Wednesday, June 8
Eugene, OR
6 p.m.
Montana State University
at
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Drake Schneider
Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
Bobcats Advance Trio to NCAA Championship Final Races
6/8/2022 9:02:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
The Montana State track and field program will have a record number of All-Americans as three Bobcat athletes qualified for finals races behind strong semifinal performances on Wednesday, June 8, at Hayward Field
EUGENE, Ore. – The Montana State track and field program will have a record number of All-Americans as three Bobcat athletes qualified for finals races behind strong semifinal performances on Wednesday, June 8, at Hayward Field.
Duncan Hamilton, Drake Schneider and Levi Taylor each advanced to the finals that are slated for Friday at the Oregon facility.
Hamilton paced the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase field on Wednesday. He led from the start of his second heat showing and was at the front wire-to-wire. His time of 8 minutes, 23.13 seconds, broke his previous lifetime best he set at last summer's U.S. Olympic Trials by more than two seconds. It eventually was the first overall time in the semis as he improved on his school-record mark and recorded the second fastest performance in Big Sky Conference history.
"I thought it was good for him to get out here and get use to a fast pace," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's Director of Track and Field. "A lot of times if you start fast, you end up having a slower pace at the end of the race. But it was helpful for him to be out front, see the barrier and run a clean race. He had a really solid effort."
Taylor appeared in the first heat of the men's steeplechase and kept up with the lead pack for a majority of the race. He was sitting in seventh place in his heat with one lap to go, but closed in and eventually took sixth with a time of 8:30.20. That mark advanced him to finals with one of the top spots outside of automatic qualification as he completed the ninth overall fastest time. The mark for Taylor moved him to second in program history jumping his coach, Weese, on MSU's all-time list in the event.
It also topped the time Hamilton established as Montana State's program record in the finals at last year's NCAA Championships in which Hamilton placed fifth.
"His performance was incredible," Weese said. "It was a six-second PR which is gigantic in the steeple. For him to have a great race like that, it was just an awesome performance."
The Laurel, Mont., native will automatically be an All-American which is the first accolades at the level in his college career. Hamilton will also claim his fourth All-America honors when the two race at 7:24 p.m. MT on Friday.
"We wanted to go into the races and be aggressive and run fast times," Weese said of his steeplechasers. "We weren't going to leave it to chance and hope they both made the top five. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do on Friday."
Schneider continued MSU's appearance at the Wednesday semifinals.
The four-time Big Sky champion in the men's 400 hurdles stuck with Malik Metivier of Texas Tech in the third heat. Metivier recorded the fastest time in the semifinals of 48.89, but Schneider just tailed him with a mark of 49.08. That time broke the program record of 49.15 he set at the Big Sky Conference Championships. His mark was also the second fastest among all three of the semifinal races.
"It was great to see him break the school record in the prelims," Weese said of Schneider. "His race was spectacular. Sometimes, semifinals races in sprints can be really nerve-wracking. He was super composed and he ran really fast. He's in a really good spot heading into the finals."
Schneider will race in the 400 hurdles finals which are slated for 8:27 p.m. MT. He already has become MSU's first men's All-American sprinter.
Colby Wilson made his first national meet appearance as he competed in the pole vault competition. Wilson cleared 16 feet, 10.75 inches (5.15m) to take 20th overall. His season ended with honorable mention All-America accolades, becoming just the second Bobcat men's athletes to participate in an NCAA Championship in the pole vault.
"Colby has made such huge strides this year," Weese said. "He's went from a good vaulter to one of the best in the country. This year has been so fun to watch his improvement. We can't wait to see how he keeps developing by this time next year."
Montana State will return to action at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on Friday. Both races featuring Bobcats will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Duncan Hamilton, Drake Schneider and Levi Taylor each advanced to the finals that are slated for Friday at the Oregon facility.
Hamilton paced the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase field on Wednesday. He led from the start of his second heat showing and was at the front wire-to-wire. His time of 8 minutes, 23.13 seconds, broke his previous lifetime best he set at last summer's U.S. Olympic Trials by more than two seconds. It eventually was the first overall time in the semis as he improved on his school-record mark and recorded the second fastest performance in Big Sky Conference history.
"I thought it was good for him to get out here and get use to a fast pace," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's Director of Track and Field. "A lot of times if you start fast, you end up having a slower pace at the end of the race. But it was helpful for him to be out front, see the barrier and run a clean race. He had a really solid effort."
Taylor appeared in the first heat of the men's steeplechase and kept up with the lead pack for a majority of the race. He was sitting in seventh place in his heat with one lap to go, but closed in and eventually took sixth with a time of 8:30.20. That mark advanced him to finals with one of the top spots outside of automatic qualification as he completed the ninth overall fastest time. The mark for Taylor moved him to second in program history jumping his coach, Weese, on MSU's all-time list in the event.
It also topped the time Hamilton established as Montana State's program record in the finals at last year's NCAA Championships in which Hamilton placed fifth.
"His performance was incredible," Weese said. "It was a six-second PR which is gigantic in the steeple. For him to have a great race like that, it was just an awesome performance."
The Laurel, Mont., native will automatically be an All-American which is the first accolades at the level in his college career. Hamilton will also claim his fourth All-America honors when the two race at 7:24 p.m. MT on Friday.
"We wanted to go into the races and be aggressive and run fast times," Weese said of his steeplechasers. "We weren't going to leave it to chance and hope they both made the top five. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do on Friday."
Schneider continued MSU's appearance at the Wednesday semifinals.
The four-time Big Sky champion in the men's 400 hurdles stuck with Malik Metivier of Texas Tech in the third heat. Metivier recorded the fastest time in the semifinals of 48.89, but Schneider just tailed him with a mark of 49.08. That time broke the program record of 49.15 he set at the Big Sky Conference Championships. His mark was also the second fastest among all three of the semifinal races.
"It was great to see him break the school record in the prelims," Weese said of Schneider. "His race was spectacular. Sometimes, semifinals races in sprints can be really nerve-wracking. He was super composed and he ran really fast. He's in a really good spot heading into the finals."
Schneider will race in the 400 hurdles finals which are slated for 8:27 p.m. MT. He already has become MSU's first men's All-American sprinter.
Colby Wilson made his first national meet appearance as he competed in the pole vault competition. Wilson cleared 16 feet, 10.75 inches (5.15m) to take 20th overall. His season ended with honorable mention All-America accolades, becoming just the second Bobcat men's athletes to participate in an NCAA Championship in the pole vault.
"Colby has made such huge strides this year," Weese said. "He's went from a good vaulter to one of the best in the country. This year has been so fun to watch his improvement. We can't wait to see how he keeps developing by this time next year."
Montana State will return to action at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on Friday. Both races featuring Bobcats will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
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