(Editor’s note: Montana State University press release)
BOZEMAN – The Montana State track and field teams continued to display their depth during their second dual meet of the season inside Worthington Arena on Friday, Feb. 9, completing a sweep over three visiting teams. The men’s team won its duals convincingly over Weber State (82-62), Montana (93-54) and Idaho State (99-41), while the Bobcat women’s squad took down Montana (85-62) and Idaho State (89-56) and was able to hold off Weber State (78-69).
“Collectively it looked like we did really well as a team,” Montana State head coach Dale Kennedy said. “I think the kids really stepped up and attempted to rise to the occasion which they did. We had several season and lifetime bests during the meet, which is a motivator for the kids that are putting those down.”
The Bobcats continued their indoor campaign’s momentum with multiple individual standout performances.
On the women’s side, Amanda Jaynes was involved in three first-place showings. She took first in both the 200-meter run and as part of a relay, but her highlight came in the 60 hurdles. Her converted time of 8.61 seconds tied the school record mark held by Carley McCutchen and is the fastest in the Big Sky Conference this season.
Four other Bobcat women earned first-place finishes behind personal-best marks.
Kendra Larson improved her program all-time top 10 mark in the women’s 800 by finishing in a converted time of 2:11.52. Anna French earned a clip of 9:39.48 in the 3,000 and Truanne Roginske completed a leap of 37-09.25 (11.51m) in the triple jump, with both moving to seventh in their respective events in program history behind their performances. Trisha Carlson also completed a lifetime best in the mile (4:52.96) en route to a victory.
In the men’s competition, Chris Bianchini took the lead in the 800 down the final straight away and crossed the line in a converted mark of 1:51.45. That time placed him eighth in program history and is the second fastest currently in the Big Sky.
The Bobcats closed the night out on the track with two strong performances in the 4×400 relay.
Both the MSU’s men’s and women’s squads achieved the seventh fastest all-time MSU marks Friday. The Bobcat women’s mark of 3:46.07 was set by Taylor Buschy, McKenna Ramsay, Hailey Phillips and Jaynes, while the men’s team’s time of 3:16.32 was completed by Christopher Lange, Mitch Horning, Drake Schneider and Jadin Casey.
The women’s team’s 4×400 relay was the fastest in the Big Sky at the end of the evening and the men’s was the second-best mark.
“Our season bests in the men’s and women’s 4×400 relays were crucial tonight,” Kennedy said. “We did everything we could to try to get ourselves in the fast section at the conference championships.”
Also earning first-place showings for the Bobcats in the dual-scoring meet were McKenna Ramsay (400), Jadin Casey(400), Diego Leon (3,000), Wyatt Thompson-Siporen (pole vault), Trevor Simanski (triple jump), Kyle Douglass (shot put) and Calvin Root (weight throw).
The Bobcats’ strength in a variety of events played out throughout the action at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
MSU finished 1-2-4 in the women’s 400 with Buschy and Elisabeth Krieger representing the Bobcats. In the long jump, Alex Hellenberg finished runner-up and was followed by Megan Ralstin who took third overall.
For the men’s team, Mitch Horning took third and Christopher Lange finished fourth to round out a 1-3-4 performance for the Bobcats in the 400. MSU took the top three spots in the 800 with Cameron Carroll and Samuel Bloom closing it down for MSU. Ty Mogan and Riley Collins also placed 2-3 in the mile run.
Schneider Parker Walton, Noah Martin, Luke Middelstadt and Caleb Neth all earned top-three finishes for the men’s team, while Amber Prevedello (12-04) had a lifetime-best clearance in the pole vault to take second for the women’s squad.
“Recovering, getting your head right and going into next week positive is a focus,” Kennedy said. “The training load will decrease, it won’t be what it was. In most cases, it’ll be lower repetitions in things but a higher intensity level. Now, it’s really us trying to stay healthy and making sure our kids are ready to go.”
The Bobcats close out their regular season on Friday, Feb. 16, with the Big Sky Tuner in Worthington Arena. Events are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
