SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Montana State's track and field team stacked up a haul of podium finishes and set themselves up for an exciting championship finale with their work at Hornet Stadium on Friday at the 2025 Big Sky outdoor track and field championships.
Highlighted by a title defense in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase from Rob McManus and a championship meet record in the women's pole vault from Tatum Richards, the Bobcats put on an impressive show on the third of four days at the conference championships.
With seven of 22 events scored, the Montana State women are in first place with 72.5 points. Idaho State is second with 46.5 points, with Northern Arizona in third with 37 points.
On the men's side, Northern Arizona is at the top of the leaderboard with 65.5 points. Montana State is in second with 43 points, while Montana is third with 42 points.
McManus, a redshirt senior from Cashmere, Wash., won his second straight Big Sky title in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in comfortable fashion, crossing the line in 8:36.37.
It's the third straight year on the podium for the three-time All-American who currently ranks No. 4 in NCAA Division I in the event, and marks the sixth straight year that a Bobcat man has won the gold medal in the steeplechase.
McManus was joined on the podium by Owen Smith, who took third in 8:44.75. The Billings native suffered a hard fall on one of the final water barriers, but hopped up and stayed in the fight on the way to a bronze medal.
In the women's pole vault, Richards was red-hot in clearing her first five bars with no misses. That proved key, as the sophomore from Emmett, Idaho, would win out over Idaho State's Elliotte Stockham on the number of misses after both cleared a championship meet record bar (13-09).
With her clearance at 13-09, Richards moved up into a tie with former teammate Maisee Brown for No. 2 all-time in school history.
Richards is the first Bobcat woman to win the Big Sky outdoor pole vault title since Alex Hellenberg in 2022.
Those standout performances were just part of a stellar day at Hornet Stadium for the Bobcat track and field team, who excelled in the four field event finals while putting plenty of their track stars through Friday's prelims and into Saturday's championship finals.
