Bobcat Track and Field Has Strong Opening Day at Bengal Invitational

Matt Furdyk, pictured throwing discus, placed first in hammer at the Bengal Invitational on Friday afternoon.

Photo by: Kyle Cajero

Bobcat Track and Field Has Strong Opening Day at Bengal Invitational

4/29/2023 1:31:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Montana State’s Matt Furdyk highlighted the Bobcats efforts as the sophomore from Lynden, Wash., won the hammer with a season-best toss of 191-5 (58.35), moving him into fourth on this spring’s Big Sky performance chart.

By: MSU Sports Information

The opening day of competition at the Bengal Invitational at Davis and Bartz Field featured finals in numerous field events, while prelims got underway in track events on Friday afternoon. Montana State's Matt Furdyk highlighted the Bobcats efforts as the sophomore from Lynden, Wash., won the hammer with a season-best toss of 191-5 (58.35), moving him into fourth on this spring's Big Sky performance chart.

Carter Slade also saw a season-best mark of 178-1 in the hammer to move him into the top 10 in the league. Three other field events were contested on the men's side including pole vault, long jump and javelin.

Bob Hartley placed fifth in pole vault, clearing the bar at 15-3.50- a season-best mark. Dylan Lee finished third in the long jump with a mark of 22-10.5, while Pat Vialva and Cooper Hoffman placed fourth and fifth, respectively in javelin. Vialva's toss of 206-4 moved him into seventh on the Big Sky's list.

Stryder Todd-Fields paced MSU in the running events, qualifying for the finals at both 100- and 200—meters. The freshman from Portland, Ore., recorded season-best marks in both events.

Freshman and Manhattan product Michael Swan, Jr., recorded the top prelim time in the 400-meters with a season-best time of 47.77. The mark moves him into sixth on the Big Sky performance chart. Julian Hazen also qualified for the finals in the 400m with a clocking of 48.56, giving him one of the top 10 times in the Big Sky to date.

The Bobcat women were led by freshman Hailey Coey, who finished second in the long jump with a leap of 19-3.25, a ¼ of an inch better than her previous mark and tops in the Big Sky Conference. Twila Reovan notched a season-best mark as well going 18.1.50 to place sixth, while Taylor Brisendine finished eighth with a mark of 18-0.25.

Leah Klein and Jenavieve Lynch solidified themselves among the Big Sky's top 10 in the hammer. Klein notched a season-best 181-0 to place fourth, while Lynch recorded a season-best 171-3, good for sixth.

Gracey Carter was MSU's lone participant in javelin, finishing third with a toss of 139-3.

The Bobcat sprint contingent had a strong day qualifying three in the 100-meter finals, and four at 200-meters. Macy White (12.09), Jaeden Wolff (12.16) and Peyton Garrison (12.25) placed second, fourth and eighth, respectively, to move on to Saturday's final.

White notched the top 200-meter time in the prelims posting 24.14, a season-best and fifth on the Big Sky's top 10. MSU took the top three spots as Garrison (24.25) finished second and Caroline Hawkes (24.41) was third. Wolff also made the finals after placing seventh in 24.74. Garrison, Hawkes and Wolff all recorded season-best marks in the prelims.