Montana State University
BIG SKY INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bobcat Men Finish Second, Women Seventh, at Big Sky Championships
2/25/2012 5:14:00 PM | Track & Field
Staven named Outstanding Performer in Flagstaff
The 2012 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships were nearly everything they were cracked up to be.
The Montana State men came in a very impressive second place with 122 points, and garnered 11 medals also denoting All-Conference selections. Northern Arizona was the commanding team champion with 215 points. MSU was picked fourth in the preseason Big Sky Conference poll. In 2011, the Bobcat men placed third in 2011, behind conference champion Sacramento State and Idaho State. (Complete Results | Team Scores)
The Montana State women finished seventh overall with 56 points, three all-Big Sky Conference performances, including one individual champion. Weber State took the women's team title with 132 points. Last season, the women came in sixth, with Sac State winning the women's side.
Asa Staven produced one of the best performances of the meet after winning the heptathlon with an impressive 5,731 points, setting a new Big Sky Conference record. This is the second time the Georgetown, Texas has broken the Big Sky record after doing so back on Feb. 5 at the Mountain States Games with a score of 5,691. Staven is just 29 points off an NCAA Championship qualifier.
His performance also earned him the Big Sky Outstanding Performer of the meet.
“You set these goals and know what you're capable of, but it's never going to be easy,” said Staven. “Even though I did good in some events and worse in others, it came down to the 1000 meters. I had to dig up that energy from somewhere, and I just ran as hard as I could.”
Jeff Mohl placed second in the heptathlon with a score of 5,438. Mohl sat in second after day one of the multis and went on to finish with an additional individual medal in the pole vault, placing second on Friday night. Mohl finished second in overall scoring with 27 points. Northern Arizona's Estrada finished with 30 points overall.
Chris Wilson was Montana State's second Big Sky champion of the weekend, after crossing the line first in 6.80 seconds in a photo-finish. His time of 6.80 converts to a 6.34 55 dash, tying the program record set back in 1972 by Skip Gunlikson. Wilson ran a 6.89 in Friday's prelim race.
"It feels good. I had a terrible day, terrible start in the prelims yesterday. I had my mind ready. My focus was getting out of the blocks and going because I struggled with that all year,” said Wilson.” The false start shook everyone up a little bit, but in my mind I thought, 'stay focused, you know what you came to do, keep your mind in it.'”
Following Wilson's 60, was Grant Grosvenor in the 800. Coming into the race, Grosvenor held the fastest seed from the preliminary race on Friday with a time of 1:55.15 and clocked in with a hard-fought win on Saturday in 1:52.45.
"It's hard running up here at altitude, but it's fun. I was looking for (Northern Arizona's Jordan) Chipangama the whole race and stay on his own shoulders the whole time,” said Grosvenor. “I saw his arms or his fists come into my peripherals and I found a last gear and it helped me kick in for the last 40 meters or so."
Trevor Gilreath rallied from a 12th place finish in the weight throw to surface as Big Sky Champion in the shot put with a lifetime best hurl of 17.34m (56-10.75). Gilreath was the champion in the event finished over a half a foot ahead of second place.
"It feels great, I won a last chance throw, so it was really exciting,” Gilreath said. “I'm pumped up. We all started off pretty slow. We all stepped up in the prelims and finals, so it was 50/50."
In the 3,000, an event loaded with Bobcats, Dan Jackson came in second behind Nothern Arizona's Diego Estrada, with a time of 8:32.74 and Newcomer Jake Turner picked up the bronze in 8:35.06. Jackson also placed second in the 5,000 on Friday night, finishing behind Estrada.
Amanda Murphy was the top finisher for the women, earning her second of two medals in her final indoor championship meet. Murphy threw 61-09.50 for a bronze medal in the weight throw. The Charlo, Mont. native opened the first day of competition with a win in the shot put.
Several Bobcats were on the brink of conference honors and also tabbed lifetime bests. Sonia Antar recorded a lifetime best in the 400 with a time of 55.75 and came in fourth. In the pole vault, Rebekka Chambers also came in fourth place with a PR height of 3.90m (12-09.50).
The Women's 4x400 relay team of Katie Niemeir, Chantel Jaeger, Lierin Flanagan and Antar also came in fourth with a season best time of 3:46.82.
"Obviously on the men's side, we had a fantastic meet," said head coach Dale Kennedy. "Our women's team had some struggles that continued throughout the weekend but in spite of that, there were still some great performances. This does mark the end of the indoor season but it's a stepping stone for us headed into outdoor."
Montana State closes down the indoor season in Flagstaff. The 2012 outdoor slate begins on Friday, March 30 in Missoula, Mont. at the Al Manuel Invitational.
