Montana State Completes Season Opener at Bobcat Preview

Friday, December 6

BOZEMAN

4 p.m.

Montana State University

Bobcat Preview

Photo by: Sam Bloom

12/6/2019 10:00:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Bobcat Preview Final Results

Several Bobcats had strong opening meets in their 2019-20 indoor season debuts

By: Andrew Pedersen

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State knocked off the first meet jitters as the track and field program hosted the indoor season-opening Bobcat Preview on Friday, Dec. 6, inside of Worthington Arena.

"It was great to have a meet before the break," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's director of track and field. "It gave the newcomers a better idea of what it's going to be like competing in a track and field meet at the collegiate level. It was nice to get them started."

The Bobcats had multiple individuals claim top 10 all-time marks while several returners earned personal bests.

Seniors Noah Martin and Alec Nehring each improved upon their lifetime bests, that had already ranked among the program's top 10, and finished in first place in their respective events on the men's side. Martin completed the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 11.50 inches, good for his collegiate best. Nehring also topped his personal-best throw in the shot put with a mark of 59-02 (18.03m).

Sophomore Elena Carter took first in the women's 60-meter dash and clocked a personal-best time of 7.75 seconds. Her converted mark tied her for the ninth spot on the women's all-time top 10 list.

Duncan Hamilton, a freshman in eligibility for the Bobcat men, placed first in the mile by crossing the line in 4:15.31. His time converted for altitude and track size placed him 10th in program history in the event. Freshman Will Prettyman took first in the 60 dash and his time of 6.90 put him in a tie for fifth in the Bobcat record book in his MSU debut.

Alex Hellenberg, McKenna Ramsay, Wyatt Thompson-Siporen and Cooper West all claimed first place in at least one event.

Hellenberg led the women's long jump field with her leap of 17-08.25 (5.39m). Ramsay completed the women's 400 with a time of 57.90, nearly four seconds faster than the runner-up finisher. Thompson-Siporen had the top pole vault in the men's competition topping a height of 16-04.50 (4.99m), while he also took second in the long jump (22-08). West paced the men's 5,000 field with a time of 15:28.87.

A variety of Bobcat individuals had strong showings on Friday.

Leah Klein had two runner-up finishes for the Bobcat women throwers. Madi Arneson (weight throw), Twila Reovan (long jump), Lucy Corbett (high jump), Jordan Fink (shot put) and Amber Prevedello (pole vault) each finished third in an event.

For the men's team, Casey Gunlikson took second in the 60 by crossing the line in 6.95, narrowly outside MSU's all-time top 10. Drake Schneider registered a personal best in the 200 with his time of 22.54. Ty Mogan also earned a runner-up finish in the 5,000 with his mark of 15:43.51. Josh Mertz took third in the weight throw, Teagan Olson placed third in the mile, while Hunter Nicholson recorded lifetime bests in the long jump (21-07.25) and high jump (6-05).

"Overall, our returners did incredibly well at this meet and they're ready to roll," Weese said. "There were things that were good and exciting, and quite a few things for us to work on going forward."

The Montana State track and field team returns to action in 2020 when the Bobcats host the MSU Multis Meet beginning on Jan. 6.