2008 Indoor Track and Field Outlook
1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
“We’re not banging the drum, but we think we have a group here that can win the men's conference championship this year,” Kennedy said.
This year’s version of men’s track and field returns 32 points of scoring from last year’s conference indoor championship and 34 points from outdoors, and has earned a collective 55 letters. The sophomore class set a record for all-conference honors as freshmen, and the field boasts a record 20 returning letter winners.
Leading the charge of returning letter winners will be a strong corps of seniors that includes sprinters Dan Johnson and Steve Heberly. Johnson, who will compete in indoor and outdoor, is the reigning indoor conference 400 champ. Heberly will compete in outdoor, his last season as a Bobcat. He was an all-conference sprinter in 2005 and 2006, and has four school records, two of which he shares with Johnson on the 4 X 100 and 4 X 400 relay teams.
Seniors Nick Morrow and Thomas Seely will lead a strong group of men’s pole vaulters. Seely has three all-conference honors in the event. Nathan Palmer anchors a strong group of men’s weight throwers including fellow senior Blake Corneliusen. Palmer has been a conference scorer every year and has two all-conference honors to his credit in the hammer (outdoors) and weight throw (indoors). Senior Mike Green returns as an all-conference honoree in the indoor heptathlon.
Junior letter winners returning include sprinter/hurdler Scott Peterson, distance runners Chris Baldus and Graydon Curry, jumps/sprinter Kevin Ludwig, and 2007 javelin regional qualifier Dustin Degan.
The record setting sophomore class includes 2007 Big Sky Conference javelin champ Nick Lam, all-conference high jumper Charlie Hirning, all-conference sprinter/hurdler Ben Soukup, all-conference distance runners Matt Adams and Nick Atwood, as well as regional qualifier Dan Van Swearingen in the javelin.
Kennedy is equally excited about the Bobcat newcomers. Freshman Asa Staven from Georgetown, Texas will make an immediate impact in the heptathlon event. The state champion high jumper also has top sprint times as well. Connor Backer hails from Billings West and was ranked 15th nationally in high school javelin throws in 2007. Tyler Noland comes from Washington state and is coming off a successful season as a cross-country runner for Montana State.
“That’s a really good nucleus to build around,” Kennedy said. “We are going to compete for the conference championship with this group. We have strength and scoring possibilities in every area. It’s exciting.”
Coach Kennedy is equally excited about the returning strength on the women’s side of the roster. With 47 points returning from last year’s indoor conference championship, Kennedy is counting on the women to take up where they left off and get to the next level of performance indoors. In contrast, Kennedy has only 25 points returning from last year’s outdoor conference event. Much of that lag is due to the graduation of senior Ashley Jones and loss of junior Kylee Zent, both strong throwers from last year’s squad. The women return seven all-conference performers and have a total of 58 letters on the roster.
The group returns strong throwers, as usual, in seniors Kim Berg and Karen Helvey, and sophomore Alli Jones. All three are all-conference performers, Berg being a three-time conference champ. Kennedy also expects sophmore Kris Schaefer to add points from the throws.
“While Berg represents the strength of experience, (Alli) Jones is the face of the future. Having six seasons of eligibility left, Alli is a real key player for us in the women’s throws as she scores in both indoor and outdoor,” Kennedy said.
Experience also resides in the distance corps for the women. Three all-conference performers return with three-time all-conference cross country runner Elizabeth Driscoll leading the charge flanked by seniors Kayla Larson and Carrie Gottschalk. Larson holds the school record in the steeple chase. Also adding to this group will be freshman Kayla Jacquet, who ran the number three slot consistently on the 2007 MSU cross country team.
Excitement will peak this year in women’s pole vault as junior Ellie Rudy defends her national title in the indoor event. Rudy will redshirt the 2008 outdoor season to prepare for the Olympic trials. Kennedy also expects that returning letter winner Brittany Speirs and MSU newcomer Canadian National Junior Champ vaulter Stacy Irvine (fr.) will bring more bulk to the women’s pole vault contingent.
“We can be in the hunt with this group of women,” Kennedy said. “Our strengths in field events, with our jumps stronger than in years past, will be the nucleus of our scoring and we’ll need help from sprints and distance.”
This year’s version of men’s track and field returns 32 points of scoring from last year’s conference indoor championship and 34 points from outdoors, and has earned a collective 55 letters. The sophomore class set a record for all-conference honors as freshmen, and the field boasts a record 20 returning letter winners.
Leading the charge of returning letter winners will be a strong corps of seniors that includes sprinters Dan Johnson and Steve Heberly. Johnson, who will compete in indoor and outdoor, is the reigning indoor conference 400 champ. Heberly will compete in outdoor, his last season as a Bobcat. He was an all-conference sprinter in 2005 and 2006, and has four school records, two of which he shares with Johnson on the 4 X 100 and 4 X 400 relay teams.
Seniors Nick Morrow and Thomas Seely will lead a strong group of men’s pole vaulters. Seely has three all-conference honors in the event. Nathan Palmer anchors a strong group of men’s weight throwers including fellow senior Blake Corneliusen. Palmer has been a conference scorer every year and has two all-conference honors to his credit in the hammer (outdoors) and weight throw (indoors). Senior Mike Green returns as an all-conference honoree in the indoor heptathlon.
Junior letter winners returning include sprinter/hurdler Scott Peterson, distance runners Chris Baldus and Graydon Curry, jumps/sprinter Kevin Ludwig, and 2007 javelin regional qualifier Dustin Degan.
The record setting sophomore class includes 2007 Big Sky Conference javelin champ Nick Lam, all-conference high jumper Charlie Hirning, all-conference sprinter/hurdler Ben Soukup, all-conference distance runners Matt Adams and Nick Atwood, as well as regional qualifier Dan Van Swearingen in the javelin.
Kennedy is equally excited about the Bobcat newcomers. Freshman Asa Staven from Georgetown, Texas will make an immediate impact in the heptathlon event. The state champion high jumper also has top sprint times as well. Connor Backer hails from Billings West and was ranked 15th nationally in high school javelin throws in 2007. Tyler Noland comes from Washington state and is coming off a successful season as a cross-country runner for Montana State.
“That’s a really good nucleus to build around,” Kennedy said. “We are going to compete for the conference championship with this group. We have strength and scoring possibilities in every area. It’s exciting.”
Coach Kennedy is equally excited about the returning strength on the women’s side of the roster. With 47 points returning from last year’s indoor conference championship, Kennedy is counting on the women to take up where they left off and get to the next level of performance indoors. In contrast, Kennedy has only 25 points returning from last year’s outdoor conference event. Much of that lag is due to the graduation of senior Ashley Jones and loss of junior Kylee Zent, both strong throwers from last year’s squad. The women return seven all-conference performers and have a total of 58 letters on the roster.
The group returns strong throwers, as usual, in seniors Kim Berg and Karen Helvey, and sophomore Alli Jones. All three are all-conference performers, Berg being a three-time conference champ. Kennedy also expects sophmore Kris Schaefer to add points from the throws.
“While Berg represents the strength of experience, (Alli) Jones is the face of the future. Having six seasons of eligibility left, Alli is a real key player for us in the women’s throws as she scores in both indoor and outdoor,” Kennedy said.
Experience also resides in the distance corps for the women. Three all-conference performers return with three-time all-conference cross country runner Elizabeth Driscoll leading the charge flanked by seniors Kayla Larson and Carrie Gottschalk. Larson holds the school record in the steeple chase. Also adding to this group will be freshman Kayla Jacquet, who ran the number three slot consistently on the 2007 MSU cross country team.
Excitement will peak this year in women’s pole vault as junior Ellie Rudy defends her national title in the indoor event. Rudy will redshirt the 2008 outdoor season to prepare for the Olympic trials. Kennedy also expects that returning letter winner Brittany Speirs and MSU newcomer Canadian National Junior Champ vaulter Stacy Irvine (fr.) will bring more bulk to the women’s pole vault contingent.
“We can be in the hunt with this group of women,” Kennedy said. “Our strengths in field events, with our jumps stronger than in years past, will be the nucleus of our scoring and we’ll need help from sprints and distance.”
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