Montana State Track and Field hosted the Bobcat Open in Worthington Arena Friday night. The unscored meet featured competitors from Montana State, Abilene Christian (Texas), Carroll (Mont.), Gillette (Wyo.), Great Falls (Mont.) and Rocky Mountain (Mont.). (Complete Results)
On the night, the Bobcats earned 33 medals, including 15 first place performances.
MSU took little time grabbing several season or personal bests, with freshman Carley McCutchen and sophomore Kortnee Barrett finishing first and second, respectively. McCutchen garnered 3,381 points while Barrett had 3,130, both were another for Big Sky Conference Championships berths.
Heather Haug had one of her best performances in the 800 where she took the trifecta of a season best, first place finish and a Big Sky automatic qualifying time of 2:13.70. Her time was a personal indoor best and her second fastest ever.
“This was another great night where the positives far outnumbered any negatives,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “We were able to qualify a few more kids, while giving some others some much needed rest headed into one of the most important weekends of our season.”
Amber Amsbaugh also bested her time in the 55 Meter Hurdles (9.16). Gage Pickering clocked in with a best in the 55 Dash (6.58). Bryce Shows, who won the 400 Meter Dash, also crossed the finish line with a season best of 51.36.
Other top finishes for Montana State included Chelsea Bourque in the Hurdles (8.65), Slater Powell in the Hurdles (7.71). Stacey Irvine tied her best height this season in the Pole Vault with 12-06.25. Forrest Jarvi also took first in the 800 with a season best time of 1:55.44.
MSU finished 1-2 in the 200 as Picking clocked in at 22.52 and freshman Nick Melone took the silver in 22.95. The Blue & Gold took yet another gold-silver finish in the Women's 3,000 with Keely West (11:02.31) in first and ReBecca Sorenson (11:09.90) in second.
For the third time in as many weeks, Camille Marchand swept both her events. She tied her season best with a first place finish in the 55 Meter Dash, crossing the finish line in 7.14 and went 25.02 in the 200.
The Bobcats in the Women's 400 Meter Dash finished in first and third as Lierin Flanagan (57.59) earned the gold and Marissa Stanton (59.92) took bronze.
The Men's Throws continued their season-long domination in the Weight Throw and the Shot Put. David Phillips finished first with a distance of 18.71 (61-04.75) while teammate Morgan Norgaard earned bronze with 16.96 (55-07.75). Fellow Bobcats, Eddie Stevenson and Sean Ferriter earned season-best throws. Led by Phillips (16.46), the Shot Put kept up the winning trend with yet another 1-2-3 finish for Montana State. Norgaard took second with 16.39 and Trevor Gilreath grabbed third in 15.99.
“The Men's Throws are doing outstanding,” noted Kennedy. “We have the potential to have huge success in Pocatello with them.”
In unattached competition, Amanda Murphy finished first in the Weight Throw with a hurl of 19.26 meters and also in the Shot Put (14.29). Bobby Biskupiak had an unbelievable night in the Pole Vault, earning a gold with an outstanding height of 5.20 (17-00.75). Jacob Kirk's time of 8:52.98 in the 3,000 was also a top finish.
Montana State Track and Field will travel to Pocatello, Idaho next week to compete at the Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Idaho State. The Bobcats have 26 student-athletes qualified, 12 for the men and 14 for the women.
