BOZEMAN — Montana State track and field athletes Hailey Coey and Sydney Brewster both secured qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, ranking in the top 16 in the nation in their respective events following last week’s Big Sky Championships to punch their tickets to the national meet.
The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas from March 13-14. Coey qualified for the meet in the long jump while Brewster will represent the Bobcats in the shot put.
The two Bobcats have combined for two Big Sky titles, four conference records, seven school records, five Big Sky weekly awards and 12 wins in their qualifying events this season to solidify their status among the nation’s best.
Coey is seeded seventh in the long jump for the NCAA Championships, posting a qualifying mark of 6.53 meters/21 feet, 5.25 inches to break her own Montana State and Big Sky Conference long jump records at the Big Sky Indoor Championships last week.
She was named the meet’s Women’s Most Outstanding Performer thanks to her gold medal-winning performance. Coey is undefeated in five long jump appearances so far this season, earned three Big Sky Women’s Field Athlete of the Week awards, and shattered her own school and conference records on three separate occasions during the indoor season.
She will look to cap off her indoor season with a scoring performance for the Bobcats in Fayetteville next week.
Brewster heads into nationals with the No. 12 shot put mark among accepted athletes. She broke her own school shot put record four times in seven meets, shattered the Big Sky indoor record with a season-best mark of 17.25m/56-7.25 at the Big Sky Tuner, and took home gold at the Big Sky Indoor Championships with a mark of 17.18m/56-4.50.
She has won each of the seven shot put events in which she has competed this season, received two Big Sky Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors, and will look to cap off her indoor season with another strong performance against the nation’s top competitors in Arkansas.
Coey will open competition for the Cats in Fayetteville on Friday, March 13, competing in the women’s long jump at 3:45 p.m. Mountain time. Brewster will compete on Saturday, March 14, with the women’s shot put set for 1:45 p.m. Mountain time.
