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Williams, Girard, Zook cap solid meet in Bozeman for MSU Billings

Posted at 7:40 PM, Apr 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-20 21:40:51-04

(Editor’s note: MSUB Athletics release)

BOZEMAN – The Montana State University Billings track and field teams completed competition in the MSU Open at Bobcat Track and Field Complex Saturday afternoon and posted solid results. Several athletes broke career bests and the ‘Jacket sprinters and jumpers posted particularly favorable results.

Isaiah Girard extended his own school record when he cleared 2.08 meters in high jump to win the event. Girard holds an NCAA provisional mark for Nationals and moved closer to an automatic bid. Janessa Williams won the triple jump event after setting a new career best mark of 36’ 10.25”. She hit the sand just ahead of Montana State’s Twila Reovan (36’ 9”).

Sam Zook had his sights set on closing in on NCAA provisional qualifying times in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints and delivered in Bozeman. Zook won the 200 meter dash in 21.37 seconds. Teammate Rahkei Eyer was third in 21.88 seconds. In the 100 meters, Zook took second with a time of 10.61 seconds. Both events were season bests for the senior. He is now just one-one hundredth of a second off the NCAA provisional mark for the 200 meters and 11 one-hundredths of a second off an automatic qualifier in the 100 meters.

“It was a really good day for us in Bozeman,” said head coach Jon Woehl. “We had a lot of season bests and had improvements by just about everyone. Sam did what he needed to do and I know he is capable of taking even more time off in the coming weeks. I think Isaiah will have to get to 2.11 meters in high jump but today was another step in the right direction. I was really happy with our women’s sprinters and it was nice to see Janessa win triple jump with the best mark of her career.”

Anne Lory Chevalier set new career highs in the 100 and 200 meter dash for MSUB. She crossed the finish line in 12.73 second in the 100 meters for sixth place, then went 200 meters in 26.15 second for seventh in that event. Right behind Chevalier was freshman Kaitlin Mason. Mason also recorded season bests in the 100 and 200 meters. She was seventh in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.81 seconds. In the 200, Mason finished ninth in 26.71 seconds. Courtney Stromme swept both women’s sprints for Montana State.

In distance running, Nikki Aiken ran a career best 2:30.71 in the 800 meters. She also ran a career best 5:00.70 in the 1500 meter run and finished ninth.

MSU Billings combined Kaelen Shay, Mason Shram, Kyle Patelis, and Sam Zook to win the men’s 4×100 meter relay. They posted a time of 41.57 seconds to finish ahead of the team from Rocky Mountain College.

Logan Straus has set career bests in three events over the past two weeks. Saturday, Straus ran the 800 meters in 2:06.11 seconds and the 1500 meters in 4:13.84 to finish 14th. Last weekend, Straus ran a career best 5K in Missoula.

Brenna Beckett came across second in the women’s 400 meter dash. Chevalier, Madison Thompson, Mason, and Beckett teamed up to run the women’s 4×100 meters in 50.03 seconds. They finished second of two teams.

Women’s thrower finished well off the podium in hammer throw, discus, and shot put. Similar results occurred for the men in long jump. Brady Ostermiller took second in the men’s shot put finals. He marked a slightly further throw of 15.09 meters in the event, compared to 14.98 meters in Missoula a week ago.

MSUB was pitted against Idaho State, Montana State, Montana Western, Providence, Rocky Mountain, and Carroll College at the MSU Open.

UP NEXT: Men and women’s track is scheduled to compete at the Jack Christiansen Invitational on the campus of Colorado State University April 26-27. The GNAC Outdoor Championships are May 10-11.

THE BUZZ: Williams was named St. Vincent Healthcare player of the meet for the MSUB Billings women’s track and field team. Girard earned the distinction for men’s track and field.