Montana State Sweeps Field in Final Dual of 2016 Season

Friday, February 12

BOZEMAN

Montana State University

MONTANA STATE, MONTANA, WEBER STATE, NORTHERN COLORADO

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

2/12/2016 9:56:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field

By: Jordan Simkins

COMPLETE RESULTS | TEAM SCORES
Montana State track and field swept the field in its final dual of the season, topping Montana, Weber State and Northern Colorado on both sides.

"Collectively we got better this week," head coach Dale Kennedy said. "What a great performance from Kaylee Schmitz. The first lap was way too fast, but she held on to run a great race. There were several other individual performances that were noteworthy, but as a group we competed against three other good teams."

Kaylee Schmitz was just shy of the school record in the 800, running a raw time of 2:10.75, which will be converted to 2:08.55. The school record is currently held by Chistie Otte, clocking 2:08.50 in 1998. Kendra Larson placed behind Schmitz in third place and a time of 2:19.09.

Alyssa Snyder won the mile, just missing the conference qualifying mark by .02 seconds. Snyder crossed the finish line in 4:59.55. Finishing fifth was Louise Serpe with a time of 5:07.09. Rachel Atwood found her way to second place in the 5000, marking 18:34.24 and Jenette Northey finished in fifth (18:48.60).

With a height clearance of 5-05.00, Alisa Gilchrist placed second in the high jump behind Weber State's Desirae Cruse. Danielle Rider finished in fifth, clearing the bar at 5-03.00. Rider also earned the 'Cats best finish in the long jump with a mark of 18-04.50.

The conference pole vault leader, Casey Teska, continues to prove herself, winning the event with a height of 12-05.00. Leah Cook won the triple jump with a distance of 36-05.50.

Mitchell Horning, a conference qualifier in the 60 and 200, placed third in the 60 (7.02) and ninth in the 200. Jadin Casey and Eric Zechenelly finished fourth and fifth in the 400, clocking times of 49.64 and 50.02. Casey's time was fast enough for a conference qualifier.

Diego Leon and Martin Ponce continue to improve in the mile, going one-two in the event with times of 4:20.65 and 4:21.97. Matthew Gotta cruised to a first place 5000 finish, crossing the finish line in 15:14.51, 14 seconds faster than his season best. Justice Lamer finished behind Gotta with a time of 15:41.02.

The men's 4x400 relay was decided by .04 seconds, where Montana State came up just shy of Weber State's 3:19.83.

Kyle Douglass remains unbeaten in the shot put, throwing a distance of 53-01.00. Douglass has the top mark in the conference, which he achieved last Friday. Calvin Root threw 50-01.25 to place second. Root also placed second in the weight throw (58-09.25) behind teammate Zach Sharp (59-07.00).

"This next week you're going to see a lot of our athletes competing in off events just for tuneups, while a few others are chasing those qualifying marks."

The Bobcat's will compete at home next Friday, February 19 in the Last Chance Qualifier. The following weekend on February 25-27, MSU will host the Big Sky Conference Championships in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.