MISSOULA, Mont. – Corrie Holm earned a spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor championships with a throw of 44.00m in the women's discus during the Al Manuel Invitational hosted by the University of Montana.
 
Holm is the defending GNAC champion in the event, besting the conference competition last year with a throw of 43.07m.
 
Five MSU Billings track and field athletes earned conference provisionally qualifying marks capped off by Holm's automatic distance in the discus. At that distance, the St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Meet, also hit the NCAA national provisional qualifying mark as well.
 
Seven schools were in attendance at the NCAA Division I hosted Montana event. DI schools Montana State and Eastern Washington were present, as were athletes from Division II MSU Billings, and from the NAIA Carroll College, Rocky Mountain College, and the University of Great Falls.
 
Other PQ's from MSUB on Saturday were from freshmen Liam McKay and Amanda Nichols. McKay finished third in the men's 1500m run in 4:01.92. Nichols was fifth in the women's pole vault with a height of 3.36m.
 
Sophomore Landon Polkow finished third in the men's 400m hurdles and provisionally qualified for conference in 56.02. Right behind him, just missing out on hitting the conference mark, freshman Preston Schubert finished fourth in the men's 400m hurdles in 59.55. Schubert also placed third in the men's pole vault at the meet, completing a height of 4.10m.
 
Sophomore Nels Flanagon provisionally qualified for the outdoor conference championships in the men's discus with a throw of 43.16m.
 
Rounding out the list of PQ marks for today was senior Nocona Frame. She placed fifth in the women's 5,000m run in 18:40.50. Frame was also fifth in the women's 1500m, crossing the finish line in 4:53.81.
 
In the men's steeplechase, junior Josh Panasuk was third in 10:03.10, while sophomore Garrett Love was fourth with a time of 10:25.36.
 
MSUB head coach Dave Coppock saw a lot of good things out of the teams today. "The highlight today was Corrie Holm in the women's discus, but there were some really good results along with the provisionally qualifying marks too," Coppock said. "Other places we competed really well were in the short relays – the 4x100's. Both the men's and women's teams did really well. On the men's side, they ran what was maybe the second-best time ever for the program, just missing out on topping the MSUB record. The women also looked sharp in the short distance relay too."
 
"Nathan Vanderby also had a really good 400m race," Coppock continued. Vanderby was sixth in the men's 400m, finishing the event in 50.52. "Altogether everyone had a good meet and we look forward to next weekend's meet in Bozeman."
 
Next up for MSU Billings is the Montana State University Invitational in Bozeman, Mont. The Yellowjackets will see many of the same schools and athletes next Saturday, Apr. 4 at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.