Montana State's 2016 seniors
Bobcat Track Teams Head to Missoula for Montana Open
4/29/2016 2:38:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
MSU looks to continue building strong conference championship roster
Dale Kennedy carries the vision of a sheet of paper with him into Montana State's track and field competition this weekend at the Montana Open in Missoula.
That paper contains his men's team's roster for the 2016 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Greeley on one side, and the women's roster on the other. And the next two weekends offer the final opportunity for Kennedy to fill each of those sides of the paper.
"We want to fill the rosters," Kennedy said of the pursuit to qualify 28 athletes on each side of the equation for the Big Sky Championships. "This meet is the final real chance for a lot of kids to get qualifying marks or move into the top 20 (of Big Sky event rankings) to qualify for the Big Sky Championships."
The Montana Open hammer throw begins Friday. Five Bobcats – Zach Sharp (2nd in the Big Sky) and Calvin Root (3rd) on the men's side, and women Jacqueline Verlanic (eighth in the league), Callen Crawford (10th) and Brittnee Grimstad (11th) – are scheduled to compete. The main part of the non-team scored event begins Saturday at 10:15 am (with field events, track events start an hour later), and in addition to the Cats and Montana features several in-state Frontier Conference schools.
"We'll have about 80 percent of our team (in Missoula) this weekend," Kennedy said. "A lot of kids will be shooting to get into the Big Sky meet, and some will use this meet to train for their primary events. Last week the goal was to win the Cat-Griz dual (MSU's men and women swept its in-state rivals), but this week each kid might have different goals in mind and some will take the weekend off to rest and prepare for conference."
The Bobcat roster features 10 men and a dozen women with automatic marks, with another 12 men and 14 women inside the top 20. Those are the two primary avenues of entry into the league championships, and Kennedy would like to see MSU's list of automatic qualifiers grow over the next two weeks. "This might be our smallest number of autos in some time," he said, "but that seems to be the case across the board in the Big Sky right now. Every year the marks change in order to manage the size of the events, so it gets harder and harder to get automatic marks."
Kennedy said he continues to see improvement in his programs as the outdoor season advances. "We've had an unusual number of injuries so the kids affected by that are really making strides right now," he said. "It meant a lot to our program to get two Big Sky Athletes of the Week (hurdler Amanda Jaynes, thrower Zach Sharp) last week and it feels like things are taking off and that we're in position to peak at the right time."
That paper contains his men's team's roster for the 2016 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Greeley on one side, and the women's roster on the other. And the next two weekends offer the final opportunity for Kennedy to fill each of those sides of the paper.
"We want to fill the rosters," Kennedy said of the pursuit to qualify 28 athletes on each side of the equation for the Big Sky Championships. "This meet is the final real chance for a lot of kids to get qualifying marks or move into the top 20 (of Big Sky event rankings) to qualify for the Big Sky Championships."
The Montana Open hammer throw begins Friday. Five Bobcats – Zach Sharp (2nd in the Big Sky) and Calvin Root (3rd) on the men's side, and women Jacqueline Verlanic (eighth in the league), Callen Crawford (10th) and Brittnee Grimstad (11th) – are scheduled to compete. The main part of the non-team scored event begins Saturday at 10:15 am (with field events, track events start an hour later), and in addition to the Cats and Montana features several in-state Frontier Conference schools.
"We'll have about 80 percent of our team (in Missoula) this weekend," Kennedy said. "A lot of kids will be shooting to get into the Big Sky meet, and some will use this meet to train for their primary events. Last week the goal was to win the Cat-Griz dual (MSU's men and women swept its in-state rivals), but this week each kid might have different goals in mind and some will take the weekend off to rest and prepare for conference."
The Bobcat roster features 10 men and a dozen women with automatic marks, with another 12 men and 14 women inside the top 20. Those are the two primary avenues of entry into the league championships, and Kennedy would like to see MSU's list of automatic qualifiers grow over the next two weeks. "This might be our smallest number of autos in some time," he said, "but that seems to be the case across the board in the Big Sky right now. Every year the marks change in order to manage the size of the events, so it gets harder and harder to get automatic marks."
Kennedy said he continues to see improvement in his programs as the outdoor season advances. "We've had an unusual number of injuries so the kids affected by that are really making strides right now," he said. "It meant a lot to our program to get two Big Sky Athletes of the Week (hurdler Amanda Jaynes, thrower Zach Sharp) last week and it feels like things are taking off and that we're in position to peak at the right time."
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and FieldFriday, February 11
Monday, February 18
Tuesday, February 12
Tuesday, February 05
