Montana State Track & Field Big Sky Championship Bound

Thursday, February 22

Flagstaff, AZ

12:15 p.m.

Montana State University

Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships - Day One

Tickets

Morgan Evans

Photo by: Andrew Pedersen

2/21/2018 2:00:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Schedule Meet Notes Heat Sheet Live Results Watch Big Sky

Montana State begins its pursuit of a conference title on Thursday, Feb. 22, when the 2018 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships get started at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on the campus of Northern Arizona.

By: Andrew Pedersen

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State begins its pursuit of a conference title on Thursday, Feb. 22, when the 2018 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships get started at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on the campus of Northern Arizona.

The Big Sky meet opens with heptathlon and pentathlon events on Thursday. The heptathlon concludes Friday morning, while championship field events and track preliminary races will commence that afternoon. The remaining championship finals start at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

MSU enters the meet following a strong regular season schedule of performances. The Bobcats had a combined 23 athletes between the men's and women's squads alter the MSU all-time top 10 list during the indoor campaign.

"I think we are (ready for the conference championships)," Montana State head coach Dale Kennedy said. "It's hard to tell for sure because there's mental and emotional components that really go with the peaking thing, as well as a physiological part of it. I'd like to think this season has been an indication that we're about as ready as we're going to be."

The Bobcats' men's and women's teams each finished third at the Big Sky Championships a year ago in Pocatello, Idaho, despite being picked to finish fourth and eighth, respectively, in the conference's preseason coaches' poll. MSU's recent history has seen success on the Bobcat side at the indoor meet. The Bobcat men and women have finished in the top three in four of the previous six seasons, including runner-up showings on two occasions apiece.

MSU's teams were both selected to finish fourth by the league's head coaches in the 2018 poll.

"We've had a history of being competitive," Kennedy said. "Not always for the conference title, but we're always competitive when it comes to finishing in the top three. This year is pretty characteristic of our program. We're always pretty competitive, knocking on the door, having multiple numbers of all-conference honorees."

The contingent from Bozeman had seven reach the podium individually a season ago, with several others earning all-conference accolades as part of Bobcat relay teams. This season, the Bobcats have 12 on the Big Sky performance list featured among the top three in their respective events heading into this weekend's meet. That's not including the Bobcats' four relay squads which rank among the top three in the conference pre-championship races.

Plenty of other individuals will be relied on to score points off the podium in finals appearances throughout the course of the weekend.

"There's always going to be surprises in both directions," Kennedy said. "I'm hoping there's more surprises on the positive side of that. I can't say off hand who's going to all of a sudden breakthrough. There's an element of surprise to it and almost always we're not shocked, but we're pleased if somebody has a great weekend and can step up and get it done."

The Big Sky Championships will have a live stream available for the final two days of competition on the Pluto TV app and on WatchBigSky.com. More information such as results, schedules, tickets and more can be found on the championship central page. More information can be located on the Bobcats' track and field schedule pages on msubobcats.com.

Montana State Big Sky Championship Participants
Men's Team
Athlete	Event(s)
Chris Bianchini	800m Run
Samuel Bloom	800m Run, Distance Medley Relay
Collin Buck	3000m Run, 5000m Run
Cameron Carroll	800m Run
Jadin Casey	400m Run, 4x400m Relay
Gannon Chamberlain	Mile, 3000m Run
Riley Collins	Mile, Distance Medley Relay
Kyle Douglass	Shot Put
Mitch Horning	200m Dash, 4x400m Relay
Brandon Hough	3000m Run, 5000m Run
Christopher Lange	4x400m Relay, Distance Medley Relay
Diego Leon	Mile, 3000m Run, Distance Medley Relay
Noah Martin	High Jump, Pole Vault, Heptathlon
Tyler McQueen	400m Dash
Luke Middelstadt	Pole Vault
Ty Mogan	3000m Run, 5000m Run
Alec Nehring	Shot Put, Weight Throw
Caleb Neth	Long Jump, Heptathlon
Calvin Root	Shot put, Weight Throw
Anthony Schmalz	Mile, 3000m Run
Drake Schneider	400m Run, 60m Hurdles
Trevor Simanski	Long Jump, Triple Jump
Wyatt Thompson-Siporen	Pole Vault
Parker Walton	200m Dash, 400m Dash, 4x400m Relay
Women's Team
Ellen Brooks	Mile, Distance Medley Relay
Taylor Buschy	400m Dash, 4x400m Relay
Isabella Calabrese	Pole Vault
Trisha Carlson	Mile, 3000m Run, Distance Medley Relay
Morgan Evans	60m Dash, 200m Dash, 60m Hurdles
Anna French	3000m Run, 5000m Run
Caroline Hardin	3000m Run, 5000m Run
Alex Hellenberg	Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump
Amanda Jaynes	200m Dash, 60m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay
Samantha Kelderman	3000m Run
Elisabeth Krieger	400m Dash
Lexi Kyro	Mile, 3000m Run, Distance Medley Relay
Kendra Larson	800m Run, 3000m Run,
Kelsi Lasota	3000m Run, 5000m Run
Rachael McGree	60m Hurdles, Long Jump
Layne Oliver	Mile, 3000m Run
Hailey Phillips	4x400m Relay, Distance Medley Relay
Amber Prevedello	Pole Vault
Megan Ralstin	Long Jump, Triple Jump
McKenna Ramsay	400m Dash, 4x400m Relay
Adeline Richardson	Shot Put, Weight Throw
Truanne Roginske	60m Dash, Long Jump, Triple Jump
Joby Rosenleaf	Mile, 3000m Run
Carter Theade	Pole Vault
Jazmin Wilberg	Triple Jump, Pentathlon