Montana State track and field teams will fill the bus on Friday and head to Missoula for one more chance to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Championships the following week in Ogden, Utah.
“We have a few kids we still think can qualify and would like a chance to get into the conference meet,” MSU head coach Dale Kennedy said.
An athlete is eligible to compete in the conference championship by virtue of reaching an automatic qualifying mark or being in the top 14 on the performance list in each event. If an athlete is in the top 14 without an automatic mark, they are in danger of being bumped out by someone with a better mark.
“We have a jumper, Ashley Kropp, that is in the top 14 in both the triple and long jump but doesn't have an automatic mark in either,” Kennedy said. “If she can reach the auto marks, nobody can bump her out even if there are more than 14 qualifiers in her events.”
Ben Soukup, a senior hurdler who has been hampered by injuries, is also close to a qualifying mark in the 100 hurdles.
“Ben was an all-conference selection as a freshman but has really struggled with injuries and such over the years,” Kennedy said. “He looked really good at our meet here last Saturday and I think he could qualify Friday.
The meet in Missoula Friday is the last meet before the BSC meet May 13-15 at Weber State. After the conference championships, the Bobcats will head to the regional competition in Austin Texas to try and qualify for the NCAA national meet in Eugene, Oregon June 9-12.
“In order to go to Austin, an athlete has to be one of the top 48 performers in the event in the region,” Kennedy said. “The country is divided into two regions—east and west—and our kids compete with other athletes in the western region to be one of the top 48 to move on.”
The regional championships are key because in outdoor track, only the top 12 performers in each event at the regionals go on to compete in the national championship. There are no automatic qualifying marks like there are for indoor track.
“I know it gets confusing for the fans sometimes, but outdoor track has no automatic qualifying marks for the nationals,” Kennedy said. “You have to place in the regionals to move on. Right now we have a women's javelin thrower, Emily Tyrrell, who is in the top 15 in the country but only 13th in the region. The competition in her event is event is tremendous in our region. The east only has two women javelin throwers in the top 15 in the country. She really has to focus on that regional performance. If she would have a bad day, she could end up missing the national championships, but still be one of the top throwers in the country. There are no last chance qualifying meets before the outdoor national championships.”
