PORTLAND, Ore. – The Montana State University track and field teams ended their seasons at the GNAC Championships, finishing the two-day event with a collection of top five finishes and personal bests.
 
The Yellowjacket men took seventh overall as a group, while the women came in ninth place in Portland.
 
"I'm proud of the efforts of our team over the past couple of days," said Yellowjackets head coach Jonathan Woehl. "We had to battle through some tough injuries, but this is a gritty group that doesn't concede anything. It's part of what makes it fun to watch them compete, as well as coach. It was great to see us continue to battle through, and have so many people set some new PRs, and for our seniors to finish on a high note."
 
The Yellowjackets had a trio of athletes earn second place finishes, the highest finishes MSUB earned at the meet. Carson Jessop ran a 9:10.46 in the 3000m Steeplechase, finishing just .10 seconds off of tying his personal best. It was a qualifying provisional mark for Jessop, who owns the third fastest Steeple mark in MSUB history. Jessop also finished eighth in the 1500m, setting a new personal best with a time of 3:57.97.
 
Kendall Lynn had the highest finish of any MSUB women with her second-place finish in the triple jump. Lynn, who owns school records in both the triple and long jump, finished the GNAC Championships with a mark of 11.74 meters (38' 6.25").
 
Meanwhile Forrest Cross earned a trio of top five finishes, highlighted by a second-place finish in the shot put. A senior thrower, Cross finished with a throw of 15.34 meters (50' 4") on Friday to earn his best finish of the meet. He followed that up on Friday with a fifth-place finish in the hammer throw, tossing 51.62 meters (169' 4"), smashing his previous personal record by over two meters. He then finished in third on Saturday in the discus with a best of 45.71 meters (149' 11"). Cross finishes his MSUB career with his name posted all over the record books, with the second-best hammer throw and discus marks in program history, and the fourth best in the shot put.
 
Joining Cross with third place finishes over the weekend was fellow seniors Ase Ackerman and Kailee Stoppel. Ackerman finished behind Jessop in the 3000m Steeplechase, finishing with a time of 9:17.31 on Friday. Ackerman narrowly missed the podium on Saturday in the 1500m, finishing in fourth with a time of 3:55.26. Stoppel also earned her third-place finish in the 3000m Steeplechase, finishing with an 11:05.32. She then went on to set a new personal record in the 1500m, where she finished sixth with a time of 4:41.58. Ackerman finishes his MSUB career with the school record in the 1500m, along with top five records in the 5000m and Steeplechase, while Stoppel has the second-best times in program history in the 800m, 1500m, and the Steeplechase.
 
Finishing out the top five finishes for the Yellowjackets was Ryann Moline. Moline took fourth in the discus, where she ended with a best throw of 39.39 meters (129' 2"). The sophomore Moline also took 11^th in the javelin with a mark of 34.49 meters (113' 2").
 
Moving out of the top five finishers, Bradley Graves and Ben Ralston each qualified for the finals in the 110m Hurdles and the 400m respectively, where they each finished seventh. Graves ran his best time in the preliminaries with a mark of 15.33, before running a 15.52 in the finals, while Ralston ran a 49.15 in his prelims, and 50.16 in his finals. Logan Straus ran 15:26.73 in the 5000m, less than a second off his career best and good enough for eighth in the meet. Bryant Edgerton took ninth in the 10000m, finishing in 33:11.38. Isaac Perkins and Cort Sandefur each collected personal bests, with Perkins grabbing his best throws of the season in shot put with a mark of 14.03 meters (46' 0.5") and hammer throw with a mark of 49.67 meters (162' 11"), while Sandefur set his new best mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 39.61 meters (129' 11"). Finally, Brandon Geck made the finals in javelin, finishing ninth with a throw of 51.12 meters (167' 8"), which was also a personal best.
 
Madeline Severson took seventh in the high jump, clearing 1.51 meters (4' 11.5") and nearly clearing the next height of 1.56 meters (5' 1.25"). Jordan Cookman, Brynn Jolma, and Danara Tulimaiau each set personal records in the hammer throw, with Cookman throwing 42.41 meters (139' 1"), Jolma throwing 41.01 meters (134' 6"), and Tulimaiau throwing 39.86 meters (130' 9"). Cookman's throw moved her into sixth all-time for the hammer throw in MSUB history. They each finished behind Grace Jones, however, who took tenth with a throw of 43.73 (143' 5"). Jolma also set a new personal record in discus, throwing 32.48 meters (106' 6").
 
THE BUZZ: Cross was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Meet for the men, while Stoppel was selected as the women's Athlete of the Meet.