(Editor's note: Montana State University and University of Montana media releases)
MISSOULA -- Montana State continued its recent dominance in the Cat-Griz Dual series as the Bobcat track and field program topped Montana on Saturday in both the men's and women's competitions at Dornblaser Field. The Bobcat men earned a 90-72 victory while the MSU women's squad claimed a narrow 85.50-83.50 edge over Montana.
"We were fortunate to have good weather and were able to put together some really good performances," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's Dale Kennedy director of track and field. "We had a lot of season bests and personal bests, which is a great sign that we are still building and getting stronger.
"This was a really busy week for students academically, but they handled all of the difficult demands and put together a nice team meet to earn a dual victory."
Both the Bobcat men's and women's distance groups picked up big points for the MSU contingent.
Trisha Carlson led a 1-2-3 Bobcat finish in the women's 800-meter run with her time of 2 minutes, 11.37 seconds. Her converted time was a personal best and placed her sixth ever in program history. Lexi Kyro (2:17.04) and Megan Good (2:20.41) rounded out the 800.
Gillian Maness (1,500), Lauren Stanford (5,000) and Mya Dube (3,000 steeplechase) each earned first-place finishes and five points apiece for the Bobcat women's team. Alex Moore (5,000) and Elena Vandersloot (steeplechase) earned runner-up finishes.
Duncan Hamilton picked up first-place showings in both the 1,500 and 5,000 for the Bobcat men. Levi Taylor and Collin Buck finished in the top three individually in both events, while MSU also was boosted by finished by Ben Perrin and Cooper West. MSU also got top-two efforts in the steeplechase from Isaac Schmidt and Teagan Olson.
Individuals that recorded five points behind first-place showings were Jared Schwend (400), Derrick Olsen (110 hurdles), Noah Martin (pole vault and high jump), Alec Nehring (shot put) and Cantor Coverdell (javelin) on the men's side. Schwend's time of 49.15 seconds in the 400 was a season-best mark and Coverdell's throw of 210 feet, 2 inches in the javelin was a lifetime best.
The women's team picked up first-place points thanks to Alex Hellenberg (pole vault), Carla Nicosia (triple jump), Jordan Fink (shot put), Madi Arneson (discus) and Carley VonHeeder (javelin). Hellenberg's leading clearance in the pole vault of 12-01.50 (3.70m) put her in MSU's all-time top 10.
The Bobcat men's team's 4x100 relay of Derrick Olsen, Will Anderson, Casey Gunlikson and Damien Nelson recorded a time of 41.28 seconds which converted places them on to MSU's top 10 chart. MSU also received solid points from second-place finishes in individual events by Anderson, Henry Adams and Ethan Saberhagen.
Leigha Carter had two lifetime bests in both the women's 100 and 200, with her time of 12.51 seconds in the 100 leading to a runner-up showing. Other runner-up finishes for the Bobcat women's included Lindsay McGree (long jump), Kyla Bush (shot put), Brookelyn Palin (discus) and Zoe Waddell (hammer). McGree recorded a mark of 17-08.75 (5.40m) in the long jump, while Bush completed a toss 42-05.50 (12.94m) in the shot put, to complete lifetime-best efforts.
The MSU men have now won seven straight duals over Montana. MSU's women's squad has won three consecutive duals and six of the last seven head-to-head meetings.
Overall, the Grizzlies won 15 events and set 56 personal bests, with several athletes moving up, or into, the top 10 on the Big Sky Conference performance lists.
"(Saturday) was about as good of an outcome as I could have hoped for," said UM head coach Clint May. "You never have a perfect day where everyone PRs, but there were a lot of them (Saturday). Our athletes are just doing a really, really nice job."
Montana won 13 individual events on Saturday, in addition to a pair of relay wins: Peterson Bohannon (men's long jump); Quincy Fast (men's 800 meters); Ailsa Gilbert (women's long jump); Kip Krebsbach (men's 200 meters); Jaree Mane (women's 100-meter hurdles); Tanessa Morris (women's hammer throw); Emma Normand (women's 100 meters, women's 200 meters); Morgan Radtke (women's high jump); Holly Sudol (women's 400 meters); Cutter Thatcher (men's 400-meter hurdles); Matt Ward (men's hammer throw); Brent Yeakey (men's discus); women's 4x400-meter relay; and men's 4x400-meter relay.
Morris is now 5-for-5 in the women's hammer throw, while Yeakey won for the third time and Ward the second. The Grizzlies also showed depth, which is perhaps what May was most impressed by. Bohannon, Fast, Normand, Radtke and Sudol all won their first collegiate meets, with others standing out, as well.
"We've had a lot of athletes who are doing well, but maybe weren't going to make a scoring impact at conference," May said on Saturday. "The way a lot of our athletes competed today, though, it breathed new life into their potential. Today opened the door for several other athletes to move into scoring position."
