POCATELLO, Idaho – In its last highly competitive meet before the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Montana State University Billings men's and women's track team set season-bests in the 4x400 meter relays and the distance events at Idaho State University's Bengal Invitational on Saturday.
 
Running against mostly Division I competitors, distance runners Ase Ackerman and Kailee Stoppel had top-10 finishes in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 800 meters, respectively. Later in the meet, both the men's and women's 4x400 meter relay teams ran season-best times – both of which were critical in MSUB's pursuit of being one of the top eight GNAC teams to qualify for the relays at the conference meet.
 
Ackerman led off the meet with a new personal best of 9:39.57 in heat one of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which ranks not only eighth all-time at MSUB, but also seventh in the GNAC. Saturday was also the first time Ackerman has run the event since his freshman year in 2019.
 
"Ase ran well," MSUB track and field head coach Jonathan Woehl said. "He'll definitely give us something to think about when it comes to our meet lineup at conference. He did a really good job with the water barrier and overall, I thought he ran well for it being the first time he ran that since his freshman year."
 
As one of the first few people left out of the faster heat, Ackerman took an aggressive approach in the opening stages of the race. The approach paid off in the end; although a handful of runners ended up taking the lead later in the race, his water jumps were consistent, and was rewarded with a 28-second personal best. With teammate Carson Jessop – who hit the NCAA DII provisional standard with a 9:07.74 earlier this season – MSUB now has two of the top 10 steeplechase runners in the GNAC. Jessop ranks third in the conference, while Ackerman is seventh.
 
Later that afternoon, Stoppel ran the 800 meters in the fastest heat of the day; all 14 runners in her heat had seed times of 2:18 or faster. While Weber State's Cheyenne Leatham and Idaho State's Presley Timmons bolted ahead of the field from the get-go, Stoppel made a move at the end of the first lap to try to stay with the chase pack of six runners. Although this extra exertion on less-than-fresh legs – Stoppel ran the 1,500 meters less than 24 hours prior to Saturday's 800 – was risky, without it, Stoppel would have been left behind as the chase pack strung out along the backstretch.
 
Stoppel and a pack of four Big Sky runners ran neck-and-neck heading out of the final turn – only 66-hundreths of a second separated fifth place Madison Patrick of Southern Utah and 10^th place Megan Good of Montana State. Stoppel's time of 2:18.61 was not only the ninth-fastest time of the day, but also second-fastest time in MSUB history. She was the fastest non-Division I runner out of the 21 women in the event.
 
"She did a good job," Woehl said of Stoppel's race. "I was talking to her a little bit afterwards, and she said she was kind of running out of steam in the last 200 meters. She made a really good move going into the third 200 meters to stay with that lead group. If she had waited, then she would've been left behind. But she did a good job of being aware of the race and making the right move at the right time. We'll get to taper soon, so she'll have a little bit extra in her to finish those laps."
 
Elsewhere in the meet, the throws squad had the busiest day of any discipline with finals in the shot put and the discus. For the MSUB men, Braden Anderson had the furthest shot put mark with a 13.92m thow, whereas Forrest Cross led the way in the discus with a 40.45m throw. On the women's side, Ryann Moline led the way in the discus with a 38.41m throw and Dakota Lobmeyer was MSUB's top shot put thrower with a 11.48m throw. Not only that, Lobmeyer also threw a personal best in the discus with a 33.97m earlier in the day.
 
"Dakota had another PR in discus and she's almost improved by 20 feet in discus since high school," Woehl said. "For an event that she didn't like in high school, she's stuck with it and improved by a meter or two each week, which is good stuff from her."
 
By and large, the MSUB throwing team is a sure thing heading into conference. Although most of the throwers are firmly in the GNAC Championships picture, Woehl said that PRs from throwers like Lobmeyer and freshman Riley Noser – whose 11.13m (36-6.25) shot put mark was an improvement by almost one foot – were good signs heading into the postseason.
 
"They've been our group that week in and week out, 75% of them PR," Woehl said. "It was good to see kids like Riley Noser PR in the shot put by one foot. Last year, she didn't get to do track because she had knee surgery after basketball season. Way back when that happened, we were discussing redshirting her for indoor and maybe outdoor. But she's done a great job working with [athletic trainer] Tom Ebel in order to get back — she's PRed in indoor season, and now she's done it again in outdoor. It's good to see her improve week in and week out."
 
To close the meet, the MSUB women fielded a 4x400 meter relay team of Madeline Severson, Sierra Durbin, Katelyn Hamill and Kailee Stoppel – its sixth different relay combination of the season -- against three Big Sky teams. Severson, who has led off on three of MSUB's four-fastest times, took out the first lap in 60.4 seconds, putting MSUB in the mix. Durbin battled through her leg, then Hamill took over and kept up with two Southern Utah teams. By this point in the race, Idaho State's B-team had distanced itself from the field, making the relay a race for second place.
 
During Hamill's exchange with Stoppel, the Southern Utah team in second place had a sloppy handoff, and Stoppel took advantage. Fending off the other Southern Utah team, Stoppel wheeled around to the front on the first turn, then held her position in second place on the backstretch. The second half of the race was a battle. Stoppel had one more surge in her to hold off both teams at the tape and finish with a 4:08.15 – a seven-second improvement for MSUB on the season. As it stands, the MSUB women's 4x400 relay ranks sixth in the GNAC.
 
This brought up the men's 4x400, which was running in heat one against only a front-loaded Treasure Valley Community College team. Lucas Harper led off leg one, Bradley Graves closed the gap, then William Ullery finally took the lead in the third leg. As Ullery went down the home stretch, the two teams were neck-and-neck. Freshman Benjamin Ralston anchored the team, held off Treasure Valley's anchor down the home stretch and helped MSUB win with a time of 3:27.59.
 
"They ran really well," Woehl said. "They did what we needed them to do, which was to have season bests in both relays. On the guys' side, I think all four runners ran their best splits of the year. Lucas Harper had to run against a guy whose split time was around 50 flat, then Brad reeled [Treasure Valley] in on the next lap and Billy Ullery put them behind us. I know Benjamin Ralston was bummed about making finals in the open 400 meters, but he looked a lot better in the relay. He did a good job of going out there and competing, and he made Treasure Valley really work to stay with him. Every leg on our men's relay got faster."
 
Saturday's race puts MSUB at eighth in the GNAC; only the top eight relay teams qualify for the conference meet.
 
Although the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships are two weeks away, the Yellowjackets are taking a handful of athletes to Dickinson State University's Last Chance meet on Thursday, May 5. But the majority of the team will begin its taper and look ahead to the final meet of the year.
 
"It seems like people who have had injuries earlier this season are starting to feel closer to 100% and people who have been sick are starting to get better," Woehl said. "My hope is that whoever we take to Dickinson next week, we'll limit the workload for them so that they're really feeling well rested, sharp and ready to go. That will be the goal for that meet: We want to improve on a mark and lock up our conference spots, while also staying sharp and ready to go for the conference meet." 
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Kailee Stoppel was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Female Athlete of the Day for running the second-fastest 800-meter time in MSUB history with a 2:18.61 – good for ninth overall and the fastest amongst non-Division 1 runners. She also anchored the 4x400 relay time with a 61-second split to help the team run a season-best 4:08.15.
• Ase Ackerman was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Male Athlete of the Day for cleaving 28 seconds off his previous-best 3,000-meter steeplechase time to finish in 9:39.57.
• In the second heat of the same event, Carson Jessop ran a 9:45.22.
• Ryann Moline led the way for MSUB win the discus with a throw of 38.41m – good for 11^th overall.
• On the men's side, Braden Anderson was MSUB's leader with a throw of 13.92m, which was 15^th amongst 32 throwers.
• Bradley Graves placed seventh in the finals of the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.23.
• The men's 4x100 relay team of William Ullery, Bradley Graves, Favor Okere and Benjamin Ralston tied its season-best time of 43.14.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB will take a handful of athletes to Dickinson State University's Last Chance Meet, held on Thursday, May 5. In the coming days, a start time and meet information will be posted to the men's and women's track and field schedule pages on msubsports.com.