33:04.84.
Girard had the top finish among the Yellowjacket jumping group with his fourth-place finish in the high jump. The sophomore cleared 6’ .75” (1.85m) to tie CWU’s Braydon Maier.
“The jumps had to deal with some really difficult conditions,” Woehl noted about the poor footing caused by rain. “They had to tough it out and compete even though we knew we were not going to get the marks that we are capable of.”
Schwend had an eight place finish in the high jump while being one of three GNAC jumpers to record a mark. She also led the team in the triple jump. Beckett paced the team in the long jump.
Brady Ostermiller stood out in the shot put with a distance of 47’ 1.5” (14.36m), placing third. He was the top thrower from a non-Division I team. Forest Cross landed a throw of 42’ 7.5” (12.99m) while Beau Peaslee threw 40’ 3.25” (12.27m).
Nels Flanagan placed eighth in the discus, 135’ 11” (41.42m) with Ostermiller coming in 11th. Hannah Nessan led the ‘Jackets in both the discus (35’ 8.5”) and shot put (108’ 5”), while Haley Steinbeisser led the hammer throw (132’ 8”).
