Montana State University
Tom Gage Classic
Track and Field Heads to Missoula for Tom Gage Classic
5/3/2024 11:12:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Final regular season meet of the year will be last tune-up before the Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships start next Wednesday in Bozeman
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- With less than a week remaining before Montana State welcomes the Big Sky to Bozeman for the conference championships, the Bobcats put a bow on the regular season with a final trip to Missoula on Saturday for the Tom Gage Classic
The one-day meet will mark the third visit for the Bobcats to Dornblaser Field this spring, and will serve as a final tune-up before the 2024 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Bobcat Track and Field Complex get underway next Wednesday.
A full meet schedule for Saturday can be viewed here. Live results will be accessible via AthleticLIVE.
Field events get underway with the women's hammer throw at 10 a.m., while track events will begin with the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase at 11:40 a.m.
While some of the Bobcats' squad will take the weekend to rest ahead of next week's championship meet, a sizable list of entries will still travel west of the Continental Divide to fine-tune and gather momentum ahead of conference.
Participating teams in Saturday's smaller Treasure State affair include Montana State, Montana, MSU-Billings, and Rocky Mountain College.
Montana State boasts the top men's steeplechase group in the country according to USTFCCCA's Event Squad rankings. Rob McManus (6th), Levi Taylor (7th), Harvey Cramb (57th), and Owen Smith (69th) all rank inside the top-75 in NCAA Division I in the event.
The Bobcats also own top-20 event groups in the men's 1,500 meters (13th), men's 5,000 meters (14th), and men's hammer throw (16th).
As a team, the men checked in at No. 34 in the most recent USTFCCCA National Ratings Index released on Tuesday. Northern Arizona at No. 22 was the only other Big Sky school in the top-50, with Weber State the next closest at No. 54.
In Tuesday's Regional Ratings Index, the Bobcat men held steady at No. 4 in the competitive Mountain Region, while the Bobcat women rose one spot to No. 9.
With good weather in the forecast, Saturday's meet in Missoula will be a prime chance for more Montana State athletes to potentially achieve a qualifying mark for the NCAA West Preliminary. The top-64 in each event from the West and the East qualify to compete in the NCAA First Round. This year's NCAA West Preliminary will be hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from May 22-25.
Tickets for next week's Big Sky Championships are available now. The heptathlon and decathlon will get underway on Wednesday, May 8th, and continue through Thursday, May 9th, with no tickets necessary to attend. Friday, May 10th, will see the bulk of the action get underway and continue through Saturday, May 11th.
The 2024 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be streamed on ESPN+.
A full meet schedule is available here. The Championship Central webpage can be accessed here.
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