Montana State Travels to Missoula For Al Manual Northwest Dual

Friday, March 31

Missoula, MT

3 p.m.

Montana State University

Al Manual Northwest Dual - Day One

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

Montana State Travels to Missoula For Al Manual Northwest Dual

3/30/2017 4:17:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Meet Schedule Big Sky Notes

Bobcat track and field will compete in a dual-format meet this weekend against Montana, Idaho and Eastern Washington

By: Andrew Pedersen

The Montana State track and field squad makes its first road trip of the outdoor season this weekend when the Bobcats head to Missoula for the Al Manual Northwest Dual at Dornblaser Field. The all-Division I meet – which includes Montana State, host Montana, Eastern Washington and Idaho – begins with both hammer throws taking place Friday, March 31, beginning at 3 p.m., then the rest of the meet's events starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 1.

MSU comes off its opening event of the year which it hosted at the Bobcat Track and Field Complex on Saturday, March 25. The Bobcats competed against MSU-Billings and saw success across several different events. The MSU women's team had a first-place finisher in each event it had a competitor in and the men's squad had 11 take first in an event at the Bobcat Invitational.

"I thought last week was a pretty good, almost intrasquad type of meet," Montana State head coach Dale Kennedy said. "It was an opportunity to find out where we are. We can't make huge changes in one week of training, but we're progressing towards some changes over time between now and the Big Sky meet. This will certainly give us a little more input as we work toward the championships."

The Al Manual Northwest Dual will be the Bobcats' first of three trips west to Missoula during the outdoor campaign.

The meet hosted by Montana is the second year it has been strictly a Division I event. The Griz will be making their opening appearance of the outdoor season, while Idaho makes its second appearance. Eastern Washington will have a majority of its student-athletes at the meet, with several competing at the Stanford Invitational and Texas Relays.

"The competitive environment will be much more challenging than it was last week," Kennedy said. "This is a meet that we'll be scoring against the three other schools. This is always a fun competition. It's the second year we have Idaho involved, historically the meet has had three teams compete in it, so we were really excited to get Idaho in it since all the schools are in the area.

"It should be a fun meet with the team scoring. My perception always with team scoring is that kids seem to step up to a higher level with it. It can be challenging to make sure we cover the events, but we're really looking forward to the meet."

The Bobcats begin a month long stretch of competition away from their home track. MSU will be in action at the Utah Spring Classic and Weber State Wildcat Invitational on April 7-8, then select members of the team head to California for the Mt. SAC Relays and the Beach and Bryan Clay Invitational.

Montana State makes its final regular season appearance at home during the Tom Gage Classic on May 5 before traveling to Sacramento for the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships, which run from May 10-13.

In the Polls/Rankings
The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its preseason National Rankings and the Montana State men's team was listed on the release on March 30. The Bobcats ranked 185th among all Division I schools in the preseason rankings, sitting ahead of fellow Big Sky members Idaho State (193) and Idaho (198).

Multiple Bobcats also have times that rank nationally in the top 100.

Sophomore Alyssa Snyder has Montana State's best ranking as she sits 28th currently in the nation in the 5,000 with her altitude-adjusted time of 16:59.15.

Junior Kyle Douglass is the lone Bobcat with multiple top-100 performances. He ranks 54th in the discus with his throw of 171-11(52.40m) and 62nd in the shot put with a throw of 56-01.75 (17.11m). Junior Calvin Root joined Douglass on the men's side in the top 100 of the Division I performance list with his 188-11 (57.58m) hammer throw, good for 82nd overall.

Seniors Christie Schiel (4:31.39) and Jacqueline Verlanic (179-04) are 94th nationally in the women's 1,500 and hammer throw, respectively

MSU Record Book Update
Two Bobcats forced changes to the all-time top 10 chart during the MSU-hosted Bobcat Invite to open the outdoor season.

Christie Schiel was the first MSU athlete of the day to put a 2017 time on to the program record book. Her converted mark of 4:31.39 was good for first place in the 1,500-meter run during the meet and put her at 10th all-time in the event. Alyssa Snyder joined her by wrapping up first-place showing in the 5,000. Snyder crossed the finish line easily ahead of the pack with a time of 16:59.15, good for eighth in program history in the event.

Big Sky Performance List Update
Men's Rankings
200m – Jadin Casey 11th (22.12)
400m – Jadin Casey 8th (49.02)
800m – Cameron Carroll 7th (1:55.67), Zach Kughn 11th (1:56.60), Shawn Peden 19th (1:58.08)
1,500m – Diego Leon 4th (3:54.75), Zach Kughn 5th (3:55.85), Cameron Carroll 6th (3:56.04), Samuel Bloom (3:59.48), Anthony Schmalz 13th (4:00.98), Ty Mogan 15th (4:02.10), Shawn Peden 19th (4:04.90)
5,000m – Ty Mogan 17th (15:21.78),
110 Hurdles – Mason Storm 7th (15.22), Christopher Lange 11th (15.52)
400 Hurdles – Christopher Lange 5th (54.95), Caleb Neth 7th (55.96), Jared Schwend 16th (58.12)
4x100m Relay – 42.79 (6th)
4x400m Relay – 3:24.71 (7th)
High Jump – Noah Martin T3rd (6-06.75), Aidan Pedersen T11th (6-02.75)
Pole Vault – Graham Reid T1st (15-01), Jake Bradford 4th (14-07.25), Branygen Andersen T7th (14-01.25), Austin Decker T9th (13-07.25), Knox Semenza T9th (13-07.25), Caleb Neth T17th (12-07.25), Ross Moore T17th (12-07.25)
Long Jump – Noah Martin 16th (20-10.75)
Shot Put – Kyle Douglass 2nd (56-01.75), Alec Nehring 5th (53-05.50), Calvin Root 10th (48-01.75), Mason Storm 11th (45-04.25), Dalen Hargett 17th (37-06.50)
Discus – Kyle Douglass 1st (171-11), Alec Nehring 7th (151-04), Calvin Root 9th (148-01), Dalen Hargett 17th (125-09), Mason Storm 19th (120-07)
Hammer Throw – Calvin Root 2nd (188-11), Alec Nehring 14th (158-07)
Javelin – Ty Bermes 5th (170-11)

Women's Rankings
100m – Jessica Chrisp T14th (12.69)
200m – Amanda Jaynes 19th (25.86)
800m – Christie Schiel 6th (2:15.58), Kimberly Parsell 17th (2:19.25), Kendra Larson 19th (2:20.40), Madison Liecthy 20th (2:21.59)
1,500m – Christie Schiel 1st (4:31.39), Alyssa Snyder 3rd (4:32.63), Kimberly Parsell 12th (4:43.90), Madison Liechty 14th (4:44.86)
5,000m – Alyssa Snyder 1st (16:59.15), Rychelle DeNardo 14th (18:43.55), Jenette Northey 15th (18:45.26), Sierra Tucker 17th (18:54.65), Morgan Jones 20th (19:16.91)
100 Hurdles – Amanda Jaynes 6th (14.53)
400 Hurdles - Holly Andersen T13th (1:06.14)
4x100m Relay – 48.89 (6th)
4x400m Relay – 4:01.85 (6th)
High Jump – Carlie Haeffner T10th (5-03), Shey Hannum T10th (5-03)
Pole Vault – Casey Teska 3rd (12-0), Tiffani Finley T11th (11-00.25), Aubrey Kessel T11th (11-00.25), Isabella Calabrese T14th (10-06.25), Alex Hellenberg T14th (10-06.25), Samantha Mohl 18th (10-00.50)
Long Jump – Truanne Roginske 12th (17-08.75), Megan Ralstin 16th (17-06.25)
Shot Put – Lindsay Benson 10th (43-08.50)
Discus – Lindsay Benson 15th (130-08)
Hammer Throw – Jacqueline Verlanic 3rd (179-04), Callen Crawford 8th (170-10), Cailyn Schroeder 11th (161-00), Lindsay Benson 16th (150-00)
Javelin – Carley VonHeeder 4th (132-04), Leslie Gappa 5th 130-06), Tiffany Shearman 14th (120-10)

Bobcat Teams Selected Among Contenders Big Sky Coaches' Preseason Poll
Both the men's and women's teams were listed among the top contenders in the 2017 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field coaches' preseason poll, which was announced by the league on March 21.

The Montana State men's team was selected third by the Big Sky coaches with 113 points. Northern Arizona was a unanimous choice to win its sixth straight title outdoors with the maximum 144 points, while Southern Utah was the runner-up with 129 points. Those three schools separated themselves from the remaining nine in the preseason poll, with Sacramento State (99) and Montana (97) also high on the list.

The MSU women's squad topped expectations during the indoor slate and will again look to do so heading into the outdoor season. The Bobcats were picked fourth by their peers in the preseason poll and accumulated 100 points. The Lumberjacks are predicted to finish in first by their peers and earned 140 points behind eight first-place votes. Montana was picked by four to finish first but was runner-up on the list with 129. Sacramento State follows the Griz on the list with 118 points.

Montana State has seen success on both sides in recent years. The men's team has finished in the top five at the conference meet in each of the last six years, with runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2014. The women's team finished as runner-up at the Big Sky Championships in 2012 and 2015. Last season, the men's and women's squads took fifth and eighth, respectively.