Four titles highlight Bobcats’ Friday showing at Big Sky Championships

POCATELLO, Idaho – The Montana State track and field program combined for eight all-conference performances, including four gold medals, as the Bobcats completed the third day at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships at Davis Field on Friday.

The Montana State men's team is in the midst of a tight pack in the standings. The Bobcats hold the lead with 60 points, but are closely followed by Weber State (58), Idaho State (39) and Northern Arizona (38). MSU's women's squad is in second place with 39.5 points. The Bobcats trail NAU (55), but sit ahead of Idaho State (32.5) and Sacramento State (31.5).

MSU got the day off to a strong start as Lucy Corbett sealed her second consecutive gold medal in the women's high jump outdoors. She cleared all three of her first attempts and earned her combined fifth gold medal at Big Sky Championships with her mark of 5 feet, 10.50 inches (1.79m).

"I'm super excited," Corbett said after winning another conference title. "I was looking for a higher mark, but the main thing was to come out and compete at conference and get some points for the team."

The Bobcat women's squad had their highest producing event of the championships so far in the long jump. Elena Carter paced MSU with a leap of 20-01.50 (6.13m). She earned her first all-conference honors in the event, earning gold with the third-best mark in program history. Carter was joined on the podium by Alex Hellenberg whose jump of 19-11.75 (6.09) placed her as runner-up. The first all-Big Sky performance in Hellenberg's college career came behind MSU's fourth best mark on its top 10 list. Corbett continued a strong day by scoring four points for MSU as she took fifth in the event thanks to a mark of 19-00.75 (5.81m).

"It feels really good," Carter said of her performance. "My outdoor long jump has been so much better than indoor, I've been feeling way more consistent and solid. I'm really happy that I was able to show up and do what I wanted to do."

Carter's strong day continued as she advanced to finals in two events. She took first in the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries crossing the line in 13.53 seconds, while she had the second fastest time of 11.57 in the 100 as well.

The Bobcat men got a boost in the 3,000 steeplechase. Duncan Hamilton won his third straight Big Sky championship in the event as he broke the Davis Field record by clocking an 8:49.42. He was followed by Levi Taylor who earned a silver medal in the event with a time of 8:56.42. Cooper West rounded out the Bobcat contingent in the event as he placed eighth by coming in at 9:14.13.

Hamilton also raced in the 1,500. He qualified for a finals race by clocking the sixth fastest time of 3:54.11 in the prelims. Hamilton will be joined tomorrow by Riley Collins who came in 11th in the prelims with his time of 3:56.22.

"It was perfect," Hamilton said of his and Taylor's finish in the steeplechase. "We've been talking about executing that race like that for awhile. Getting 1-2 and picking up 19 points is big. Today went according to plan in getting a bunch of points in the steeplechase and making it into finals in the 1,500."

Rounding out MSU's gold medal efforts Friday was the Bobcats' outing in the men's 10,000. Ben Perrin and Matthew Richtman were in a battle for the top spot in the event. NAU's Drew Bosley and Ryan Raff held the top two positions with under 400 meters left, but Perrin completed a strong kick over the final 200 meters. He earned first place at a Big Sky Championship meet for the first time by crossing in at 30:00.95 which moved him to the fourth slot on MSU's all-time chart. Richtman added to the Bobcat podium showing as he placed third in 30:03.57, just two tenths of a second ahead of Raff.

"That was one of the weirdest last laps I've been a part of," Perrin said. "In my head, I was all over the place. I wasn't sure what I had left and when I saw Drew and Ryan from NAU start to go, I thought they were just gone. I kind of went around Matt and just wanted to try moving up.

"I felt just a surge when I heard everybody at the finish, so I told myself to just give it all I have and see what happens. I had a little bit more left than I thought. It was an awesome finish and race."

The MSU men also picked up eight points in the javelin, seven in the shot put and five more in the pole vault. Cooper Hoffman recorded a lifetime-best mark of 215-03 (65.61m) in the javelin to earn a bronze medal, his first all-Big Sky honors of his career. Cantor Coverdell placed seventh in the event with a throw of 199-01 (60.69m). Alec Nehring and Carter Slade recorded throws of 57-08.25 (17.58m) and 55-09.75 (17.01) in the shot put to place fourth and seventh, respectively. The pole vault crew was led by Robert Hartley's sixth-place showing as he cleared 15-09.75 (4.82m). Hunter Nicholson took seventh in the event with his vault of 15-03.75 (4.67m).

MSU's women's squad picked up additional points in the high jump, hammer throw and steeplechase on Friday. Anna Trudnowski tied for fourth in the high jump by clearing 5-05.75 (1.67m). Zoe Waddell and Hannah Perrin each recorded lifetime bests in the hammer and steeplechase, respectively. Waddell took seventh with her throw of 172-04 (52.54m), while Perrin's time of 10:56.95 put her on to the Bobcats' all-time top 10 list as she placed eighth.

The Bobcat women's side had a couple athletes narrowly miss out on scoring team points. Evelyn Adams took ninth in the long jump, Kylie Christiansen finished 10th in the hammer and Leah Klein led a contingent of MSU throwers with a 10th-place showing in the hammer.

MSU's men saw Drake Schneider, Chris Bianchini and Will Anderson advance to finals races. Schneider's 400 hurdles prelims time of 50.05 broke the Big Sky's championship time in the event. Bianchini had the top time in the 800 prelims of 1:50.93, while Noah Majerus just missed out on the finals as he had the ninth fastest time of 1:52.35. Anderson recorded the quickest time of the 400 prelims of 47.74. Alex Hershey narrowly joined him in the finals as he set the 10th best time of 49.46.

Multiple MSU women's athletes advanced to finals races. Both Macy White (11.77) and Morgan Evans (13.70) took second in the 100 and 100 hurdle prelims, respectively. Evelyn Adams had the sixth fastest time in the 100 hurdles. Mya Dube's eighth-place mark in the 1,500 of 4:28.19 put her third in MSU's history. Madison Smith had a lifetime best of 2:14.20 in the 800 en route to qualifying for the finals in eighth.

Morgan Hanson almost made a finals appearance in the 400 as she completed a time of 57.38. Shelby Schweyen came close to scoring for the Bobcat women she tied for 10th in the high jump.

The Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships continue in Pocatello on Saturday. The first field event begins at 9:30 a.m. and track events start at 2 p.m.