Montana State University
Bobcat PReview
Perrin's Record Highlights Strong Season Opener at Bobcat PReview
12/8/2023 11:02:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Ben Perrin's new facility and school record in the 5,000 meters headlines multiple top-10 marks across the board at the Bobcat PReview on Thursday night in Worthington Arena
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Ben Perrin's record-breaking performance in the 5,000-meters highlighted a strong season opener for Montana State's track and field teams at the Bobcat PReview on Thursday evening at Worthington Arena.
Perrin, a senior from Kalispell, crossed the finish line with a converted time of 13:29.16 to beat the record set by Duncan Hamilton last year by more than five seconds. The mark also broke the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Facility record, previously set by Tyler Day of Northern Arizona in 2018 (13:31.36).
The distance star built off a cross country season in which he earned All-Big Sky and All-Region accolades before a 53rd place finish at the NCAA Championships, and accomplished Thursday night's feat largely solo with only a portion featuring a pacing teammate. Perrin came across the finish line in 13:59.80, an amazing achievement at nearly 5,000 feet altitude and on a flat 200-meter track, good for the 12th-best time in the country this year.
"It was an incredible performance," Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field Lyle Weese said. "He was mostly solo for all of the run. Running by yourself is so much more difficult in distance running. He broke the facility record for a place that has hosted so many meets and great competitors on it, and he ran one of the top times in the entire country mostly by himself."
Elsewhere, Hailey Coey posted a leap of 5.96m (19-06.75), to push her into the No. 4 spot all-time in the long jump indoors. The sophomore from Billings turned in back-to-back jumps of over 5.95m on her first two tries of the season. Later on in the evening, Coey followed up that performance with a 12.00m (39-04.5) mark in the triple jump, cementing her place at the No. 3 spot in the top-10 list. Teammate Taylor Brisendine moved into No. 7 all-time in the triple jump with a mark of 11.75m (38-06.75).
The meet was unscored, but the Cats were able to get their highly anticipated indoor season off on the right foot against teams from around the Treasure State, including Montana, MSU-Billings, Montana Tech, Rocky Mountain College, Providence, and Carroll College.
"It seems like we are ahead in all of our event groups--throws, jumps, sprints and distance—of where we were last year, so that is a great starting point," Weese said. "A lot of really exciting performances. A lot of young freshmen that competed really well, and then a lot of returners that came out and performed well."
The men's sprints group had a great day, with Stryder Todd-Fields turning in a converted 6.86 seconds in the 60 meters to tie for third on the Bobcat top-10 list. The mark is the fastest time by a Bobcat since 2012. Teammate Noah Barbery posted a converted 6.87 seconds to tie for fifth on the all-time top-10 list for indoors, and Xavier Simpson turned in a solid 6.90 to round out the top trio.
On the women's side, Jaeden Wolff improved on her 60 meter time with a winning performance of 7.60 seconds, pushing her up from fifth into fourth all-time on the indoor top-10 list.
In the men's 800 meters, freshman Harvey Cramb posted a first-place converted time of 1:50.58 to earn the No. 9 spot on the indoor top-10 list. Cramb later helped set the pace in the early going for Perrin's record-breaking showing in the 5,000 meters.
With over a month until the next indoor meet at the Cougar Invite in Spokane, Washington, Weese said it's pivotal that the Cats use these performances as a springboard for January.
"It is really important that we don't take a step back over the winter break," Weese said. "We need to be ready for the meets in January and start at a pretty high level and go from there. We don't want to take a step back and have to retrace our steps and lose all the hard work and effort we've put in this fall."
THE RUNDOWN
- In the men's 300 meters, freshman Jett Grundy placed first in his first collegiate race, while Peyton Garrison won the women's 300 meters.
- Colby Wilson coasted to a win in the men's pole vault, clearing 5.30m (17-04.50).
- The Bobcats put four at the top of the leaderboard among attached athletes in the women's pole vault, with Maisee Brown (3.91m), Libby Hansen (3.81m), Tatum Richards (3.81m), and Taylor Holmes (3.61m) dominating the event.
- Talon Holmquist placed first in the men's shot put on a toss of 16.48m (54.01).
- Grace Gilbreth crossed the line in a converted 16:59.45 in the women's 5,000 meters to place first in that event, with Alex Moore and Hannah Perrin behind her.
- In the women's high jump, Lina Hommel matched her personal-best with a 1.70m (5-07) mark to win the event.
- In addition to Coey's big jumps, Taylor Brisendine posted a personal best mark of 5.65m (18-06.5) to take second in the long jump and placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 11.75m (38-06.75) for the seventh-best indoor measurement in Bobcat history.
- A pair of freshmen went 1-2 for the Cats in the women's shot put, as Emma Brensdal placed first in her collegiate debut (13.67m) and Sydney Brewster took second (13.60m).
- Elijah Jackman (18.07m) and Ryan McCartney (16.49m) went 1-2 in the men's weight throw.
UP NEXT
Montana State will have a long break before returning to action at the Cougar Invite on January 12. The meet will be held at The Podium in Spokane, Washington, and will be hosted by Washington State. The Podium is the site of the 2024 Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships.
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