Two Records Broken, Ten All-Conference Finishes Highlight End to Big Sky Meet

Saturday, May 13

Sacramento, CA

11 a.m.

Montana State University

Big Sky Outdoor Championship - Day Four

Amanda Jaynes

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

Two Records Broken, Ten All-Conference Finishes Highlight End to Big Sky Meet

5/13/2017 7:05:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results (Day 4)Compiled Results (All Events)

The Montana State men's and women's teams earned fifth-place showings to conclude the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships

By: Andrew Pedersen

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Montana State had seven individuals earn all-conference honors and two relays achieve the same status on the final day of the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday, May 13, at Hornet Stadium.

The Bobcat men's and women's track and field teams each finished fifth at the conference meet.

The women's squad scored 93 points over four days, narrowly behind fourth-place finisher Weber State (99) while easily out pacing sixth-place North Dakota (63). Northern Arizona won the team title with 125 points and was followed by Montana (116) and Sacramento State (107).

The MSU men's team earned 87.20 points to complete the Big Sky meet ahead of Idaho (77) but behind fourth-place finisher Northern Arizona (97.60). Host Sacramento State notched 131.20 points to defeat competitors Southern Utah (119) and Weber State (115).

"What a collective, great team effort," Montana State head coach Dale Kennedy said. "We went in thinking that the max we could score on the women's side was 82 and the men's side was 84. We're not that far out from winning a championship when you look at it. We have a great group of returners and we have a very good recruiting class and we're going to climb up the ladder. We're just going to keep getting better."

Montana State's women's team broke two records on its way to all-Big Sky showings in seven events.

The Bobcat 4x400 relay of Taylor Buschy, McKenna Ramsay, Christie Schiel and Amanda Jaynes shattered the school record in the event set in 2015 by crossing the line in 3 minutes, 40.28 seconds. While the MSU contingent finished second in the event to Northern Arizona, both the NAU and MSU relays toppled the previous Big Sky Conference Championship all-time mark of 3:40.89.

Sophomore Alyssa Snyder capped off her stellar Big Sky outdoor meet with a second championship. Snyder finished first in the women's 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:32.56. That mark not only moved her up to second all-time in program history, but also topped the previous Big Sky Conference Championship meet record by three seconds.

Snyder became the first double event champion for the Bobcat women at a Big Sky outdoor meet since Heather Demorest achieved the feat in 2015 and just the second since 2004 when assistant coach Jen Allen won the shot put and hammer throw.

Junior Amanda Jaynes earned all-conference accolades in two events Saturday. Jaynes moved into a tie for second all-time in the MSU record book in the 400 hurdles with a time of 58.16, good for her first individual gold medal as a Bobcat. She accumulated three medals on the day with her third-place finish in the 100 hurdles. Her time in the event of 13.91 moved her to fourth in program history.

"Jaynes had a phenomenal performance with her two individual races and her relay," Kennedy said. "She was really closing in on NAU in that last relay but there was just too much to make up."

Senior Christie Schiel picked up her fourth career individual medal in the 800. Attempting to earn back-to-back-to-back first place finishes at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, Schiel was denied as Northern Arizona's Maggie Carruth battled to beat her by less than three-tenths of a second. Schiel came in at 2:07.67 for her first individual runner-up finish at a conference meet.

Senior Jacqueline Verlanic made her first appearance on a Big Sky podium Saturday. She took third overall in the hammer throw by completing a lifetime best mark of 193-04.00 (58.92m).

Both Bobcat women's team's relays had all-conference performances. MSU's 4x100 relay of Truanne Roginske, Ramsay, Jaynes and Daryan Box finished third in the event by crossing the line in 47.01.

The men's team had three standouts pick up all-Big Sky accolades Saturday.

Junior Kyle Douglass won his first-career conference title by leading the field in the shot put with a toss of 58-05.75 (17.90m).

Both Diego Leon and Christopher Lange made individual podium appearances for the first time in their collegiate careers Saturday. Leon took second in the 5,000 (14:16.13) while Lange completed a personal-best time of 52.77 in the 400 hurdles to gain the bronze medal in the event.

Eight Bobcat men and three on the women's side contributed to the point totals individually in the team standings.

Ty Bermes, Noah Martin, Austin Decker and Cameron Carroll all racked up five points apiece for the MSU men's squad. Bermes completed a throw of 198-06 (60.50m) in the javelin, Noah Martin cleared 06-08.75 (2.05m) in the high jump, Decker reached a season-best mark of 15-06.25 (4.73m) in the pole vault and Carroll (1:51.36) achieved a personal-best time in the 800.

Sophomore Jadin Casey and Alec Nehring each picked up two points with seventh-place showings. Casey crossed the line in 48.99 in the 400 and Nehring (53-08.25) earned a season-best mark in the shot put.

Anthony Schmalz finished in a lifetime best 3:55.06 in the 1,500, Graham Reid had a pole vault of 15-00.25 and Aidan Pedersen cleared 06-04.25 in the high jump to join MSU's individual scorers.

The Bobcat 4x400 relay of Samuel Bloom, Lange, Mitch Horning and Casey ended the day with a fifth-place finish (3:14.74).

Ramsay had her top individual showing in her first Big Sky Outdoor Championships by taking fifth overall in the 400 with a time of 55.30. Callen Crawford picked up three points for the MSU women's team by finishing sixth in the hammer throw (179-05) and Roginske placed eighth overall in the triple jump with a mark of 37-10.75 (11.55m).

"In our team meeting, all of our seniors shared some comments with the entire group," Kennedy said. "We're really grateful for the seniors and their leadership as they've mentored the underclassmen. They've done a really great job with that and we'll definitely miss them."

The 2016-17 season will continue for multiple Bobcats in less than two weeks. The NCAA Preliminary Round runs from May 25-27 in Austin, Texas. The top 48 athletes on the performance list in each event of the West Region Rankings will qualify to compete on the University of Texas campus.

"I think there's a certain amount of kids that know their season isn't done yet and they're always excited about getting to the NCAA Championships," Kennedy said. "To qualify for the NCAA first round is really special. We're going to have a significant number of kids, we could have as many as 12, which is pretty exciting.

"They need to regroup because this is such an emotional event, yet their season goes on. They have a few days to get themselves back into it physically and emotionally to maintain where they're at and hopefully have some improvement."