Montana State University
NCAA West First Rounds
NCAA West First Rounds on Deck for Bobcat Track and Field in Arkansas
5/21/2024 9:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
School-record 23 student-athletes to represent the Bobcats at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville this week aiming to advance to NCAA Championships
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Continuing one of the most memorable seasons in program history, Montana State's track and field team will send their largest contingent of athletes ever to the NCAA West First Rounds this week, with 23 Bobcats traveling to compete in the regional meet at historic John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The 23 student-athletes representing Montana State smashes the previous school record of 17 set in 2022, the last year the NCAA West First Rounds were hosted by the University of Arkansas. Last spring, Montana State sent ten competitors to the regional meet in Sacramento, California.
"It's awesome to be bringing a big crew of student-athletes," Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field Lyle Weese said. "We are excited about what they can accomplish in Arkansas--we have a lot of people that are not just excited to be there, but are looking to make it through to the next round, the NCAA finals in Eugene, [Oregon]."
Action at the NCAA West First Rounds begins Wednesday and continues through Saturday.
The NCAA West First Rounds will be streamed on ESPN+, with live coverage beginning at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT on both Wednesday and Thursday, and beginning at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT on both Friday and Saturday.
A full meet schedule is available here and heat sheets can be viewed here. A meet central webpage with links to live results, streaming, information, and more can be found here.
Athletes who ranked among the top 48 in their respective events earned a berth into the NCAA West First Rounds. The top 12 in each event at the NCAA West First Rounds advance to the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, held June 5-8 at Hayward Field.
Wednesday in Fayetteville will be a busy day for the men, with Elijah Jackman and Matt Furdyk kicking things off in the men's hammer at 10 a.m. CT.
Later, Cooper Hoffman and Pat Vialva compete in the men's javelin at 2 p.m. CT. Vialva, a sophomore from Portland, Oregon, holds the Bobcat school record and the 18th-best throw this spring in the West Region.
At 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Colby Wilson will aim for his second career appearance at the NCAA Championships in the pole vault.
Wilson, who placed 12th at the NCAA West Prelims in 2022 in Arkansas and advanced to the NCAA Championships, finishing 20th, is currently ranked No. 9 in the West Region in the pole vault after setting a Big Sky Championship meet record in Bozeman by clearing 5.42 meters (17-09.25).
Also at 6:30 p.m. CT, freshman Harvey Cramb will race in the men's 1,500 meters. Cramb holds the 10th-fastest time in the West Region, and will aim to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships in his first year in a Montana State uniform.
At 7 p.m. CT, Jackman will compete in the men's shot put, and at 7:25 p.m. CT, 2024 Big Sky Indoor and Outdoor Freshman of the Year, Jett Grundy, will race in the men's 400 meters.
The night closes with Janis Pohl in the men's 400 meter hurdles at 8:20 p.m. CT and both Ben Perrin and Matthew Richtman in the men's 10,000 meters at 9:10 p.m. CT.
Perrin, a senior from Kalispell, enters the NCAA West Prelims ranked fifth in the West Region in the 5,000 meters and sixth in the 10,000 meters. Richtman is ranked 18th in the 10,000 meters and 29th in the 5,000 meters.
"We have a wide variety of experience among these student-athletes," Weese said. "Some have been competing at this level for four or five years already, and for some this is their first time going to a region meet. We have competed up against great competition throughout the whole year with our schedule, and we have a really strong conference, so we have student-athletes that will head into the region meet knowing they can do really well."
Montana State's men are coming off their first Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championship since 2005, edging out national power Northern Arizona by a point, 186-185, at Bobcat Track and Field Complex two weeks ago. Montana State's women finished runner-up for the fifth straight competition dating back to the 2021 indoor championships, tallying 134.5 points, their most since 2015.
"In the two weeks between conference and the region meet, for almost all of our student-athletes, they had a gigantic load at the Big Sky Conference championships—so we've had a heavy focus on recovery, especially that first week," Weese said. "For most groups, after about a week we started getting into some more significant workouts so that they are still building but probably more so just getting sharp and ready to compete. We had a lot of great performances at conference which indicates that we are building and still getting stronger."
Last season, ten members of the Montana State track and field team qualified for the NCAA West First Rounds in Sacramento, California, with Duncan Hamilton (3,000 meter steeplechase), Rob McManus (3,000 meter steeplechase), Levi Taylor (3,000 meter steeplechase), Camila Noe (10,000 meters), and Ben Perrin (10,000 meters) all advancing to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.
"If you look at past years, we've had people go to the region meet and compete really well there," Weese said. "I think it's a combination of the training, maybe backing off just a hair so they're going in there with good energy levels. But then also, our climate and the changing of the seasons is really helpful as well. Everything starts to feel a little bit easier once it starts to warm up and we get better weather to practice in outside. I think we just have a good set-up between training plan and climate that they can go into meets like this excited and ready to go."
Each of the past two seasons, Montana State has had five representatives qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, tied for the most in a single season in program history, eclipsing the previous best of four in 2015.
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