With just two weeks remaining before the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Montana State Track and Field team will look to capitalize at three different meets over the weekend of April 29.
On Friday, April 29, a split squad of Bobcats will travel to Cheney, Wash. to compete in the 40th Annual Pelluer Invitational, hosted by Eastern Washington. On Saturday, the group competing at Pelluer will travel 30 minutes to Spokane, Wash. for the Duane Hartman Invitational at Spokane Falls Community College.
The group competing in Washington will look to earn automatic qualifier for the conference championships being held May 11-14 in Sacramento.
“This is a pivotal weekend for a lot of these kids,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “We have a talented group who are still trying to hit the Big Sky marks and they have a really good chance of that happening in Washington.”
In addition to the two meets in the Evergreen State, a small group will participate in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invite in Palo Alto, Calif. on Sunday, May 1. As one of the most elite meets in the country, MSU will have the chance to compete among some of the best in their events, including Patrick Casey in the 1,500. Casey, who will compete in the event for the third time this season, will face the best in the country one more time and try to improve his 28th place ranking in NCAA Division I.
Several field athletes will also be competing including Bobby Biskupiak in the pole vault, Adam Hutter in the high jump and long jump and the trio of Trevor Gilreath, Morgan Norgaard and David Phillips in the shot put, discus and hammer throw.
For the women, Heather Haug will compete in the 3,000 steeplechase, Katie Niemeir in the hurdles and Amanda Murphy in the throws. In addition, Jessie Greany and Amber Amsbaugh will look to improve in the high jump while Hannah Counter will look to climb in the Big Sky javelin rankings.
Headed into the weekend, Montana State has 17 female athletes qualified for the Big Sky Championships and the men have 15. Each team is allowed 25 athletes per gender to compete at the meet.
