Montana State Track & Field Teams Release 2017 Indoor, Outdoor Slates
9/26/2016 2:26:00 PM | Track & Field
Bobcats’ 2017 season set to be highlighted by four indoor home meets and two outdoor home meets ahead of Big Sky Conference and NCAA championships
The Montana State men's and women's track and field teams can now look ahead as head coach Dale Kennedy announced the Bobcats' 2017 Indoor and Outdoor schedules Monday, Sept. 26. The indoor slate is highlighted by four home meets, while the MSU squads make two appearances at home during the outdoor schedule at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex.
MSU's heptathlon and pentathlon student-athletes begin 2017 with the 12th annual MSU-UM Multi's Dual Meet that takes place Jan. 9-10 on the Mondo Super X Surface inside Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
The Bobcats make their team debut at the Montana State University Invitational on Friday, Jan. 13, on campus and follow that with a dual meet invite on Friday, Jan. 20, hosting Idaho State, Montana and Utah State.
"One of the things about Montana State is that we're one of only three or four schools in the Mountain Region that have an indoor facility," Kennedy said. "Historically we've had a busy home indoor schedule and this year we have four meets. Often times, we've had as many as six, especially when we host the Big Sky Conference championship like we did last year."
MSU hits the road for the first time on Jan. 28 when the Bobcats head to Gillette to face Wyoming in a dual meet, then returns home for a double dual meet with Montana and Weber State on Feb. 3-4.
The Bobcats travel to the site of the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship as MSU competes from Feb. 10-11 in the Mountain States Games, hosted by Idaho State. MSU will have a last chance qualifier meet at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Feb. 17 ahead of the conference championships, which run from Feb. 23-25. The NCAA Indoor National Championships take place on the campus of Texas A&M beginning March 10.
"This year, because the championships are in Pocatello, we are going down there to get familiar with their facility," Kennedy said. "The thing that is so unique with indoor track is that every track is different. I think the test this year will be getting ready to compete well at a different venue for the championships."
Two weeks after the conclusion of the NCAA Indoor National Championships, MSU begins its outdoor season with the Bobcat Invitational at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex on Saturday, March 25.
The University of Utah Spring Classic on April 7 sets up a busy month for the Bobcats, with student-athletes also heading to the Weber State Wildcat Invitational to compete April 8.
MSU travels to California for three events, with decathletes and heptathletes participating in the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays which take place from April 12-13. The Bobcats' men's and women's teams compete at Azusa Pacific's Bryan Clay Invitational April 14 and follow that with the Beach Invitational on Long Beach State's campus April 15.
"We do travel a lot because everybody has an outdoor track and everybody takes turns hosting events, so it keeps us from being at home as much as we are indoors," Kennedy said. "The thing about the outdoor track environment is that you're dealing with different elements like weather and altitude. We have a couple sea level event sites and altitude event sites which will have an effect on both the sprints and hurdles.
"More importantly, the altitude has a huge effect on the endurance events. We'll be competing in a scenario where we're at sea level for the championships outdoors, then we're at altitude indoors, so we'll have to do some special preparation with our endurance kids to get ready for Sacramento State (for the outdoor championships). Those two elements of the environment will really be a factor for us to prepare for the outdoor season."
The 'cats return to Montana for the Cat-Griz Dual Meet April 22 in Missoula. MSU student-athletes will be competing at both the Montana Open in Missoula and the Payton Jordan Invitational on the campus of Stanford in Palo Alto, California, on April 29 to close out the month.
Senior day at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex will take place Friday, May 5, as the Bobcats host the Tom Gage Classic. MSU heads to the Big Sky Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Championship May 10-13 on the campus of Sacramento State. The NCAA Division I Championship Preliminaries take place from May 25-27 in Austin, Texas, with the Outdoor season coming to a close with the Championship Finals running from June 7-10 at Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene.
