FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Three Montanans competing for out-of-state programs secured berths to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with their performances at the NCAA West First Round last week.
Colorado State's Klaire Kovatch, Boise State's Abby Kendrick and Northern Arizona's Hayley Burns will travel to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 10-13.
Kovatch, from Seeley Lake, will be making her trip to nationals after placing second in the discus at the regional meet. The redshirt senior logged a throw of 191 feet, 7 inches — matching the mark she threw to win gold at the Mountain West Championships.
Kendrick, a graduate of Missoula Hellgate High School, ran a season-best time of 10 minutes, 3.94 seconds in 3,000-meter steeplechase. She placed third in her heat and fifth overall at regionals.
Burns, a junior from Bozeman, punched her ticket to the NCAAs with a fifth-place finish in her heat of the 1,500-meter run. Her time of 4:09.87 was the 11th-best at the NCAA West First Round.
Kovatch, Kendrick and Burns will join Montana's Kevin Swindler and a group of Montana State Bobcats at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Swindler qualified in the pole vault, while the Bobcats advanced Rob McManus in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Sydney Brewster in the shot put, Tilde Bjerager in the 400-meter hurdles and Bjerager, Peyton Garrison, Giulia Gandolfi and Caroline Hawkes in the women's 4x400-meter relay.
Baylor sophomore Logan Todorovich of Helena will also be competing at the Outdoor Championships. Todorovich qualified in the heptathlon by ranking ninth nationally with a school-record 5,830 points.
The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships are June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
