(Editor's note: Montana State University athletics release)
BOZEMAN -- The opening month of the Prospective Student-Athlete Signing Period has come to a close as Montana State track and field received four National Letters of Intent following the initial signing date of Nov. 13. Director of track and field Lyle Weese announced the program has received commitments from Kyla Bush, Mya Dube, Janis Pohl and Colby Wilson on Thursday, Dec. 12.
All four will be joining different event groups. Bush will be a member of MSU's throws events, Dube will compete with the Bobcats' distance group, Pohl joins the MSU sprints and Wilson will participate in the jumps and mulit-events.
Kyle Bush (Cheyenne, Wyo. | Cheyenne Central HS | Throws)
Kyle Bush earned a state championship as a junior for Cheyenne Central High School. This past spring, Bush captured gold at the 4A state meet in the discus with a personal-best throw of 134 feet. She also claimed a silver medal in the shot put with a toss of 41-06. Her performance led the Lady Indians to a second consecutive state championship.
Prior to the state meet, Bush had captured a lifetime best in the shot put of 42-01.50. Her previous best mark in the discus ahead of the state championships was 129-05. Bush has experience competing during the indoor season and has previously participated in basketball for Cheyenne Central. Her throwing marks between her sophomore and junior seasons saw improvements of over five feet in the shot put and 20 feet in the discus.
"Kyla is a highly driven student-athlete and we are very excited to have her join our women's throws group," assistant coach Jen Allen said. "She is a proven shot and disc thrower that will pick up the hammer and weight once she gets here and we see her being able to help the team immediately in all of those."
Mya Dube (North Sutton, N.H. | Kearsarge Regional HS | Distance)
Mya Dube has had championship success in both cross country and track and field for Kearsarge Regional High School. Dube comes off a cross country season in which she earned her third consecutive New Hampshire DIII State title individually and also led the Cougars to their first state championship honors in school history. Dube clocked her fastest mark of her career on the 5-kilometer course as a senior with a time of 19:07.4 and set a personal best in the 5k during the fall of 18:20.0. She completed two straight top-10 finishes at the NHIAA State Meet of Champions in cross country this fall and a second top-20 showing at the New England Interscholastic Championship. She was named the Concord Monitor's Girls' Cross Country Athlete of the Season.
She also boasted her strongest spring of her prep career as a junior. Dube helped lead Kearsarge Regional to its first outdoor track team championship in May. She swept the distance events at the NHIAA DIII Championships by winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. She placed first in the 1,600 this past June in the NHIAA's Meet of Champions and the 74th New England Interscholastic Track and Field Championships. She owns a DII Indoor State Championship in the 1,500 and claimed a DIII individual title in the 1,600 as a freshman. Her lifetime bests are 2:18.2 in the 800, 4:53.59 in the 1,600 and 11:00.67 in the 3,200.
"Mya had an incredible 2019 track season winning the 800, 1600, 3200 and 4x400 at her state meet," said Weese, who oversees MSU's distance teams. "She followed that up by winning the 1600 at both the New Hampshire Meet of Champions and the New England Championships.
"Mya can make an immediate impact in the distance events for Montana State. She is already performing at a high level, but there also appears to be a lot of potential for her to grow at the collegiate level. It will be exciting to see what she can accomplish as a Bobcat."
Janis Pohl (Frankfurt, Germany | Free Christian School | Sprints/Hurdles)
Janis Pohl signed his National Letter of Intent with Montana State and will make the leap overseas as one of Germany's top young sprinters. He has competed among the best in his age group this season already. He has participated during the indoor and outdoor seasons for club LG Eintracht Frankfurt.
He was the German National U20 champion in the 400 hurdles and also finished runner-up in the U23 Championships in Germany in the same event. Pohl took fifth in the 400 hurdles at the European U20 Championships in February. Pohl has experience competing in every sprint event, but has focused primarily on the hurdle events. His lifetime bests of 14.02 seconds in the 110 hurdles and 50.96 seconds in the 400 hurdles would have ranked him atop the Big Sky performance list a season ago. His personal best of 7.93 in the 60 hurdles would have been the second fastest mark indoors at the Big Sky level. Pohl plans to major in psychology while attending Montana State.
"Janis quite simply may be the most high profile signing in the history of MSU track and field for sprints/hurdles," assistant coach Jay Turner said. "He finished the 2019 season ranked 16th in the world in the 400 hurdles with his performance at the European U20 Championships. Janis will make a huge impact nationally from day one, and with two-time defending Big Sky champion Drake Schneider returning for another season, will help form what could be the nation's most prolific 1-2 punch in the 400 hurdles."
Colby Wilson (Olympia, Wash. | Capital HS | Jumps)
Colby Wilson has competed at the state championship and National Junior Olympic level during his prep career. Wilson appeared in both his regional and the National Junior Olympic Championships in the decathlon in July. He placed third at his regional meet with a lifetime best score of 6,096 points. He followed that by taking fifth at the national meet held at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium.
Wilson has participated in a variety of events for Capital High School. He took third in June in the decathlon at the Washington State Combined Event Championship. He advanced WIAA 3A State Championship Meet as a junior in the pole vault, recording a personal-best height of 15-06 to earn a silver medal in the event. He also made a trip to the state meet as a junior in the 110 hurdles.
"I think he can be a scorer right away at conference in the multis and pole vault," said assistant coach Tom Eitel. "He'll be pretty good in the high jump this year as a senior too, so he can be a scorer in that event as well. He's got a wide range. He's got more experience coming in as a multi among our kids now except for Wyatt, so I think he will be competitive in the Big Sky. We've got upperclassmen that are good leaders, so I expect him to fit in right away here at Montana State."
The Montana State track and field program returns to action in 2020 when the Bobcats host the MSU Multis Meet in Worthington Arena starting on Jan. 6.
