Montana State University
BOZEMAN RUNNING COMPANY INVITATIONAL
Track and Field to host BRC Invite
2/9/2012 3:52:00 PM | Track & Field
MSU to face Montana and Weber State in scored meet
With just two weeks left to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Championships, Montana State Track and Field will host the Bozeman Running Company Invitational on Friday, Feb. 10. The meet will be scored as a triple-dual, as conference members, Montana and Weber State will also be in attendance. (Meet Schedule)
Coming off a solid weekend at the Mountain States Games, MSU has amassed 30 student-athletes qualified for the Championships, taking place Feb. 24-25 in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Bobcats have 15 women qualified in 19 events. Most recently, MSU has all four pentathletes (Kortnee Barrett, Carley McCutchen, Sarah McGree and Sadie McMillan) ready to go for Arizona. McCutchen is ranked third in the Big Sky in the pentathlon with a lifetime best 3,541 points. Amber Amsbaugh is the lone Bobcat at the top of the conference ranks, sitting in first in the high jump at 1.72m (5-07.75).
Several Bobcats are just on the cusp of the meet standards. For the women, Paige Squire will look to get the 8.37 mark in the 55 hurdles. She posted a 8.44 time back on Jan. 20. Another sprinter just on the brink is Lierin Flanagan who clocked in at 2:16.58 earlier this season and needs to make the 2:16-flat mark. In the throws, newcomer Kristi VandeBergh is just .41 meters from the conference mark of 13.50.
The MSU men also have 15 qualified athletes in 13 different events. Like the women, the men have also qualified all of their multi athletes for the heptathlon (Jeff Mohl, Asa Staven and Powhattan Williamson). Staven and Mohl are ranked first and second in the conference, respectively. Staven holds the top spot in the 60 hurdles (8.16), as well as the long jump (7.14m). Dan Jackson is ranked first in the 3,000 with a time of 8:02.66, as well.
Looking to crack into the Big Sky Meet will be Forrest Jarvi and Matt Tex who will compete in the 800 on Friday. Jarvi, a middle-distance specialist, is about two seconds off from the BSC mark of 1:54.50. Tex's best time this season is 1:57.40 and has shown tremendous growth.
In the triple jump, Kevin Close and Kyler Felton are close the Big Sky mark, as well. Matt Nicholas, a long jumper, is merely inches from the qualifying standard and will look to meet that goal on Saturday.
“As always, each meet ups the level of urgency to work hard for qualifiers,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “We've got a lot of kids on the descending order list who are really close to where they need to be. Friday's meet not only gives them that opportunity but also a chance to see how we rank against conference opponent.”
The Bozeman Running Company Invitational is slated to begin with the field events at 4:30 p.m. and the track events at 6:00 p.m. In addition to the collegiate meet, two other races are also scheduled, with the Little Bobcat 50 Meter Dash at 6:40 p.m., a free fun-run for children under 12 and the Master's Mile at 7:05 p.m.
