(MSU Billings release)
GOLDEN, Colo. – The Montana State University Billings track and field team concluded competition in the Colorado School of Mines Division II Invite on Saturday in Golden, Colo.
“This was a good experience for our team,” head coach Jonathan Woehl said after competing against many Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams. “It was a great opportunity to compete against a bunch good teams from just outside of our region. Some of our runners were disappointed in slower times but once they’re converted for elevation, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up ranking well in conference.”
Michaela Johnson finished the day with a first-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles final after running a season-best 9:10 to lead the field. The 9:10 time ties the Yellowjacket sophomore for the fourth-best time in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference this season. Earlier in the day, Johnson finished seventh in the women’s 60-meter final while clocking an 8.18. Her time of 8.10 in yesterday’s prelims is tied for the ninth fastest time in the conference this season.
“Michaela had a strong couple of days,” Woehl said. “It is not easy to run both of those events at a meet and get two top-10 finishes. She is still improving and I think we will see her continue to drop her times.”
Mason Schram clocked a 6.97 in the 60-meter dash which was identical to his qualifying time from yesterday to finish fourth overall. Fellow Yellowjacket, Lamont Frisby (6.98) was directly behind Schram as he finished fifth just a beat behind his teammate. MSUB will continue to hold three of the top-5 times on the GNAC performance list with Schram moving into a tie for fourth while Frisby and Sam Zook hold their positions in third and first respectively.
Isaiah Girard reached a new height in the high jump after making a leap of 2.02 meters (6’ 7.5”) and finishing fifth on Saturday. He cleared the mark on just his second attempt before missing three attempts at 2.05, which would have qualified as a provisional jump.
Improving by nearly two-feet from last week’s meet, Marcus Lindquist finished in 10th in the triple jump with a distance of 12.73 meters.
Rahkei Eyer started his day with a seventh-place finish in the 400-meter where he posted a 52.54. His day culminated in a 10th place time of 23.73 in the 200 meter final. It was Eyer’s first collegiate attempt at the 200.
Saturday’s competition started with the shot put where Brady Ostermiller led MSUB with a throw of 14.82 meters placing sixth. Forrest Cross and Beau Peaslee finished back-to-back with marks of 13.28 and 13.24 respectively.
Taylor Stringari led the women’s shot put crew followed by Hannah Nessan, Hailey Stienbeisser and Kassadee Kuoha. Stringari’s 11.38 meter throw was her best throw of the season and an indoor-best for the sophomore. Nessan hit a new personal-record with her 11.25 mark in the event.
Mark Hovland led a trio of Yellowjackets in the men’s mile with a time of 4:44.39 over the 1,600 meters. Ronald Venema (4:45.42) was a second behind Hovland and Carson Jessop completed the event in 4:50.49.
In the 3,000-meter, Tyus Mendoza paced a 9:22.67 to finish 11th ahead of Venema and Jessop. In the women’s 3K, Nikki Aiken finished seventh with a time of 11:10.23.
Josey Smiedala started her day with an 11th place finish in the 400-meter with a time of 1:02.63. She also finished 11th (27.81) in a deep 28 competitor field in the 200-meter final.
The ‘Jackets are scheduled to travel to Bozeman next weekend for the Montana State University Bobcat Invitational. It will be the third time this season that MSUB visits Bozeman for competition.
All track and field results can be found on the Track and Field Results Reporting System.
