Track and Field Announces Team Awards
3/13/2012 3:06:00 PM | Track & Field
Staven, Mohl and Murphy continue 2012 success
At the close of each season, Montana State Track and Field doles out the much deserved Bobcat Team Awards. MSU announced the 2012 Indoor Season winners on Monday.
The 2012 Indoor Season was tremendously successful and six different Bobcats earned some much-deserved recognition for their athletic efforts.
The Outstanding Female Field Performer award went to Amanda Murphy, who amassed ten first-place finishes in eleven competitions over the winter. The only time she did not win either the weight throw or the shot put was at the Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships when she earned a bronze medal in the weight throw. As a senior, she was the Big Sky Champion in the shot put. She also set a new Bobcat program record in the weight throw with a distance of 19.34m (63-05.50).
The Outstanding Male Field Performer went to the two pillars of this season's success. Jeff Mohl and Asa Staven both had breakout years in the multi events. Staven just closed out an impressive senior run after qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon. Although his time was cut short at Nationals due to injury, he still has much to be proud of. Staven was the Big Sky Champion in the heptathlon with a program and conference record setting score of 5,731, breaking the record for the second time in 2012. His showing in Flagstaff, Ariz. also earned him the title of the Big Sky Conference Championships Outstanding Male Performer.
Mohl, another utility athlete for Montana State shares the title with Staven. During the opening weekend of competition, Mohl broke the heptathlon record at the MSU Combined Events Invitational, breaking Staven's record from 2010, with a score of 5,521. Mohl competed in several events for the Blue and Gold at the conference meet. The Red Lodge, Mont. native garnered 27 total points at the meet, ranking second of all the male athletes competing and was All-Conference in both the heptathlon and the pole vault.
The Outstanding Female Track Performer recognition went to Katie Niemeir for her contributions to the sprints and hurdles for Montana State. Niemeir came in sixth at the Big Sky Championships in the 60 meter hurdles and ranks third all-time in Bobcat history with a time of 8.05 (55 hurdles). She is also eighth all-time in the 400 in 56.25. Niemeir led off the 4x400 relay that placed fourth at the Big Sky meet, as well.
Dan Jackson is the Outstanding Male Track Performer at the close of another strong senior campaign. Jackson set a new school record in the 5,000 with an altitude-adjusted time of 13:59.05 breaking Shannon Butler's 1991 record time of 14:01.24. Coincidentally, both records were set in Pocatello, Idaho. Jackson was an All-Big Sky selection after finishing second in both the 3,000 and 5,000 at the conference championships.
MSU also had two remarkable newcomers whose collegiate debut seasons were nothing less than stellar, earning them the Outstanding Male and Female Freshman awards. Chantel Jaeger, from Yakima, Wash. closed out her freshman indoor season among the top-five in two events in the Bobcat record books. She currently ranks fourth in the 200 with a time of 24.56 and fifth in the 400 in 55.60. At her first Big Sky meet, she placed seventh and eighth in the 200 and 400, respectively.
Grant Grosvenor put together one of the strongest seasons for Montana State after winning the 800 for his first conference title with a time of 1:51.21. He was also the number one seed headed out of preliminaries. Overall, he amassed seven first-place finishes in his first season with MSU as a middle-distance runner, as well as a member of the 4x400 and Distance Medley relay teams.
Four Bobcats were recognized for their 2012 improvements. For the men, Jackson, Mohl and Staven earned the award, while Rebekka Chambers took the award for the women. Chambers, a pole vaulter, improved her marks from 11-00.25 to 12-09.50. She also went from being a non-placer at the Big Sky meet in 2011 to coming in fourth this past February.
Jackson saw massive drops in his times over the course of the year including an 8:11.73 time in the 3,000 to 8:02.66 at the Montana State Open on Jan. 27. He also improved his 5,000 time by just under a minute going from 14:42.00 to 13:59.05.
Mohl and Staven earned the award for the dramatic increase in their heptathlon scores. Mohl broke the record during the opening week of the season with a career-high 5,521 points. Last year, his career-best was 5,290.
Staven, the record holder prior to 2012, went from a 5,158 in 2011 to 5,731 after breaking Mohl's record and then his own over the course of the indoor season.
The final award given out by head coach Dale Kennedy and his staff is the Top Gun Award, given to the male and female student-athletes who garnered the most points over the course of the indoor season.
Murphy picked up 88 points with her ten first-place finishes and conference champion title. Niemeir came in second place with 79.25 points.
For the men, Mohl had 93.75 points, followed by Staven with 90.5.
Montana State will open the 2012 outdoor slate on Friday, March 30 at the first day of the Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula, Mont.
