POCATELLO, Ida. – The Montana State University Billings track and field team turned in a solid overall performance while competing in the Snake River Open hosted by Idaho State University on Saturday.
 
MSUB showed well in a field that consisted of division one schools Weber State University and Idaho State University, Southern Idaho University, Carroll College and Utah Valley.
 
"Overall I am really happy with the team's performance today," said head coach Jonathan Woehl. "We had two guys' record personal bests and a lot of good individual performances. Our men's 4x400 meter relay competed for the first time this season. I expect us to improve but it's always good to get the first meet under your belt."
 
Two Yellowjacket throwers recorded personal bests in the weight throw. Kyle McLaughlin threw a 13.91 meter heave and Connor McNeil a 10.94m toss. McLaughlin took sixth and McNeil seventh respectively. Also participating in the weight throw was Forrest Cross who had an outstanding day with a 14.74m toss good enough to reach the podium and take home third place.
 
Mariah May led the way for the women's throw team by placing sixth in the weight throw with a toss of 13.91m. May also finished in seventh place in the shot put with an 11.23m throw.
 
Mason Schram made it to the podium in the 60m dash with a third place time of 7.06 facing off against all division one opponents in the final.
 
Rahkei Eyer took home fifth place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.50 beating a handful of D1 runners along the way.
 
Brenna Beckett turned in three top 10 finishes for another impressive meet. She took fourth in the triple jump (10.14m), fourth in the long jump (4.95m) and eighth in the 200 meter dash (27.80).
 
The 'Jacket distance runners were paced by Nikki Aiken and Ase Ackerman as both competed well in their double-event days in the one mile and 3k. Aiken posed a top 10 time in the mile of 5:34.77 good enough for ninth place and finished in 13^th place in the 3k with a time of 11:24.14. Ackerman took eight place in the mile run with a time of 4:33.95 and finished the 3k with a time of 9:21.40 good enough for 20^th out of 30 runners.
 
The men's' 4x400 meter relay team took fourth place with a time of 3:42.15. Lucas Harper handed to Nicholas Redgrave to Brock Smith and finally Tyler Rued to close out the last leg.
 
Athlete of the Meet: Competing in his first meet of the year, Forrest Cross was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the meet as he finished in third place in the weight throw.
 
WHATS NEXT: MSUB travels to Chardon, Nebraska to compete in the Chardon State Open on January 18.