ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Competing on the final day of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Montana State University Billings track and field teams closed the season on a high note with three more top-10 marks, a school record from Bradley Graves and a bevy of PRs along the way on Saturday.
 
"Of course, there were things that we wanted to go better, but there were more positive, good things that happened this weekend," MSUB head track and field coach Jonathan Woehl said. "If anything, our only bad performances were just having average days. Overall, the team did well, they competed and handled a few odd situations well."
 
MSUB ended up tying Saint Martin's for seventh place with 44 points – an improvement after taking eighth last year. The women's team placed ninth out of nine teams, yet the team's 22 points were the program's most at the conference meet since 2012. The men's team's 44 points were the most since it scored 74 points in 2018.
 
From an individual standpoint, MSUB had four different athletes place in the top three and earn All-GNAC distinction. Bradley Graves – who broke his own school record in the 110-meter high hurdles in the prelims on Friday – ran the ninth-fastest time in GNAC history and placed third with a 14.64 in Saturday's finals. Redshirt junior thrower Forrest Cross picked up another all-conference honor – this time by placing third in the shot put with a 14.59m (47-10.5) mark. The duo joined steeplechasers Kailee Stoppel and Carson Jessop as the rest of MSUB's All-Conference honorees; both of them placed third on Friday.
 
Graves' hurdle race was one of the most highly anticipated finals of the day – and for good reason. Competing in a finals heat with two of the conference's all-time top 10 hurdlers in Alaska Anchorage's Joshua Wagner and Western Washington's Koby Okezie, Graves delivered his best performance on the biggest stage of the season.
 
"I'm really proud of Brad; it's been a really great year for him," Woehl said. "Coming off having hip surgery this summer, we weren't really sure what to expect for him as he came back. In outdoor, every single week – especially the last three meets – he's visibly faster than he has been all year."
 
The 110-meter high hurdles finals ended up having three of the conference's fastest times ever in the event. Wagner broke the conference record with a 14.15, Okezie took second with a 14.50 (5^th-fastest in the GNAC) and Graves (9^th fastest) rounded out the top three finishers with a 14.64. The gap between those three runners and the rest of the field was 26-hundredths of a second. 

𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥⁣
⁣
Bradley Graves earns All-GNAC honors by placing third in the 110-meter high hurdles with a 14.64!⁣
⁣#GoJackets | #GNACTF pic.twitter.com/oUTDJB1BPC

— MSUB Cross Country/Track & Field (@msubxctf) May 14, 2022

"But as great of an athlete as he is, the thing that I love the most about him is that his teammates look up to him," Woehl added. "He makes them better. They feed off of each other and they're better for it. So we're really glad that he's on our team. That was definitely a well-earned all-conference finish for him."

Elsewhere in the early afternoon action, Cross' fourth of six throws in the shot put moved him up into the top three in the event. Like he did in Friday's discus throw, Cross PRed in prelims with a throw of 14.47m (45-5.75), then improved again in the finals with a 14.59m (47-10.5). That mark is also the seventh-best in MSUB history.
 
"Like Brad, Forrest is somebody who his teammates look up to," Woehl said. "Everyone was so happy for him to do well – even other coaches and competitors were happy for him. A lot of people know his story and everything he's gone through. He shows that if you're willing to put in the work and the time, the good results can happen."
 
Kendall Lynn provided an early highlight for the women's team, as she kicked off an entertaining triple jump competition with her season-best, made finals and placed fourth with a mark of 11.49m (37-8.5). Billed as one of the deepest and closest jumping fields in the meet, the triple jump delivered.
 
"It was really nice to see her be able to mark the first one and have it be a season best," Woehl said. "From there, it let her put her ears back and go for it on the last five. There was never a doubt that she'd make finals."
 
Lynn sat in third place at the end of prelims after her first jump, then the finals saw difficulties for the entire field on the fourth jump. Five of the 10 finalists either scratched or, in the case of Western Oregon's Jenelle Hurley, passed on the attempt; the only movement came from the bottom of the standings. Then Central Washington's Erica Cabanos moved from fifth to third on the third jump, and the top five standings remained unchanged in the final jump.
 
"She had a season best and was one centimeter off her school record, so it's obvious that her ability is still there and she has a lot more in her," Woehl said. "Everyone in front of her also had season bests, so she was in good company there. I'm really proud of her. I know yesterday wasn't easy for her in the long jump, but she was able to shake that off. Triple jump is her favorite, and she took care of business on Saturday."
 
Over in the longer events, Ase Ackerman's 1,500 meter run nearly saw another school record go down. Racing in a heat that featured six men seeded at 3:50 or faster, Ackerman kept with the pack for the first three laps. The race was condensed until the leaders broke off in the second lap, yet Ackerman rattled off two-straight 63-second splits heading into the final lap.
 
"Having even race pace made it easier to run faster times, and he was able to cover the different moves to end up with his fastest time in the 1,500 meters," Woehl said. "I'm really excited to see how much confidence he has."
 
Yet Ackerman's final lap separated a good race from a great race. At the start of the bell lap, Western Oregon's Hunter Hutton and Justin Crosswhite wheeled around the outside to try passing Ackerman, who was tucked against the rail. But Ackerman sensed they were on his shoulder and made a move with 300 meters to go to counter the Wolves' surge. Coming into the home stretch, Ackerman, Hutton and Crosswhite crossed the line in a photo finish. Ackerman's 3:52.12 was not only good enough for sixth place, but also less than a second off Robert Peterson's school record of 3:51.58.
 
When all was said and done Ackerman ran a 57.07-second final lap, plus he made the most movement out of anyone on the final lap by moving up five places. According to Woehl, Ackerman's 1,500 meter run at GNACs was the latest step the junior has taken to be a cognizant racer.
 
"In the 1,500 meters at Idaho State, he made the right move at the right time," Woehl said. "Back at indoor conference in the mile, once he realized the lead pack was going, they already made too much separation He's definitely learned from that and has gotten better at racing. He trusted his instincts and did a good job making moves and ended up coming away with a really good race. I can't wait to see what Ase and the rest of our guys run in cross country this fall."
 
The GNAC Championships will likely be the last time the MSUB cross country and track program will be in action until the fall 2022 cross country season. And while the team has four athletes graduating this spring, All-GNAC award winners Cross, Graves and Stoppel, plus almost every relay leg on the men's and women's relay teams are expected to return next year.
 
"I think this week was a testament to the kids we have on our team and the coaches that surround them," Woehl said. "We're not a team that has its own facilities or all the bells and whistles that would be nice to have. But we've got strong, high-character kids on the team and great coaches. We believe in our athletes and our teammates want the best for each other. That's what has propelled everyone forward."
 
Western Washington won the men's team title and Western Oregon won the women's title.
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Bradley Graves was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Men's Athlete of the Meet for resetting the school record in the 110-meter high hurdles with a 14.65, placing third and earning All-GNAC honors. That time is the ninth-fastest in GNAC history. Graves also ran the second leg of MSUB's 4x400 meter relay.
• Kendall Lynn was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Women's Athlete of the Meet for placing fourth in the triple jump with a season-best 11.49m (37-8.5).
• Forrest Cross earned All-GNAC honors for the second time in the meet by placing third in the shot put with a 14.59m (47-10.5). He also placed seventh in the hammer throw with a 47.33m (155-3).
• Ase Ackerman took sixth in the 1,500-meter run with a PR of 3:52.12 – nearly a two-second improvement over his second-fastest time in program history.
• MSUB's 4x100-meter relay team of William Ullery, Bradley Graves, Favor Okere and Benjamin Ralston finished in sixth place and tied its season-best with a 43.02.
• With 18 points, Forrest Cross was the high point scorer of the meet for the MSUB men's team.
• Kailee Stoppel was the high point scorer of the meet for the MSUB women's team by placing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and anchoring MSUB's 4x100 relay that placed eighth.

MOVING ON UP
Here is a running list of all the new MSUB top-10 marks that have occurred this season.
 

Event	Rank	Time	Athlete	Meet	Date
400-meter Hurdles	9	1:11.46	Annelise Clark	Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Icebreaker Open	3/19/2022
3,000-meter Steeplechase	2	11:15.27	Kailee Stoppel	Bryan Clay Invitational	4/13/2022
1,500 meters	2	4:45.13	Kailee Stoppel	Bryan Clay Invitational	4/15/2022
400 meters	5	1:01.05	Madeline Severson	Trudnowski Open	4/22/2022
800 meters	2	2:18.61	Kailee Stoppel	Bengal Invitational	4/30/2022
4x400 relay	6	4:08.15	Severson/Durbin/Hamill/Stoppel	Bengal Invitational	4/30/2022
10,000 meters	6	41:50.59	Ally Whitmer	GNAC Championships	5/13/2022
10,000 meters	7	42:47.83	Kit Wiersema	GNAC Championships	5/13/2022

         

Event	Rank	Distance	Athlete	Meet	Date
Long Jump	1	5.39m (17-8.25)	Kendall Lynn	Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Spring Open	4/2/2022
Javelin	2	39.35m (129-1)	Ryann Moline	Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Icebreaker Open	3/19/2022
Hammer Throw	6	40.99 (134-6)	Jordan Cookman	Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Spring Open	4/2/2022
Hammer Throw	10	40.09m (131-6)	Grace Jones	Bauer Open	4/8/2022
Shot Put	4	12.37m (40-7)	Dakota Lobmeyer	Bauer Open	4/9/2022
Discus	4	40.56m (133-1)	Ryann Moline	Pacific Coast Intercollegiate	4/14/2022
Long Jump	4	5.20m (17-0.75)	Madeline Severson	Trudnowski Open	4/22/2022

 

Event	Rank	Time	Athlete	Meet	Date
110-meter Hurdles	1	14.64	Bradley Graves	GNAC Championships	5/14/2022
400 meters	5	50.50	Benjamin Ralston	Yellow Jacket Spring Open	3/26/2022
3,000-meter Steeplechase	3	9:07.74	Carson Jessop	Bryan Clay Invitational	4/13/2022
5,000 meters	5	15:19.20	Ase Ackerman	Bryan Clay Invitational	4/14/2022
5,000 meters	7	15:25.81	Logan Straus	Bryan Clay Invitational	4/14/2022
1,500 meters	2	3:54.03	Ase Ackerman	Bryan Clay Invitational	4/15/2022
3,000-meter Steeplechase	6	9:29.70	Ase Ackerman	GNAC Championships	5/13/2022
10,000 meters	2	32:11.13	Logan Straus	GNAC Championships	5/13/2022
10,000 meters	7	33:07.65	Bryant Edgerton	GNAC Championships	5/13/2022
1,500 meters	2	3:52.12	Ase Ackerman	GNAC Championships	5/14/2022

Event	Rank	Distance	Athlete	Meet	Date
Hammer Throw	3	47.99m (157-5)	Forrest Cross	Yellow Jacket Spring Open	3/25/2022
Hammer Throw	4	47.77m (156-9)	Coen Guisti	Trudnowski Open	4/21/2022
Triple Jump	9	13.06m (42-10.25)	Garrett McMillen	Trudnowski Open	4/22/2022
High Jump	7	1.90m (6-2.75)	Favor Okere	DSU Last Chance Meet	5/5/2022
Shot Put	8	14.42m (47-3)	Braden Anderson	DSU Last Chance Meet	5/5/2022
Discus	2	48.47m (159-0)	Forrest Cross	GNAC Championships	5/13/2022
Shot Put	7	14.59m (47-10.5)	Forrest Cross	GNAC Championships	5/14/2022