BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets track and field team will return to Spearfish, South Dakota for the second week in a row to compete in the Myrle Hanson Open hosted by Black Hills State University.
"This week is different from previous weeks as most everyone is only competing in one or two events," said head coach Jon Woehl. We are trying to get their best marks of the season in their best events. A lot of athletes are close to hitting their marks to get to compete in Boise Nike indoor meet so we are looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow."
HITTINGS THEIR MARKS: MSUB will be looking for improvement across the board in hopes of qualifying as many athletes as possible.
Mason Schram (7.02) has all qualified for the GNAC Championships as the qualifying mark is set at 7.1.
Kyle Patelis (7.11),
Tyler Rued (7.15) and
Rahkei Eyers (7.19) are nearly in as well and will look to shave off the final hundredths to qualify. Eyer has already hit his mark in the 200m (22.63, needing a 22.8) and will look to qualify for the 400m as well.
Ase Ackerman (4:24.7) and
Logan Strauss (4:28.1) each hit qualifying marks in the mile. Ackerman (15:47.0) and
Bryant Edgerton (15:45.2) both qualified for GNAC's in the 5K last weekend.
Isaiah Girard has qualified for the GNAC Championships in the high jump (1.96m) and
Marcus Lindquist has in the triple jump (13.22m).
On the throws side,
Forrest Cross has a season best 13.94m shot put throw to qualify and
Ely Kraft has qualified in the weight throw (14.38).
For the third week in a row
Nikki Aiken qualified for the GNAC championships in another event. She ran the 5K in 18:54.2 and has already qualified in the mile (5:28.4) and the 3k (10:50).
Brenna Beckett will be at the GNAC Championships in the long jump (5.07m) and the triple jump (11.12m).
Mariah May has hit her marks in the shot put (11.21m) and the weight throw (13.12m). Senior
Taylor Stringari will look to join May in the shot put and has already qualified in the weight throw (13.56m).
LAST TIME OUT: Competing in the same facility as this week, the Yellowjackets had a stellar outing. Beckett broke two school records on her way to winning the long jump and triple jump. Beckett took down
Delaware Steingruber's 2012 long jump record after landing 17' 5.5" (5.32 meters), ahead of nine other competitors. Then in triple jump, the senior leaped past
Janessa Williams' 2017 record when she marked 36' 5.75" (11.21 meters).
Overall, 18 Yellowjackets posted their season bests. Stringari took sixth place in weight throw. She marked 44' 6" (13.56 meters), a new personal best. Stringari also took 13
th place in shot put with a season best throw of 35' 4.5" (10.78 meters).
Cross took third place in men's shot put after landing at 49' 1.75" (14.98 meters).
Girard improved on long jump for the third straight meet and hit the sand at a season best 21' 2.5" (6.46 meters). Girard was seventh among 15 athletes competing.
Schram took second place in the 60-meter dash finals with a time of 7.04 seconds. Schram greatly improved his time of 7.17 seconds in the 60-meter preliminaries.
Rued marked a personal best time and won heat three of the men's 400-meter finals with a time of 53.73. Rued took eighth in the event overall.
In the men's 5000 meters, Ackerman took sixth place (16:10.59) and was followed by teammates Edgerton (16:22.74, eighth), and
Ronald Venema (16:38.63, 10
th). Twenty runners competed in the event.
Aiken ran her best indoor 5000 meters since last spring with a time of 19:21.14. Stoppel also competed in the event and finished 12
th in 21:02.16.
