Bobcat Men Take First, Women Finish Second at MSU Dual Meet Invite

Friday, January 20

BOZEMAN

3:30 p.m.

Montana State University

MSU Dual Meet Invite

Jadin Casey

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

Bobcat Men Take First, Women Finish Second at MSU Dual Meet Invite

1/20/2017 11:54:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results Team Scores

Thirty-Five personal bests highlight MSU's performance at Worthington Arena Friday

By: Andrew Pedersen

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State had a week between events inside Worthington Arena, but that seven-day span helped gear up the Bobcats for the four-team dual meet that saw the men's squad defeat all three of its opponents and the women's squad top two of three Friday, Jan. 20, in the MSU Dual Meet Invitational.

The Bobcats men's and women's teams combined for 35 personal-best times and several marks that made it into the program's all-time top 10 list.

The men's team edged out Utah State (76-73), while also beating Idaho State (81-64) and Montana (89-57) in the meet. The Bobcat women outscored Utah State (76-68) and Idaho State (86-61) in their respective duals, but Montana earned the dual win by a 91.50-58.50 margin as the Griz won all three of their duals.

"I thought overall there was a lot of improvement," said Montana State head coach Dale Kennedy on the Bobcats' performance from the first home meet to the second. "There were some cases where kids maybe didn't throw and jump quite as well as they did a week ago, but when you look at the entire picture, I would say more kids got season-best marks than kids that didn't get them. I really saw significant improvement across the board."

The men's dual with Utah State came down to the final events. Utah State would have forced a 73-all tie in the dual as the Aggies took first in the last race – the 4x400 relay – had MSU's 'A' relay of Christopher Lange, Bill Yeager, Samuel Bloom and Jadin Casey taken third overall. The 'Cats weren't denied the sweep Friday as Casey made a comeback in the final 200 and helped MSU complete a 3 minute, 22.88 second finish for runner-up, just .02 seconds ahead of Idaho State's relay squad.

The Bobcats owned both the 800-meter run and the long jump taking the top three spots in each.

Bloom (1:55.60) led the charge in the 800 and was followed by Diego Leon (1:56.47) and Frankie Hoerner (1:57.15). Mason Storm finished first in the long jump with a mark of 22-09.75 (6.95m), while Caleb Neth (22-09.25) earned runner-up with a personal-best jump just .01m behind Storm. Alex Lewis placed third with a leap of 22-07.75 (6.90m).

Leon led the 'Cats in the mile with a career-best time of 4:13.58, which adjusts with altitude to 4:04.99 which is the seventh best mark in school history. Zach Kughn (4:20.66) rounded out the MSU scoring by taking fourth while Ty Mogan (4:23.40) and Andrew Vandine (4:26.16) earned lifetime bests.

Calvin Root was the remaining MSU student-athlete on the men's side to finish atop an event, earning the weight throw title by reaching 60-05.25 (18.42m).

Casey led the Bobcats in two events, taking third in the 400 and fifth in the 200. Aidan Pedersen had a team-best third-place finish in the high jump, Trevor Simanski took second in the triple jump and Kyle Douglass matched his shot put from a week ago to place runner-up.

Remaining 'Cats to achieve personal bests include Bill Yeager (51.08) in the 400, Adam Wollant (8:57.22) in the 3,000 and Lange in the 60 hurdles (8.55). Alec Nehring set two new personal marks while finishing in the top six in both the shot put (52-11.00) and the weight throw (46-03.25). Newcomer and MSU football's Justin Paige made his first collegiate appearance on the track and led the Bobcats in the 60 with a fifth-place time of 7.07.

MSU seniors Daryan Box and Christie Schiel had the top performances of the meet for the women's side.

Box earned a career-best time of 7.77 in the 60 to take first in the event, leading a Bobcat contingent of Truanne Roginske (7.95), Courtney Stromme (8.17) and Holly Andersen (8.21) that achieved lifetime marks. Box also took second in the 200 by crossing the line in 25.75.

Schiel finished first in the 800 with a time of 2:11.37. Her finish, when converted to 2:09.15 due to altitude, improved her personal-best that sits at fourth all-time in the event in program history.

MSU's Taylor Buschy also picked up a career-best 57.55 finish in the 400 to place second overall, while the 4x400 relay squad of Hailey Phillips, Andersen, Schiel and Buschy took third with a time of 3:54.42.

Several throwers had solid showings Friday for the Bobcats as well. Jacqueline Verlanic finished second in the weight throw with a mark of 53-03.75 (16.25m), while Callen Crawford followed in third with a throw of 52-04.00 (15.95m). Freshman Lindsay Benson led MSU in the shot put by taking fifth with a lifetime-best mark of 41-02.25 (12.55m).

Senior Jessica Chrisp had MSU's top performance in the jumps as she placed third in the high jump at 05-03.00 (1.6m). Alex Hellenberg earned personal bests in the long jump and triple jump, while Shey Hannum, Tiffani Finley, Isabella Calabrese and Carter Theade all earned top-five finishes.

The Bobcats take a week off from competition inside the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse by taking on Wyoming next on Saturday, Jan. 28, in Gillette.

"It's not exactly a matter of where we are, but where we're headed," Kennedy said. "I think we're really moving in the right direction and I'm pleased with the progress that we saw tonight. This will be a nice step going into the Powder River Dual with Wyoming over in Gillette."