BILLINGS, Mont. – With four GNAC individual event titles in hand, the track and field teams of Montana State University Billings capped off the 2018-19 season earlier this month. The Yellowjacket men finished eighth of 10 teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference while the women were 10^th. Seven school records were broken and four runners were named NCAA Division II all-west region.

MSUB School Records Tied of Broken 2018-19 Season (Seven Total):

Athlete	Event	Record
Rahkei Eyer	400m Indoor	Tied 50.82
Drake Henson	800m Indoor	1:56:00
Isaiah Girard	High Jump Indoor	6' 9"
Isaiah Girard	High Jump Outdoor	6' 9.75"
Isaiah Girard	Long Jump Indoor	22' 11.25"
Rahkei Eyer, Mason Schram, Sam Zook, Kaelen Shay	4x100m relay	41.28
Brady Ostermiller	Shotput	53' 1.75"

 
The GNAC Championships marked the final meet for 13 student-athletes, each of whom received a plaque at the Yellowjackets/Battlin Bears Open in a senior day celebration on March 30. Several memorable moments stood out over the course of 15 indoor and outdoor meets and the 'Jackets walked away with trophies in the men's 100 meter dash, men's high jump, and men's 4x100 meter relay in Monmouth.
 
"Overall it was a good season," commented head coach Jon Woehl. "We had quite a few highlights and I felt like we made a lot of progress toward having more of a close knit atmosphere and a strong team culture."
 
Indoor season began with trips to Bozeman, Montana and Chadron, Nebraska and ended with the GNAC Indoor Championships February 15 in Nampa, Idaho. The teams kicked off spring with competition in the Yellow Jacket Spring Open in Spearfish, South Dakota. Junior Isaiah Girard won the high jump event with a school record 2.06 meter clearance. Brady Ostermiller took first in shot put with a mark of 14.70 meters and showed promise for more good things to come.
 
 
MSU Billings hosted the Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Open on March 30, an event that became a highlight on the outdoor schedule. Hammer throw was held on MSUB campus for the first time and the remainder of events took place at Laurel High School on a near perfect day for weather. Turnout was also the best since MSUB began hosting the meet with 13 teams from the area participating.
 
"That was a good meet for really the whole team," Woehl said. "Having good weather and good competition definitely factored into us being ready to go out and perform well. It was a really good day for everyone."
 
On the track, 17 Yellowjacket athletes combined to break 22 event personal bests. Ostermiller won shotput with a throw of 16.20 meters, surpassing Tanner Rottrup (15.93 meters, 2013) for the outdoor school record. Kaelen Shay, Kyle Patelis, Mason Schram, and Sam Zook won the 4x100 meter relay. Sam Zook took first in the 100 meters and Mark Hovland won the 1500 meters for MSUB.
 
 
As hurdles were being arranged on the track, the 'Jackets honored its seniors including Janessa Williams, Josey Smiedala, Shaniah Schwend, Jamie Orme, Beau Ackerman, Ivan Colmenero, Tyus Mendoza, Brady Ostermiller, Beau Peaslee, Kaelen Shay, Sam Zook, Abbie Lohof, Hailey Steinbeisser, and Hannah Nessan.
 
The 'Jackets faced Division I competition in their next three meets. Williams and Beckett had strong triple jump marks at the Colorado Invitational. Zook dominated the 100 and 200 meter sprints at the University of Montana Open and Girard extended his high jump record to 2.08 meters at the Montana State Open.
 
Back in Colorado for the Jack Christiansen Invitational, the Yellowjackets came up short of their mark from the previous two weeks, but Anne Lory Chevalier managed an eighth place finish in the 100 meter dash and Zook took second in the 200 meters.
 
Trying to qualify as many athletes as possible inside the GNAC's top-20, the regular season ended with meets in Great Falls, Montana and Dickinson, North Dakota. MSUB then had seven training days to prepare for the GNAC Outdoor Championships May 10-11, hosted by Western Oregon University.
 
Girard won the men's high jump on day one of the GNAC Championships. Sam Zook and the men's 4x100 meter relay team joined him on the podium on day two. Zook won the 100 meter dash title for the second time in his career after he ran a time of 11.01 seconds, a few ticks faster than Harry Horwath of Central Washington. Zook, Shay, Rahkei Eyer, and Mason Schram were 4x100 meter relay winners as MSUB took the title in the event for the second straight year. They posted a winning time of 41.28 seconds (a season best and school record) with Eyer running the final leg.
 
 
"It has been great to work with Sam (Zook) over his time here," Woehl said of the senior. "He's done great things for our team on the track. To go out with the title in the 4x100 meter relay was really special and fun to watch. Those guys battled through some adversity the week before with Kyle Patelis hurting his hamstring but Rahkei filled in admirably. It makes me more excited for next season because Kyle will be back healthy and we'll still have Rahkei to try and put together another good team. I'm excited for next year's women's relay team too. They just missed qualifying this year but with our returners coming back, they have the potential to do something special as well."
 
Collectively, the 'Jacket men took eighth, up one spot from the GNAC Indoor Championships. The MSUB women were 10^th but received a noble performance from Nikki Aiken in the steeplechase and 5000 meters. After finishing seventh in steeplechase on Friday, Aiken grabbed 12^th in the 5K meters with a time of 18:15.89. She crushed her previous best time of 19:06.03 from March and marked one of the biggest improvements for a single event seen all season by an athlete.
 
All season, the Yellowjacket women's jumpers and throwers helped the team score points. Schwend (10^th), Williams (11^th), and Beckett (14^th) all placed in the top-15 in triple jump while Steinbeisser (eighth), Taylor Stringari (11^th) led the way in hammer throw. Lohof and Nessan also cracked the top-15.
 
Ostermiller set an NCAA provisional mark for shot put early in the spring and had a decent finish at the GNAC Championships (14^th) but ultimately did not qualify in his bid for nationals. Girard's high jump mark at 2.08 meters was just position outside of the 2.09 meter mark necessary for a trip to the big dance. Girard did grab the GNAC high jump title and three school records to finish out his junior year.
 
Seattle Pacific edged out Central Washington to win the GNAC women's team championship for the second straight season. Western Washington took the men's trophy for their seventh team victory in program history.
In total, the 'Jackets tied or surpassed seven school records in 2018-19 and won three GNAC individual event titles. Zook, Schram, Eyer, and Shay were recognized Division II all-region for their performances in the 4x100 meter relay. Hovland and Girard each won GNAC player of the week during indoor track season.
 
In the classroom, 13 Yellowjacket women were named academic all-conference along with six men. Ostermiller and Shay won the award for the third time as did Schwend, Smiedala, and Williams.
 
"It's been a point of emphasis for our team over the past two seasons to continue to succeed in the classroom because that is what is most important," Woehl said of the academic aspect. "We've had fewer and fewer student-athletes struggle in their classes which is always good to see."
 
The off-season will be shortened for several student-athletes as competition is set to begin in cross country at the beginning of September. For MSUB track and field, 2018-19 yielded good individual performances and the future remains bright heading into next season.
 
"We went to some really good meets this season and saw some very strong competition," Woehl said, taking an overview of the season. "Even during stretches where we had back-to-back long travel weekends, we managed to perform well. It has been really neat to see our senior class mature and grow in their time here and I have appreciated having been a part of the successes that they've had."