Track and Field Shines in Golden State

Wednesday, April 16

Walnut, CA

TBA

Montana State University

MT. SAC RELAYS

Matt Tex had huge performances in the 800 and 1500 in California

Photo by: 406 Photography

4/20/2014 11:17:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field

Trio of meets brings yields big success for Bobcats

By: Leslie Masterpaul

| Mt. SAC Results | Bryan Clay Results | Beach Invitational Results |

Three huge meets closed out another week of strong performances for Montana State Track and Field. The Bobcats represented well at the Mt. SAC Relays on Thursday, April 17 and Friday, April 18. Another small group competed at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday, while both groups reconvened on Saturday at the Beach Invitational, hosted by Long Beach State.

The Mt. SAC Relays produced some amazing results, especially in the track events. In the 3,000 Steeplechase, Jenette Northey placed fifth in her division with a lifetime best time of 10:33.10, now ranking her third all-time in program history. Her distance partner in crime, Heather Demorest set a new program record with her time of 10:22.32, four seconds better than her previous best, enough for a seventh place finish in her division.

In the 1,500, Cristian Soratos logged a PR of his own with 3:46.31. He finished second in his heat and sixth overall in a field of 118 runners. Kaylee Schmitz got her own outdoor best in the 800, crossing the finish line in 2:11.62. Lierin Flanagan also raced and logged a season best time of 2:13.20, which also gave her a Big Sky Conference qualifier in the event.

The Bobcats represented well in the 800, one of the program's signature events. Grant Grosvenor placed 11th overall with a time of 1:51, while Matthew Tex logged a 1:51.76, for 16th place. Grosvenor's time finally punched his ticket to the Big Sky meet in May.

MSU picked up another qualifier in the 400 when Iris Hardarson clocked a 55.66 and a second place finish in her heat. Chantel Jaeger and Sonia Antar also raced, finishing second and ninth, respectively. Jaeger finished in 55.41, while Antar clocked a time of 57.20. Hardarson teamed up with Paige Squire, Flanagan and Jaeger in the 4x400 relay for a third-best time in Bobcat history with 3:42.60.

In the field events, Casey Teska finished strong in the pole vault with an outdoor best height of 12-01.50 (3.70m), while Amber Amsbaugh tied her seasons best height of 5-07 (1.70m) in the high jump. In the shot put, Kristi VandeBergh measured a season best 45-10.75 (13.99m), surely moving her up in the Big Sky rankings.

Meanwhile, 20 minutes down the road, Michael Tobin logged a seventh place finish in the 100 at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a time of 10.82. He also recorded another top-15 finish in the 200 with a time of 21.88 for 13th place.

Saturday, April 20, marked the final meet of the weekend at the Beach Invitational in Norwalk, Calif. The men's 800 featured two more huge performances from Grosvenor and Tex. Grosvenor won the event in a lifetime best time 3:46.97 and now ranks sixth all time in the program. Tex's third place finish time was 3:48.07, also a PR and the seventh fastest time in program history.

Chris Wilson placed fourth in the 100 Men's Invitational with a time of 10.69, while Tobin finished 17th in the open 100 with 10.98.

Notable field event results included, Casey Teska's first place finish in her flight of the pole vault. Her height of 12-11.75 (3.96m) bested her previous day's performance by 10 inches. Amsbaugh finished second in her flight on the high jump with a season best-tying height of 5-07 (1.70m), duplicating her performance from the day before at Mt. SAC.

VandeBergh had another great day, earning a Big Sky qualifier in the discus throw. She uncorked a throw of 142-03 (43.35m), marking a season best throw, as well.

"We saw a lot of great things this weekend," said head coach Dale Kennedy. "It's a bit of a grueling weekend but it allowed for some great performances, Big Sky marks and some fantastic lifetime or season best performances. It will be nice to come back to Bozeman though, be at our place though. I am certainly proud of what we accomplished in California."

Montana State returns to the comforts of the Bobcat Track and Field Complex for the highly anticipated Cat-Griz Dual on Saturday, April 26 beginning at 10:30 a.m. The Track and Field Seniors will also be honored on Saturday.