It was a night of success and huge improvements for Montana State with Patrick Casey wowing the competition with a sub-four minute mile in Worthington Arena. The Laurel, Mont. native clocked in at 3:59.76 and with an NCAA altitude adjustment, his time equates to around 3:54. Coming into the MSU Dual Invite, Casey's time is the fastest in the nation and a personal best as he finished in first place 14 seconds ahead of the field.  

To close out the night, Casey anchored the MSU 4x400 Relay (Nick Melone-Michael Nguyen-Gage Pickering-Casey) that came from behind to win the event with a time of 3:18.73, also a season best for the Bobcats.

“Pat Casey's time in the mile is just unbelievable,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “To accomplish that here, in Montana, at Montana State, is just a thrill.”

The Men's Shot Put featured a 1-2-3 finish by the Blue & Gold. Trevor Gilreath earned the gold for MSU with a distance of  16.67m (54-08.25). Morgan Norgaard finished right behind him with a hurl of 16.66m (54-08.00). David Phillips picked up the bronze with a distance of 16.24m (53-03.00). All three Bobcat men earned season bests in the Shot Put.

Phillips and Norgaard grabbed two more medals in the Weight Throw when Phillips notched another personal best throw of 19.20m (63-00.00) and a first place nod. Norgaard finished in second at 16.06m (52-08.25).

In the Men's 55m Hurdle, the Bobcats came out firing on all cylinders and grabbed first and second place. Slater Powell earned first place in 7.58 while Jeff Mohl clocked in at 7.76 for the silver.

Mohl's personal best in the Hurdles (7.76) came just minutes after his first PR of the night in the Pole Vault with a height of 4.90m (16-00.75). The sophomore earned a bronze medal behind Idaho State's competitors and Big Sky Conference (BSC) leaders. 

Other notable performance for the men included a 1-2 finish in the 55 Meter Dash, led by Chris Wilson (6.50), with a second place finish from Nguyen (6.62). Adam Hutter was yet another standout at Brick Breeden with two gold medal finishes in the High and Long Jump events. Hutter's distance of 7.05m (23-01.75) in the Long Jump and 2.06m (6-09.00) height in the High Jump were BSC qualifiers and season bests. In the 3000 Meter Run, Dan Jackson spent much of the race neck-and-neck with Montana's Collin Fehr but eventually pulled away for the win in 8:33.12, and a season best.

The Montana State Women notched numerous noteworthy performances of their own. Camille Marchand put on a repeat performance of the Mountain States Games (Jan. 29) by winning both the 55 Meter Dash (7.15) and the 200 (25.18).

Katie Niemeir crossed the finish line second in the 55 Meter Hurdles but with a PR time of 8.23.

Kenai, Alaska-native Lierin Flanagan had a breakout performance in the 400 Meter Dash with a gold medal and personal best time of 57.30.

In the High Jump, Jessie Greany garnered another top finish for the Bobcats with a height of 1.72m (5-07.75), yet another PR on the night.

In the Women's 4x400 Relay, the Bobcats took second place with their top time of the season, clocking in at 3:51.09, just two-hundredths of a second behind first place Montana.

The Blue and Gold women took a 2-3 finish in the Weight Throw. Lena Suek threw a distance of 12.43m (40-06.00) for the silver, while Loni Havlovick took third at 12.33 (40-05.50).

 “This was a really special night with so many impressive performances,” Kennedy said. “So many notable things happened here tonight and I am so proud of this team.”

Montana State Track and Field returns to their home track again next Friday, Feb. 11, for the Bozeman Running Company Invitational with Weber State and Montana. The double dual meet is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.