Bobcat Track & Field Completes Opening Weekend Competition

Friday, March 29

Los Angeles, CA

6:30 p.m.

Montana State University

Bob Larsen Distance Carnival/Al Manuel Northwest Invitational

Photo by: Sam Bloom

Bobcat Track & Field Completes Opening Weekend Competition

3/30/2019 8:47:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results (UCLA)Men's Results (Montana)Women's Results (Montana)

A variety of Bobcats had strong performances to begin the outdoor track and field season

By: Andrew Pedersen

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Montana State track and field split its men's and women's squads to open the outdoor season and wrapped up competition in Los Angeles and Missoula on Saturday.

The Bobcats appeared in both the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival and the Jim Bush Legends Invitational at UCLA's Drake Stadium Friday and Saturday. A variety of returners and newcomers had strong showings for Montana State against tough opposition in Los Angeles.

Duncan Hamilton and Drake Schneider each recorded first-place finishes for Montana State's men's team. Hamilton, in his first track and field appearance for the Bobcats, took first in the 1,500-meter run by crossing the line in 3 minutes, 53.95 seconds. He also took fourth in the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 9:06.04. Schneider completed the fastest time in the 400 hurdles with a mark of 52.76.

Several MSU women had top performances over the course of two days.

Anna French had the top individual showing for the Bobcats as she took second in the 3,000 steeplechase with a mark of 10:35.80. Gillian Maness (11:04.04) took seventh in the event and also earned a runner-up performance in the 1,500 with her final time of 4:38.10. Lucy Corbett had the second-highest clearance in the high jump competition by crossing over 5 feet, 8.5 inches (1.74m). That mark is the fourth best in program history.

Kelsi Lasota led the MSU women in the 5,000 and Camila Noe finished right behind her. Lasota took fourth in a time of 16:35.48 to improve on her personal best by a second and move her from fourth to third on MSU's all-time top 10 list. Noe finished sixth with a mark of 16:53.48, good for the ninth best time in program history.

Other individual top 10 finishers for the Bobcat women were Kendra Larson, Trisha Carlson, Morgan Evans and Delaney Smith. Larson (4:39.76) placed seventh in the 1,500, Carlson (2:16.04) took ninth in the 800, while Evans (14.49) and Smith (14.57) finished ninth and 10th respectively in the 100 hurdles.

The MSU men had several top 10 performers. Collin Buck finished second in the 5,000 open race finishing in 15;00.42. Cooper West made his track and field debut for MSU and took 10th in the 5,000 invitational race with a time of 14:45.70. Alex Lewis leapt 23-07.50 and Wyatt Thompson-Siporen nearly reached 23 feet as the two finished in the top five of the long jump standings. Chris Bianchini (1:55.26) placed sixth in the 800 and Derrick Olsen (14.63) finished in the same spot in the 110 hurdles.

The Bobcat sprints group was led by McKenna Ramsay in both the 100 and 200 on the women's side, while Bill Yeager had MSU's men's top finishes in both events. The Bobcats took fourth in the 4x400 relay behind the efforts of Courtney Stromme, Haile Norred, Elisabeth Krieger and Ramsay. The MSU men earned a seventh-place showing in the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:22.66 by Schneider, Jadin Casey, Yeager and Olsen.

Montana State sent a solid contingent of student-athletes to Montana's Al Manuel Northwest Invitational to compete against Eastern Washington and the Griz.

Elena Carter completed two runner-up performances to help lead the MSU women in Missoula. Carter completed a time of 26.95 in the 200 to take second and leapt 17-09.75 (5.43m) in the long jump.

Twila Reovan took first in the triple jump with a mark of 36-07.75 (11.17m) and fifth in the long jump. Lexi Kyro finished second in the 1,500 (4:39.55) and fifth in the 800 (2:20.12). Madi Arneson earned a second-place showing in the discus with a throw of 141-09 (43.22m) and Annalise Lont took second in the 400 (1:02.51). Hailey Phillips (1:04.39) also earned a top-three showing for the Bobcats in the 400 hurdles.

Parker Walton had the MSU men's team best finish at Dornblaser Field as he took second in the 400 with a time of 50.97. Ethan Saberhagen also had a top-three showing in the discus with his top throw of 149-02 (45.46m). Gannon Chamberlain took fourth in the 1,500, Brock Winegar finished fourth in the javelin, while Josh Mertz was the Bobcat men's top athlete in the hammer throw and shot put.

Brookelyn Palin led MSU's women in two throwing events and Kylie Christiansen paced the Bobcats in the javelin by taking eighth.

Montana State's throwers return to action on Saturday, April 6, when they compete at the War 12 Meet in Spokane, Washington. The remaining Bobcats look ahead to the Triton Invitational which runs from April 12-13 in La Jolla, California.