<figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-115588">MSUB’s Abbie Lohof with a personal best hammer throw of 118’ 3″. (MSUB Athletics photo)(Editor’s note: MSUB Athletics release)
GREAT FALLS – Several season bests fell and Abbie Lohof moved into position to throw at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships after a productive meet for the Montana State University Billings track and field teams Thursday at the University of Providence Open. The ‘Jackets competed against area schools including Carroll College, Rocky Mountain College, and host University of Providence.
Lohof moved up to 16th in the conference with a personal best hammer throw of 118’ 3”. It was nearly 13 feet further than the 103’ 5” mark set at the Montana State Open just two weeks ago.
“Our throwers did pretty well today,” commented head coach Jon Woehl. “Hannah had a season best in shot put and wasn’t far off in discus. Abbie had a big PR in hammer throw and she’ll likely stay in the top-20 in that event and throw at conference next week.
Hannah Nessan took second place in women’s shot put after throwing 11.83 meters. Teammate Hailey Steinbeisser was fourth in the same event with a finals throw at 11.08 meters. Nessan took first in discus throw with a mark of 42.39 meters, just ahead of second place Kaylee Beer (Providence) who threw 41.53 meters.
Lohof may have had the biggest improvement on the team in hammer throw, but Taylor Stringari threw the furthest with a third place mark at 38.31 meters. Nessan was right behind in fourth at 38.30 meters.
For the ‘Jacket jumpers, Jamie Orme recorded a new season high 1.54 meters in women’s high jump, followed by Janessa Williams at 1.48 meters. Brenna Beckett topped the list of long jumpers with a finals jump of 5.16 meters with a 2.7 wind reading.
“Overall, we had a pretty good day given the conditions and timing of the meet,” said Woehl. “With our jumpers, Brenna had a big improvement in her long jump mark and Jamie had an improvement in her high jump mark which was good to see.”
The women’s 4×100 meter relay team came up short in their bid to make the top eight in the conference after they finished second of three teams in 50.82 seconds. The team was made up of Madison Thompson, Anne Lory Chevalier, Kaitlin Mason, and Brenna Beckett. Their time of 50.15 seconds set at Montana State remained a season best.
Williams finished first in triple jump and posted a career best mark of 36’ 11.5” as she continued her recent run of strong performances. Shaniah Schwend was third and Beckett finished fifth of seven.
For the men, distance runner Ivan Colmenero took third in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:16.42, a new career best. Brady Ostermiller short of his season best in discus and shotput but still took first of three in shot and second of four in discus.
Nikki Aiken took second place and a new season best in the women’s 1500 meter run with a time of 4:56.37. Aiken also finished fifth in the 800 meters. Chevalier took second in the 100 meter dash at 13.65 seconds. She was well off the winning pace, set by Brooke Endy (Carroll) who ran the race in 13.20 seconds. Most of the men’s sprinters were off Thursday but may compete Saturday in Dickinson, North Dakota.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets compete in the Dickinson State University Last Chance Invitational for their last warm up before the GNAC Outdoor Championships. The Last Chance Invite is May 4 in Dickinson, North Dakota.
THE BUZZ: Abbie Lohof and Ivan Colmenero were named St. Vincent Healthcare athletes of the meet for MSU Billings.
