Bobcat Track & Field Selects Outdoor Season Award Winners

Photo by: Sam Bloom

Bobcat Track & Field Selects Outdoor Season Award Winners

6/12/2018 3:44:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Montana State track and field announced its year-end awards following the conclusion of the 2018 outdoor season

By: Andrew Pedersen

The Montana State 2018 outdoor track and field season came to an end in Eugene last week and the Bobcats selected their award winners for the entire slate.

Earning MSU's Top Gun award honors were recent NCAA Championship participants Kyle Douglass and Amanda Jaynes. The seniors made their national meet debut a week ago at historic Hayward Field for the Bobcats.

Douglass placed 17th in the men's discus at the NCAA Championships after an eighth-place showing advanced him past the NCAA West Preliminary Round in his third trip to the meet. The Missoula native capped his Big Sky Conference Championship tenure by taking first in the discus and second in the shot put in Moscow, Idaho, from May 10-11. He owns the second-best marks in program history in both the discus (192-05) and shot put (60-01.25).

Douglass was also named the Men's Outstanding Field Athlete of the Year

Jaynes took 21st in the women's 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships following a 10th-place finish at the west regional. Jaynes completed her final Big Sky Championship by claiming double event champion status by winning the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles. She owns school-record times in each.

Jaynes also claimed Most Improved honors and shared Outstanding Women's Track performer accolades.

Drake Schneider earned the Outstanding Men's Track athlete award. The MSU freshman picked up his first conference title by winning the 400 hurdles in a time of 52.57 seconds. He ranks fourth all-time in program history in the event with his lifetime-best mark of 52.13 during his collegiate-opening season. Schneider was the opening leg on MSU's gold-medal winning 4x400 relay at the Big Sky meet that established the second-fastest mark in school history in the event.

Kelsi Lasota shared the Outstanding Women's Track performer award.

Lasota finished first in the 5,000 and runner-up at the Big Sky meet in the 10,000. The junior had a late kick down the final stretch towards the finish line to claim the title in the 5,000 with a time of 16:36.97. That time ranks her fourth in the Bobcat record book. She moved to second in the 10,000 on the top 10 chart during the season and placed 22nd at the West Preliminaries in the event with her personal-best mark of 33:47.95.

Javelin throwers Tiffany Shearman and Carley Vonheeder earned co-Outstanding Women's Field recognition. Shearman claimed the silver medal at the Big Sky meet by toping her lifetime best in the javelin by almost 16 feet with her throw of 153-00. Vonheeder made her second trip to the West Preliminary where she took 29th overall in the event. She is currently third all-time in the event in program history with her best throw of her collegiate career of 156-03.

Earning the men's Most Improved award was senior Mason Storm.

Storm captured the fifth-best mark in the 110 hurdles (14.44) during the season. He also moved to fifth in the decathlon all-time while taking second place in the decathlon at the Big Sky Championship. Storm picked up eight points for the Bobcats by accumulating 7,161 points in Moscow over two days, the 40th best mark among Division I competitors this year.

Outstanding Freshman honorees were Schneider on the men's team and Trisha Carlson for the Bobcat women's team.

Carlson earned her first individual podium appearance at the Big Sky Championships of her Bobcat career by pacing MSU in the 3,000 steeplechase. The freshman tallied a time of 10:32.65 in the event. The Great Falls native advanced to the west regional in the steeplechase which she also ranks second among all-time Bobcats with her lifetime-best mark of 10:21.63.

Senior Carter Theade and sophomore Noah Martin were named Teammates of the Year. Theade capped her last collegiate campaign by contributing to the women's team's score at the Big Sky meet by taking eighth in the pole vault. Martin wrapped up his season competing in the high jump at the West Preliminaries. He followed it with a top-three finish in the event along with a fourth-place showing in the pole vault at the Big Sky Championship.

A total of 42 letterwinners were also honored following the conclusion of the 2018 Big Sky Conference Championships.

Men's Letterwinners
Chris Bianchini, Samuel Bloom, Collin Buck, Cameron Carroll, Jadin Casey, Kyle Douglass, Mitch Horning, Christopher Lange, Diego Leon, Alex Lewis, Noah Martin, Ty Mogan, Alec Nehring, Caleb Neth, Aidan Pedersen, Calvin Root, Anthony Schmalz, Drake Schneider, Trevor Simanski, Mason Storm, Kade Van Elswyk, Parker Walton

Women's Letterwinners
Taylor Buschy, Isabella Calabrese, Trisha Carlson, Morgan Evans, Anna French, Celestia Hammond, Alex Hellenberg, Amanda Jaynes, Samantha Kelderman, Lexi Kyro, Kelsi Lasota, Madison Liechty, Layne Oliver, Hailey Phillips, Megan Ralstin, McKenna Ramsay, Tiffany Shearman, Courtney Stromme, Carter Theade, Carley Vonheeder