Corbett, Wilson Lead Bobcats on Day Two of Big Sky Indoor Championships

Corbett, Wilson Lead Bobcats on Day Two of Big Sky Indoor Championships

2/25/2022 9:56:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Two Montana State athletes earned gold medals and the Bobcats completed a combined seven all-conference performances on Friday, Feb. 25, on the second day of competition at the 2022 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Worthington Arena

By: Andrew Pedersen

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Two Montana State athletes earned gold medals and the Bobcats completed a combined seven all-conference performances on Friday, Feb. 25, on the second day of competition at the 2022 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Worthington Arena.

Lucy Corbett continued her assault on the Bobcat record book on Friday as individual events picked up at the indoor championships. Corbett made all of her attempts up to 6 feet, 2.25 inches (1.89) in the women's high jump. At a height to break the Big Sky Conference's all-time and championship records, she missed her first attempt but cleared the bar on her second. She would try two attempts at 6-03.25 (1.91m) but ended her appearance in the high jump with her third consecutive gold medal in the event.

"It feels awesome," Corbett said of winning her third straight title. "I was pretty nervous coming into today, but mainly excited. My goal coming in was to win it and I was happy to take some good attempts at 6-03.25. I feel a lot more comfortable going into nationals now."

Corbett added to her medal haul in the long jump. She placed third in the event with a personal-best leap of 18-09 (5.71m). That mark was the seventh best in program history and earned her the first medal in the event of her college career.

MSU's second gold medal of the day came in the men's pole vault behind the effort of Colby Wilson. The Bobcats' record holder in the event, Wilson easily made his way up the rankings and cleared 17-03 (5.26m). That height helped him claim the top honor in the event. Wilson, attempting to qualify for the NCAA Championships, tried his luck at 17-11 but was unsuccessful. However, the second-year Bobcat claimed his first all-Big Sky performance in his first conference championship appearance.

"It feels really good," said the Bobcat pole vaulter. "It felt like redemption for my senior year of high school because we didn't have a state championship (due to COVID-19). Thinking back to the start of the indoor season, I didn't expect things to go this well. Seeing my progression go up as much as I have is really motivating for me going into the outdoor season."

MSU received three other individual all-Big Sky efforts along with a relay top-three finish.

The men's team featured a third-place showing in the heptathlon by Hunter Nicholson. The multi-athlete earned a personal-best in both the pole vault (14-07.50) and the 1,000 (3:00.51) to work his way up the leaderboard. His 4,948 points were a top-10 total in program history and was less than 40 points from a silver medal.

Ben Perrin captured his first all-Big Sky honors during the indoor season as he placed second overall in the 5,000. He finished with a time of 14:17.89. The men's distance medley relay also earned a silver medal in the event. The relay squad of Levi Taylor, Alex Hershey, Chris Bianchini and Duncan Hamilton claimed a program top-10 time of 9:53.82 to finish second.

Camila Noe shattered the Bobcat women's 5,000 record with her silver medal effort in the event. Noe completed a time of 16:37.34 which almost broke the record outright. Her time, converted due to altitude and track size, will top the previous record held by Caroline Hardin by roughly 30 seconds.

MSU had several point scorers in finals events Friday.

The women's squad got a fourth-place finish from Elena Carter in the long jump as she leapt to a mark of 18-08 (5.69m). Madi Arneson took seventh in the shot put with a season-best toss of 44-06.75 (13.58m). Zoe Johnson and Anna Trudnowski combined to score a point in the women's high jump as they tied for eighth by clearing a height of 5-03.25 (1.61m). MSU's distance medley relay also clocked the sixth fastest time in the event of 12:06.92.

Matthew Richtman helped MSU's men's point total with his seventh-place finish in the 5,000. His time of 14:41.75 was a personal best and his converted time ranks him eighth in program history.

The Bobcats were represented by multiple other field event competitors. Kyle Bush had a personal-best mark of 44-02 (13.46m) in the women's shot put to take ninth, while Jordan Fink followed her in 10th place. The women's team had long jumpers in Evelyn Adams, Hannah Hicks and Taylor Brisendine all finish in the top 14 of the event. Robert Hartlley tied for 11th in the men's pole vault, Ian Fosdick took 12th in the long jump and Carter Slade placed 18th in the weight throw.

MSU saw a variety of runners advance from preliminary races Friday to finals that will take place Saturday.

The men's side saw a school record broken again by Derrick Olsen. His time of 7.81 seconds in the 60 hurdles topped his previous best by nearly a tenth of a second. He had the top prelims time in the event, while his mark of 6.86 in the 60 – which is the fifth fastest by a Bobcat ever – was the fifth best in the event.

Drake Schneider and Will Anderson both advanced in the 400. Schneider recorded the fastest time of prelims with a 48.61, while Anderson's 49.07 was the fourth fastest overall and moved him to eighth in program history. Schneider also moved forward in the 200 with the second-fastest prelims time of 1:52.96.

Chris Bianchini led the Bobcats in the 800. His time of 1:52.96 was a season best and was the fifth fastest of the day.

The women's team featured Macy White who moved forward to finals in two events. She captured the third fastest 200 (24.96) and the fourth fastest 60 (7.54). MSU will be represented by two runners in the 60 hurdles finals. Elena Carter has the top time of the prelims with her 8.48. Adams joined her with the sixth fastest mark of 8.82 which was a personal best.

Montana State sits among some of the top performing teams with six events scored at the Big Sky Conference Championships. The Bobcat women are in third overall with 35 points. They trail Idaho State (44) and Northern Arizona (41). MSU's men are also in third place with 34 points. NAU leads the competition with 63 points and is followed by Weber State (43).

The Big Sky meet picks back up at 10:30 a.m. in Worthington Arena on Saturday.