Bobcat Track & Field Prepped for Powder River Dual Versus Wyoming

Saturday, January 28

Gillette, WY

11:30 a.m.

Montana State University

Wyoming

Truanne Roginske and Holly Andersen

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

Bobcat Track & Field Prepped for Powder River Dual Versus Wyoming

1/26/2017 12:58:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Big Sky Notes

Bobcats try to even up series with Cowboys and Cowgirls in Gillette Saturday

By: Andrew Pedersen

Montana State and Wyoming meet in track and field for the fourth annual Powder River Dual in Gillette, Wyoming, at the Campbell County Parks and Recreation Center Saturday, Jan. 28. The dual begins at 11:30 a.m. with field events while track events follow at 12:30 p.m.

The Cowboys and Cowgirls hold 2-1 leads over MSU in the all-time Powder River Dual series which started in 2014. The Bobcats' lone victories came in 2015 when the MSU men topped the Cowboys 61-50.5 and women's squad defeated the Cowgirls 76-47.50.

Last season's dual came down to the final event on the men's side. The Bobcats earned a runner-up finish in the 4x400 relay by .37 seconds, dropping the dual by an overall team score of 74.50-72.50. Several current MSU student-athletes had strong performances in Gillette a year ago. Kyle Douglass earned a then-lifetime best shot put (57-09.50) for first place. Diego Leon finished with the top time in the 3,000 and Mason Storm took second in the long jump behind a personal best. Alyssa Snyder had a third-place finish on the women's side while Jessica Chrisp, Carter Theade and Jacqueline Verlanic all completed lifetime marks.

"We started the Powder River Dual with Wyoming three years ago," Montana State head coach Dalen Kennedy said. "We went the first time – and kind of reluctantly went over there – and once we got there we said, 'yeah, we want to keep doing this it's a really great event.' This is an exciting rivalry, there's great camaraderie between the two teams.

"We're certainly going to look for a really close meet on the men's side for sure. I think on paper their women's team looks somewhat better, but that's why you have the meet, to find out who's best on that given day. We'll go over there with optimism and be very positive about this meet with Wyoming. We really look forward to it."

MSU held its second full-team meet at Worthington Arena last weekend with a quad dual against Montana, Utah State and Idaho State. The men's team earned a sweep of its three opponents including a three-point dual victory over Utah State. The women's squad took two of three duals by topping Utah State and Idaho State, but were outscored by the Griz.

"The team dual meet wins are really great and that should be part of collegiate track and field," Kennedy said. "We were pretty successful (overall). Our ladies faced a very strong Montana team that is going to be a force to be reckoned with at the conference championships. The improvement from week one to week two was really great. I think it has us moving in the right direction. We've now got to do that on week three."

In the Polls
The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its first week of regional rankings on Monday, Jan. 23, and the Bobcats rank high in both the men's and women's Mountain Region polls.

The men's team has a regional index score of 211.55 for fifth in the region. The Bobcats have the highest ranking of Big Sky schools that are in the region and only trail BYU, Texas Tech, Air Force and Colorado State.

The women's team is present in its regional poll coming in at eighth with 109.68 points. The Bobcats are third among Big Sky schools in the Mountain Region, with Montana (fourth) and Northern Arizona (seventh) ahead in the poll.

MSU's next opponent – Wyoming – has both its men's and women's teams in the Mountain Region top 15. The Pokes' men's squad is currently 11th and the women's squad sits in ninth.

Among the Nation's Best
Three meets into the 2017 indoor season, several Bobcats rank among the best in the nation in their respective events. Currently, eight MSU student-athletes rank in the top 50 in the country, while two distance medley relay squads are also represented.

Two seniors on the women's squad are featured in the top 50 rankings. Christie Schiel joined the list after a blistering 800-meter run, which converted with altitude and track size comes in at 2:09.15, is the 21st top time among Division I runner. Jessica Chrisp also ranked in the top 50 as her converted 3,405-point output at the MSU Multis Meet in the pentathlon places her at 43rd at the Division I level.

Sophomore Matthew Gotta is one of four Bobcat student-athletes who are represented in the 5,000. He sits in sixth with his time of 14:07.47 which he set at the MSU Invitational on Jan. 13. He is followed by Diego Leon in seventh (14:10.12), Ty Mogan in 15th and Zach Kughn is in 34th (14:43.40). Leon also has the 25th best time in the nation in the mile (4:04.99) which he set at the MSU dual meet on Jan. 20.

Junior Kyle Douglass is 38th among Division I men's shot putters after achieving a lifetime-best mark of 58-04.50 (17.79m) at the MSU Invitational. Freshman Noah Martin placed first at the MSU Multis Meet with 4,835 points, which is good for 29th in the heptathlon among Division I participants.

Both of the Bobcats' top distance medley relay squads are also among the top 50 in the country. The women's crew of Kendra Larson, McKenna Ramsay, Kimberly Parsell and Christie Schiel (11:45.63) have the 17th best time in the event, while Martin Ponce, Tyler McQueen, Samuel Bloom and Leon have the 13th best time on the men's side.

Big Sky Performance List Update
Men's Rankings
200m – Jadin Casey 14th (22.36)
400m – Jadin Casey 8th (49.49), Christopher Lange 12th (50.11), Bill Yeager 14th (50.39)
800m – Sam Bloom 4th (1:53.24), Diego Leon 5th (1:54.20), Frankie Hoerner 7th (1:54.86)
Mile – Diego Leon 3rd (4:04.99), Zach Kughn 8th (4:11.83), Ty Mogan 9th (4:14.48), Andrew Vandine 12th (4:17.14)
3,000m – Adam Wollant 10th (8:38.10)
5,000m – Matthew Gotta 1st (14:07.47), Diego Leon 2nd (14:10.12), Ty Mogan 3rd (14:21.29), Zach Kughn 4th (14:43.40), Adam Wollant 5th (14:59.68), Gannon Chamberlain 7th (15:31.33), Brock Sandry 8th (15:33.74), Anthony Schmalz 11th (16:06.11)
60m Hurdles – Christopher Lange 16th (8.57)
4x400 Relay – MSU A 1st (3:18.72)
DMR – MSU A 1st (10:04.36)
High Jump – Noah Martin T3rd (06-08.75), Aidan Pedersen T11th (06-04.75)
Pole Vault – Luke Middelstadt 3rd (15-05), Austin Decker 6th (15-01), Noah Martin T8th (14-07.25), Jake Bradford T8th (14-07.25), Knox Semenza T11th (14-01.25), Ross Moore T17th (13-07.25), Branygen Andersen T17th (13-07.25)
Long Jump – Caleb Neth 7th (23-00.25), Mason Storm 9th (22-09.75), Alex Lewis 11th (22-07.75)
Triple Jump – Trevor Simanski 7th (46-04.75), Alex Lewis 10th (44-08.25)
Shot Put – Kyle Douglass 2nd (58-04.50), Alex Nehring 8th (52-11), Calvin Root 12th (51-03)
Weight Throw – Calvin Root 2nd (60-05.25)
Heptathlon – Noah Martin 3rd (4,835), Caleb Neth 10th (3,962)

Women's Rankings
60m – Daryan Box 10th (7.79)
200m – Daryan Box 15th (25.43), Taylor Buschy T18th (25.87)
400m – Taylor Buschy 6th (56.91), Hailey Phillips 16th (59.24), Holly Andersen 19th (59.65)
800m – Christie Schiel 1st (2:09.15)
Mile – Louisa Serpe 11th (5:09.64), Kendra Larson 13th (5:09.64)
5000m – Morgan Jones 2nd (17:56.64)
60m Hurdles – Amanda Jaynes 8th (8.85), Jessica Chrisp T18th (9.15)
4x400 Relay – MSU A 3rd (3:51.79)
DMR – MSU A 1st (11:45.63)
High Jump – Jessica Chrisp 4th (05-06), Carlie Haeffner T19th (05-03), Shey Hannum T19th (05-03)
Pole Vault – Carter Theade T9th (11-11.75), Isabella Calabrese T14th (11-05.75)
Triple Jump – Truanne Roginske 9th (36-10.25), Alex Hellenberg 19th (35-05.75), Megan Ralstin 20th (35-04)
Shot Put – Lindsay Benson 19th (41-02.25)
Weight Throw – Callen Crawford 7th (54-08), Jacqueline Verlanic 12th (53-04.25), Cailyn Schroeder 17th (52-01.75)
Pentathlon – Jessica Chrisp 3rd (3,405), Isabella Calabrese 10th (2,917), Alex Hellenberg 11th (2,822), Courtney Stromme 12th (2,632)

MSU Record Book Update
Six Montana State student-athletes have forced updates to the program record book following the opening meets of the season.

Amanda Jaynes jumped into a tie for ninth on the MSU all-time performance list in the 60 hurdles. Her first-place time of 8.83 on Jan. 13 matched Paula Berry's mark set in 1996. Kyle Douglass also improved his personal-best mark to 58-04.50 in the shot put at the MSU Invitational, but remained fifth on the all-time list behind Dennis Black's 59-07 throw in 1994.

Noah Martin made his first appearance during his opening campaign in the MSU record book. His 4,810 points in the heptathlon at the MSU Multis Meet puts him at eighth all time in the event.

Two distance runners also made an impact on the men's 5,000 run all-time list. Matthew Gotta's altitude-adjusted first-place time of 14:07.47 at the MSU Invitational moved him to fifth in program history just behind assistant coach Lyle Weese. Diego Leon also sits now at sixth with his time of 14:10.12 set during the MSU Invite in the 5,000.

Leon earned another top-10 program time in the mile at the MSU dual meet on Jan. 20. His converted mark of 4:04.99 in the mile placed him seventh all-time in the event, while women's senior Christie Schiel improved her MSU all-time fourth place mark in the 800 during the meet to 2:09.15.

Big Sky Athlete of the Week Tally
Two Bobcats have earned weekly honors from the Big Sky Conference after two opportunities.

Christie Schiel was named the Big Sky Women's Track Athlete of the Week on Jan. 23 by topping a previous lifetime best at MSU's dual meet on Jan. 20. Schiel placed first in the 800 with a time of 2.11.37. Her altitude and track size converted time of 2:09.15 sat her atop the conference and 21st in the nation. She also served as the third leg of MSU's top 4x400 relay team that finished in a time of 3:54.42.

Kyle Douglass earned the best shot put of his collegiate career by throwing 58-04.50 (17.79m) at the MSU Invite Jan. 13 to earn Big Sky Men's Field Athlete of the Week recognition on Jan. 17. The throw was the only one over 17 meters and just one of two over 16 meters at the Invite. His shot put also placed him atop the early Big Sky Conference performance chart, leading the field at the time by over six inches.

Bobcats Selected Fourth, Eighth in Big Sky Coaches' Preseason Poll
The Big Sky Conference released its 2017 Indoor Track and Field coaches' preseason polls Wednesday, Jan. 18, with the Montana State men's team selected fourth and the women's squad eighth.

MSU has found success in recent history during the indoor season. The Bobcat men earned runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013 and also completed a third-place performance in 2015. The MSU women's team has also had solid showings at the Big Sky meet, taking runner-up during the 2012 and 2015 campaigns while finishing third in 2014.