(Editor’s Note: MSUB Athletics Press Release)
BILLINGS, MT – On Monday, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced Beau Ackerman and Jorey Egeland as the GNAC Track and Field Athletes of the Week for stellar performances at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
“Seeing what Beau and Jorey were able to do at the meet is a huge testament to what hard work can do for you,” head coach Jonathan Woehl said of the athletes’ accomplishments. “They put in the hours to improve and learn about our sport and that is why they’re doing well. It doesn’t matter what coaches or facilities they have, it is the effort that they have put in that has made them successful. Fortunately for both of them, it was pay-off weekend.”
Ackerman won the javelin in Iowa with a throw of 226’10” (69.13m) and all three of his throws were further than any record by his 24 competitors at the meet. It is the furthest throw in the GNAC this season and the fourth-longest in the history of the conference. With the mark, Ackerman has secured himself a spot at the national meet in Charlotte, N.C. on May 24-26.
“Beau has been consistent all season long,” Woehl added of the junior. “It started when he popped off a big throw in the first meet of the year. In our next couple meets, even without passing his mark, he was right there. On Friday, he popped another big one and his next two still would have won. It is not a fluke that he is doing well, he’s the real deal.”
With his qualification for the national meet, Ackerman will ensure that the Yellowjackets have a national competitor for the third consecutive year. Teammate Sam Zook went to the national meet last season and may still join Ackerman this year. In 2016, the ‘Jackets sent Robert Peterson and Della Lyle to the national meet in Bradenton, Fla.
With a time of 9:06.80 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Egeland earned his second athlete of the week honor this season. The senior previously won the recognition after winning the steeple at the WAR XI meet in Spokane, Wash. on April 6.
Egeland is a provisional qualifier for the national meet and the senior will get one more shot at the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the conference championships. He is currently third in the GNAC in the event and 21st in the nation.
“Jorey wants to run the steeple at nationals,” Woehl said of the senior. “The nice thing is, he won’t run it again until the conference championships where it is the first event run as a final. He will be fresh and get to go after it. In Iowa, the field was so thick at the start that everyone had to slow down at the water barrier. At conference, the field should be a little more spread out and with the confidence he hopefully gained this weekend, he can get a time around nine-flat.”
MSUB will travel to Dickinson, N.D. this weekend were they will compete in the Dickinson State Last Chance Meet. It will be the final meet before the Yellowjackets travel to Monmouth, Ore. for the GNAC Championship meet on May 11-12.
