ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The Montana State Billings track and field teams competed at the 2026 GNAC Outdoor Conference Championships on Monday and Tuesday, earning a number of personal and season bests during.
The biggest fireworks moment came from none other than Hannah Cooper, one of the program’s most decorated athletes in history, who rounded out her final GNAC Championships on Tuesday afternoon by collecting the first gold medal of her career, taking the top spot on the podium in the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.69 meters (5 feet, 6½ inches).
Cooper, who entered the event as a wild card after not competing in the event prior this outdoor season, not only won the event, but hit an NCAA Provisional Qualifying Mark, managing to best the field while also simultaneously competing in shot put while going for gold.
Cooper capped off her final conference meet with an impressive, all-around performance, earning the Yellowjacket women’s team points in five different events during the meet. She began by narrowly missing out on the podium Monday morning in the high jump, with a big PR mark of 42.34m (138-11) putting her in fourth place, and moving her to second in program history in the event.
She also took fifth in both the hammer throw and discus with throws of 40.98m (134-5) and 47.77m (156-8) in each event respectively, while coming in eighth in shot put with a mark of 11.97m (39-3¼). Cooper scored 24 points combined in her five events to help MSUB’s team score.
Cooper’s championship in the high jump is the first in the program’s history for the event, and the fourth GNAC gold medal in MSUB women’s track & field history, ending a 12-year drought since the last time a Yellowjacket woman has graced the top step at the outdoor conference championships.
The medal also marked the combined sixth career medal for Cooper combining her indoor and outdoor performances, tying Anica Knispel for the most all-conference marks at the conference championships in program history.
Meanwhile, freshman Rae Smart put together a pair of podium finishes at the meet, becoming the first MSUB women to finish the GNAC Outdoor Championships with two podium finishes since the duo of Anica Knispel and Leeza Henry did so in 2012. Smart did so with a pair of third-place finishes in the javelin and shot put, picking up her first bronze in javelin on Monday with a mark of 45.77m (150-2), before placing third in the shot put with a mark of 13.87m (45-6¼) on Tuesday afternoon.
Smart still holds the 11th highest shot put mark in shot put in Division II nationally, with national postseason selection set for next week.
The Yellowjacket women’s team placed eighth overall with a team score of 43, the team’s most ever points scored at a GNAC Championships. The men’s team took ninth with a score of 10.5.
The Yellowjackets will wait to see if they have any selections for the 2026 NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships, which will take place May 21-23 at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kan. Final selections for the outdoor national championships will be announced on May 12.
