(RMC release)
BOZEMAN - Rocky Mountain College's Isaac Petsch, Joseph Vanden Bos, and Michael Lee each hit NAIA national qualifying marks at the 2020 Montana State University Indoor Open on Friday.
All three earned a trip to the 2020 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship.
Michael Lee hit the NAIA's "B" mark in the men's shot put with a personal best and school record-setting throw of 15.26m/50'0.75". With the qualifying mark, Lee becomes the first student-athlete in school history to earn a trip to nationals in a field event.
"We've been working a lot on getting his form under control," said Coach Anicia Knispel. "Going into the throw, we let him know to extend his hips. He got the hips extended and had a big throw. We are really excited for him."
The sophomore from Kalispell, Mont., finished in third in a field of nine with the best throw from an NAIA athlete in the event.
"At first, I thought it was a pretty bad throw," said Lee, who had broken the previous shot put record last week. "After last week I was pretty disappointed until I saw how far it actually went."
Finishing in second in the men's weight throw, Lee broke his own indoor school record by over a meter with a distance of 16.18m/53'1". He had previously set the record last week with a distance of 14.97m/49'1.5".
After hitting the NAIA's "B" mark in the men's mile in January, Isaac Petsch ran a time of 4:21.92 to hit the NAIA's "A" mark on Saturday. The senior from Billings, Mont., finished in third in a field of eight as the only NAIA runner in the race.
Joseph Vanden Bos hit the NAIA's "B" mark in the men's 800m with a time of 1:56.85. He placed in second in a field of six with the top NAIA time. Finishing right behind him was teammate Elijah Boyd who just narrowly missed hitting a qualifying mark with a time of 1:57.78.
Isaac Cunningham broke his own school indoor record in the triple jump with a distance of 12.02m/39'5.25". Cunningham had previously set the record with a distance of 11.78m last week.
Finished with a time of 3:30.84, Rocky's men's 4x400 relay team placed in second between a pair of squads from the Bobcats. The team consisted of Lawrence Bryant, Caden Bethel, Vanden Bos, and Boyd.
On the women's side, Allison Halverson broke her own school indoor record in the women's shot put with a distance of 11.08m/36'4.25". She finished in sixth in a field of 12. She had previously broken the school record last week with a distance of 10.68m/35'0.5"
Rocky's women's distance medley team finished in third with a time of 13:04.34. The team consisted of Sydney Little Light, Jatinas Sattoriva, Carrie Daniels, and Mei-Li Stevens.
