Montana State University
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
'Steeple U' Takes Center Stage at NCAA Championships
6/4/2024 5:38:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Rob McManus, Levi Taylor, and Owen Smith will race Wednesday night in the 3,000 meter steeplechase national semifinals at Hayward Field in Eugene
EUGENE, Ore. -- 'Steeple U' returns to the national stage Wednesday night when three Bobcats toe the line on the most storied track in America, competing for Montana State at the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
"It's great to be back," Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field Lyle Weese said. "It's always exciting to have people come and compete here, and it's pretty special when the NCAA Championships are here in Eugene."
Duncan Hamilton, the national runner-up in the event in both 2022 and 2023, is no longer sporting a Montana State jersey, but three of his former teammates have made a return to the NCAA Championships with eyes on the podium.
Levi Taylor, Rob McManus, and Owen Smith will race in the first of two semifinals on Wednesday at 5:02 p.m. PT/6:02 p.m. MT.
The race will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+.
The top five finishers in each section plus the next two fastest times will advance to Friday night's final at 6:24 p.m. PT/7:24 p.m. MT.
"It's definitely unusual to have three in one heat and not have anyone in the other section," Weese said. "We're not approaching it too differently. We're not getting caught up on what we could do as a group, but rather just making sure each individual is going out there and putting themselves in the best position to advance to Friday."
Montana State's three participants in the 24-athlete field mark the most of any school. It's also the second consecutive year the Bobcats have sent three to the national meet in the steeplechase.
Montana State and Eastern Kentucky are the only two schools in the country who have sent multiple qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last three years.
All three Cats punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships two weeks ago by qualifying from the West First Rounds in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Rob McManus and Levi Taylor, both ranked in the top-eight nationally in the event entering regionals, took care of business with Taylor winning his heat and McManus placing second in his own section.
Taylor, a redshirt senior from Laurel, Montana, is making his third straight appearance at the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
In 2022, Taylor was the Big Sky runner-up to Hamilton before earning Second Team All-American honors with a ninth place finish in Eugene at the NCAA Championships.
In 2023, Taylor finished third at the Big Sky Championships as the Cats went 1-2-3 in the event, later qualifying for the NCAA Championships alongside Hamilton and McManus. Last season in Austin, the Laurel native finished 15th, just outside the 12-athlete final while earning Second Team All-American accolades.
Taylor is one of just three Bobcats to compete at three outdoor NCAA Championships, joining Hamilton (2021-23) and javelin thrower Nick Lam (2007-09).
"Levi is really a veteran at this point," Weese said. "He's had so many experiences, and not too much tends to shake him. He seems to always be ready to go."
McManus, a junior from Cashmere, Washington, is making his second straight appearance at the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
In 2023, his first outdoor track and field season, McManus earned a silver medal behind Hamilton at the Big Sky Championships and finished tenth at the West regional to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Austin, where he finished 16th to earn Second Team All-American honors.
"I think last year, the experience really helped Rob this year," Weese said. "The excitement of making it to nationals last year was maybe a lot, especially with everything that went on with Duncan running so fast and then Levi running really well and then Rob running a huge PR--so I think that it was a lot heading into last year's NCAA Championships, but I think that it'll be helpful for Rob and helpful for Owen to see that entire experience for the team last year, and how they approached nationals and things they could do differently and similarly."
McManus ran a personal-best 8:29.58 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April earlier this year, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials by meeting the 8:30.00 standard. The Olympic Trials will take place back at Hayward Field in Eugene on June 21-30.
Taylor ran 8:30.43 at the same Bryan Clay meet, virtually securing an Olympic Trials berth since the field will be filled out by the next closest marks after the time standard.
McManus holds the 22nd fastest time by an American this year, while Taylor ranks 24th. Among the NCAA field competing this week in Eugene, McManus has put up the seventh-fastest time, while Taylor has put up the ninth-fastest mark.
Smith, a redshirt junior from Billings, Montana, is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
The Treasure State native was ranked 43rd in the West region entering the West First Rounds in Fayetteville two weeks ago, but turned in the race of his life to punch one of 12 tickets handed out with a personal-best time of 8:49.21.
"I'm pretty sure the last three years, everyone that we've entered in the men's steeple has made it to nationals," Weese said. "We had two in 2022, then three in 2023, then three this year. They've just done a great job of being ready to go. Obviously the expectations were a little different for Levi and Rob versus Owen going into regionals—with all of their experiences, with all that they've done, we maybe would have been disappointed if Levi and Rob didn't make it, whereas Owen was all upside and just went out there and went from ranked 43rd to making it here."
All three Bobcats were important contributors on a Montana State cross country team that placed 13th at the NCAA Championships in November, the second-best finish in program history. Additionally, all three scored points as the Bobcat men secured the 2024 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field team title, their first since 2005, leading to Lyle Weese being named Big Sky Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year.
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