Track & Field Splits Squads to Participate at New Mexico, Washington

Thursday, February 13

Albuquerque, NM

1 p.m.

Montana State University

Don Kirby Elite Invitational - Day One

Photo by: Sam Bloom

Track & Field Splits Squads to Participate at New Mexico, Washington

2/12/2020 12:23:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Don Kirby Meet Central Husky Classic Meet Central

The Bobcats will compete in the Don Kirby Elite Invitational and Husky Classic this weekend

By: Andrew Pedersen

Over 30 members of the Montana State track and field program are set to compete in two different meets this weekend. The Bobcats travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Seattle, Washington, to compete over the course of a three-day span.

The Bobcats will have competitors appear at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational on the campus of New Mexico beginning on Thursday and ending Friday. MSU also has athletes traveling to Washington to participate at the Husky Classic starting Friday with a majority of events taking place Saturday.

"It's a great opportunity for our student-athletes to compete in these two meets," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's director of track and field. "The Husky Classic almost every year is the premiere or one of the premiere distance meets for the entire indoor season for collegiate runners.

"This year, New Mexico is hosting the NCAA Championships. The Don Kirby meet is strong every year, but especially this year it's likely to be because teams are trying to get there to get a look at it ahead of the NCAA meet."

Montana State has competed in four full team meets to this point in the indoor season. Three were held in Bozeman inside Worthington Arena, while the Bobcats also traveled to Pocatello and appeared in Idaho State's Stacy Dragila Invitational. Both events this weekend will feature programs that range from across the nation.

"These meets will be very different than any we've had so far," Weese said. "We've had home meets and went to Idaho State once. Those had a relatively small amount of teams, while this weekend we'll see plenty of competitors performing at a high level and get to compete against universities we don't often see. There will also be professional athletes around so it's a totally different environment to compete in."

The Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships get started in just over two weeks in Pocatello. The Bobcats currently have 44 combined times or marks on the Big Sky performance list between the men's and women's squads. This weekend's meets will provide an opportunity for MSU's athletes to either improve their previous best marks this season, as well as get a chance to compete among some of the best before action ramps up at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.

"Probably the most beneficial part of this is just to try to get our athletes into a different environment," Weese said. "We'll be going up against teams they haven't seen and competitors competing at a level they haven't seen this year. We want to see how they react to that and get use to it. The hope is they go into these meets composed, but even if they have any reservations, that they'll be able to use that going into the Big Sky Championships and any future competitions."

The first event that features an MSU athlete at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational starts at 1 p.m. MST on Thursday. Action at the meet hosted in New Mexico picks back up at 8:30 a.m. Friday. The Husky Classic gets started at 2 p.m. Friday. A full list of Bobcat entries is listed below and links available for each meet can be found on the Bobcat track and field schedule pages on msubobcats.com.

Don Kirby Elite Invitational | Albuquerque, N.M. | Start times listed in local time (Mountain)
Maddie Brockel (200 - 5:30 p.m., Thursday | 60 - 11:50 am, Friday)
Elena Carter (60H - 9:30 a.m., Friday | 60 - 10:10 a.m., Friday)
Morgan Evans (60H - 9:30 a.m., Friday | 60 - 10:10 a.m., Friday)
Bradley Graves (60H - 10 a.m., Friday)
Casey Gunlikson (200 - 4:45 p.m., Thursday | 60 - 10:45 a.m., Friday)
Leah Klein (Weight Throw - 1 p.m., Thursday | Shot Put - 8:30 a.m., Friday)
Noah Martin (High Jump - 2 p.m., Thursday)
Josh Mertz (Weight Throw - 4 p.m., Thursday | Shot Put - 11:30 a.m., Friday)
Alec Nehring (Shot Put - 11:30 a.m., Friday)
Derrick Olsen (60H - 10 a.m., Friday | 4x400 - 2:10 p.m., Friday)
Will Prettyman (200 - 4:45 p.m., Thursday | 60 - 10:45 a.m., Friday | 4x400 - 2:10 p.m., Friday)
Twila Reovan (Long Jump - 1 p.m., Thursday | Triple Jump - 9 a.m., Friday)
Drake Schneider (400 - 2:30 p.m., Thursday | 200 - 4:45 p.m., Thursday | 4x400 - 2:10 p.m., Friday)
Jared Schwend (400 - 2:30 p.m., Thursday | 4x400 - 2:10 p.m., Friday)
Delaney Smith (60H - 9:30 a.m., Friday)

Husky Classic | Seattle, Wash. | Start times listed in local time (Pacific)
Collin Buck (5000 - 5:55 p.m., Friday)
Trisha Carlson (Mile - 11:35 a.m., Saturday)
Cameron Carroll (800 - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Gannon Chamberlain (800 - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Riley Collins (800 - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Lucy Corbett (High Jump - 3 p.m., Friday)
Duncan Hamilton (3000 - 3:50 p.m., Friday | 800 - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Alex Hellenberg (Pole Vault - 12 p.m., Saturday | Triple Jump - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Lexi Kyro (Mile - 11:35 a.m., Saturday)
Noah Majerus (800 - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Gillian Maness (3000 - 3:15 p.m., Friday | Mile - 11:35 a.m., Saturday)
Ben Perrin (3000 - 3:50 p.m., Friday | Mile - 12:15 p.m., Saturday)
Amber Prevedello (Pole Vault - 12 p.m., Saturday)
McKenna Ramsay (800 - 12:45 p.m., Saturday)
Levi Taylor (Mile - 12:15 p.m., Saturday)
Wyatt Thompson-Siporen (Pole Vault - 1 p.m., Saturday)
Cooper West (5000 - 5:55 p.m., Friday | Mile - 12:15 p.m., Saturday)