BILLINGS, Mont. – This week marks the seventh straight weekend of outdoor competition for the men and women's track and field teams at Montana State University Billings. Thursday, events begin in the University of Providence Open for a majority of MSUB athletes at 8:30 a.m. A smaller group will participate in the Dickinson State Last Chance Invitational Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Both meets will be important for the Yellowjackets as many attempt to post qualifying marks for the GNAC Outdoor Championships, set for May 10-11 in Monmouth, Oregon.
 
"For the most part we know who is going to qualify for conference but for a few it is their last chance to make it," said head coach Jon Woehl. "If you are in the top 20 in an event, you are going to go to the conference meet, but for those outside the top 20, this is their opportunity to get qualified. We are also hoping that having one more chance to run the relays on the women's side will qualify them. We are currently ninth and they take eight teams, so I think we have a chance to get on the inside in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays this week."
 
RELAYS: For the 4x100 women's relay, the Yellowjackets bring Madison Thompson, Anne Lory Chevalier, Kaitlin Mason, and Brenna Beckett. They are currently ninth in the GNAC behind Saint Martin's University, with a season best time of 50.15 seconds set at the Montana State Open.
 
The men's 4x100 meter relay team holds the top position in the conference, two hundredths of a second ahead of second place Northwest Nazarene. Kaelen Shay, Mason Shram, Kyle Patelis, and Sam Zook make up the 4x100 team.
 
THROWERS: The women's throwers have remained consistent throughout the course of the outdoor season and each excel in a different single event. Hannah Nessan leads MSUB in discus and is sixth in the GNAC with a high mark at 132' 3". Abbie Lohof is eighth at 131' 0".  Nessan and Hailey Steinbeisser are also in the top-10 for shotput. Nessan is eighth with a long throw of 38' 4.25" and Steinbeisser is ninth at 38' 2.75".
 
Taylor Stringari is also just outside the top-10 in 13^th with a mark of 35' 9.25" set at the Colorado Invitational in Boulder. Stringari leads the way with an eighth place mark of 137' 10" in hammer throw. Steinbeisser is currently 12^th with Nessan 14^th and Lohof 18^th. All four had good marks against Division I competition last weekend at the Colorado State Open.
 
"Our throwers have had pretty good days, but they've been overshadowed a bit because we've been up against a lot of Division I teams," Woehl said. "We are definitely where we should be and sometimes even been ahead of some of the D1 throwers. Hannah had a season best in discus in Boulder. Hailey has been really good in hammer and shot put with Hannah. Abbie is best at discus and so they all balance each other out. It will be exciting to see how they perform tomorrow morning."
 
Brady Ostermiller is fourth in the conference for men's shotput, after he threw 53' 1.75" at the Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Open at the end of March. He holds an NCAA Division II provisional mark in the event but will likely need to throw better if he hopes to make it to the National meet.
 
"Brady threw his best discus ever last weekend so I was really happy with that. It really says something that he has been here five years and he's still able to throw the best discus of his career."
 
Freshman Matthew Poore also throws shot and is 25^th in the conference with a mark of 42' 0.75". Ostermiller and Poore also compete in discus and hammer events.
 
 
JUMPERS: The 'Jacket jumpers have been headlined by Isaiah Girard for the men along with Shaniah Schwend and Janessa Williams for the women. Girard had a slow start in high jump last week but recovered to clear 2.01 meters in Fort Collins.
 
This week, he hopes to extend his MSUB school record and get closer to an automatic qualifying mark for Nationals. Girard has the second highest mark in the GNAC this season behind Tyler Cronk of Saint Martin's University, who jumped 2.15 meters on March 16.
 
Schwend had early season success in triple jump but was recently passed by Williams in the event at the Montana State Open. Williams jumped 36' 10.25" to place her in a tie for seventh place in the conference. Schwend held steady at 13^th. Schwend and Williams will likely be joined in triple jump and long jump by teammate Brenna Beckett.
 
 
SPRINTERS: Zook is second in the conference with a top 100 meter time of 10.63 seconds. Schram is tied for third at 10.75 seconds and Patelis ranks 10^th at 10.95 seconds. Zook leads the GNAC in the 200 meters after running the event in 21.44 seconds at the Montana State Open. Rahkei Eyer also ranks in the top-10 with a seventh place time of 21.95 seconds.
 
Chevalier leads the women's sprinters in the 100 meters with a top time of 12.76 seconds (17^th GNAC). Mason is 20^th after running 12.84 seconds in the Montana State Open. Beckett is 27^th in the 400 meters.
 
 
DISTANCE: Ivan Colmenero continues to post the strongest distance times among men's runners. In the 5000 meters, Colmenero is 26^th in the GNAC after running 15:42.91 at the Montana Open. Nikki Aiken ranks 27^th in the women's 5000 meter run with a time of 18:51.66 at the Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Open. Aiken and Kailee Stoppel also compete in the steeplechase.
 
SCHEDULE NOTES: Field events begin at 8:30 a.m. for the University of Providence Open with men's and women's hammer slated at UP Hammer Facility. Track events begin with the women's 400 meter relay at 10 a.m. and end with the men's 1600 meter relay. For the Dickinson Last Chance Open, field events start at 11:30 a.m. with running events at 1 p.m. Events will take place at Henry Biesiot Activities Center. Full schedules for both meets can be found on the msubsports.com track and field schedule page.