'Cats Continue to Roar

Friday, April 13

Salt Lake City, UT

TBA

Montana State University

UTAH SPRING CLASSIC (INNOVATION MEET)

Chris Wilson set a new record in the 100, and anchored the record-setting 4x100 at the Utah Spring Classic.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

4/14/2012 5:09:00 PM | Track & Field

Two school records fall at Innovation Meet weekend

By: Leslie Masterpaul

Montana State Track and Field put on another impressive showing in Utah competing at the Innovation Meet hosted by Weber State and Utah. The two-day meet began on Friday, Apr. 13, with the Utah Spring Classic in Salt Lake City and closed out on Saturday, in Ogden, at the Wildcat Outdoor Open. (Utah Spring Classic Results | Wildcat Outdoor Open Results)

On Friday, MSU racked up 22 medals, with seven first-place finishes (three for the men, two for the women). Seventeen medals were picked up on Saturday, with three first-place finishes.

One of the best performances of the weekend came from two knock-out sprints from Chris Wilson. The Great Falls, Mont. native shattered the program record in the 100 with a time of 10.39. The previous best was 10.62 by Steve Heberly, set back in 2006.

Wilson came insanely close to a second record on Friday, but due to the wind advantage, he fell just short with a time of 21.21.
The excitement of the sprints didn't end there. The quartet of Jeff Mohl, Nick Melone, Gage Pickering and Wilson set a second record in Utah in the 4x100 with a time of 41.00, eclipsing the old mark by just six one-hundredths of a second. The old record was also set back in 2006 by Kevin Ludwig, Ty Norris, Dan Johnson and Heberly.

David Phillips kept up his momentum in the throws with a win in the hammer with 62.52m (205-01.50), a season-best and placing second behind teammate Trevor Gilreath in the shot put. Gilreath won the event with a hurl of 16.97m (55-08). Phillips finished with 16.56m (45-08.50). Both were the top throws of the season.

Another weekend meant more gold for seniors Amanda Murphy and Emily Tyrrell. In the women's hammer, Murphy took gold in 58.99m (193-06.50), while Tyrrell picked up a season-best 49.91m (163-09.00) in the javelin. Tyrrell's counterpart in the in the men's javelin, Willie Sullivan, also won the event with a throw of 60.25m (197-08.00).

Murphy won the shot put on Saturday with 15.06m (49-05.00), another season-best for the Charlo, Mont. native.
Montana State picked up several new qualifiers for the Big Sky Conference Championships, which will take place May 9-12, in Bozeman.

Sonia Antar, Lierin Flanagan and Heather Haug earned conference qualifying times in the 800. Haug placed fifth in 2:11.43, Antar came in ninth in 2:15, while Flanagan was right behind in 10th with 2:15.65.

Mohl, a utility athlete for Bobcat Track and Field, added his fourth event to his conference resume. He finished second in the pole vault with a height of 4.70m (15-05.00).

Carley McCutchen, who has seen much improvement her sophomore season, joined Madeline Fuchs and Katie Niemeir with a qualifying time in the 400 hurdles. McCutchen crossed the finish line in 1:04.83 in fifth place. Fuchs came in third in 1:02.75.

Adding to the list of sprint highlights was Pickering who picked up times in the 200 (21.90) and 100 (10.86), which are fast enough for the Big Sky meet in May.

“We had a great weekend, with great weather and great performances,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “We have another big weekend ahead of us at Mt. SAC, Bryan Clay and Long Beach, but we're making progress, getting qualifiers and looking forward to getting out there, competing and continue to build confidence for the Big Sky Championships."

MSU has a big week ahead as they send the entire crew to California to participate in three high profile meets. A split squad will compete at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut and the Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific. All the Bobcats will then compete for a second day at the Beach Invitational in Norwalk on Saturday, April 21.