BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings track & field programs opened their 2024 indoor season at the Bobcat Preview in Bozeman, finding success on both the men's and women's side as student-athletes looked to start the season on a high note.
 
Both teams finished well in the team scoring, with the women's program finishing in third in the team points with 84.5, while the men's team finished fourth with 55.5 points. Leading the pack were a pair of first place finishers for the MSUB women, with Mya Richardson finishing top in the 200m with a PR time of 26.67, while Bella Klein won the 400m with a PR time of 1:01.38. Both times moved them into the top ten in program history for the events, with Richardson moving to seventh on the indoor 200m charts, and Klein climbing to fifth in the indoor 400m. Richardson also displayed a strong performance in the 60m, where her 7.95 time was 13^th overall at the meet, but was .02 seconds from tying the MSUB program record. The 'Jackets also collected the top finish in the men's 4x400 relay, with the foursome of Ryan Fenley, Jaycee Herbert, Ben Ralston, and Kaleb Scott finishing in 3:34.27.
 
In the men's sprinting events, the 'Jackets also saw a group of athletes show up in a big way. JayCee Herbert ran his first career sub-7.00 time in the 60m, finishing with a mark of 6.94, good enough for fifth place at the meet. Herbert's mark enters a tie for the second fastest 60m time in program history, while his finish in the 200m was good enough to grab a point for MSUB, coming in eighth at 23.46. MSUB dominated the top of the leaderboard in the 200m, with four athletes combining to score 19 total team points. Ben Ralston finished in second at 22.76, followed immediately by Mason Dezember, who ran a 22.79. Kaleb Scott finished in fifth, running a time of 23.25. Both Dezember and Scott's times were career bests.
 
Continuing around the track, MSUB collected the top three finishers in the women's 200m, with Katelyn Hamill and Madison Lloyd finishing with identical times of 27.30, a PR for Lloyd in her first collegiate meet. Madeline Severson hit a big PR in the 800m, finishing with a time of 2:19.63, and moving into third on the school's record books. Gabi Becker was the 'Jacket's top finisher in the mile with a time of 5:57.91, while Cecily Eagleton was MSUB's best time in the 5000m at 20:08.57.
 
Both teams saw quality finishes in the jumping events. The Yellowjacket men were led in the high jump by Payton Kokot, who set his new PR in the with a leap of 1.90m (6' 2.75") on his way to finishing fifth. Kokot would then go on to finish second place overall in the long jump, leaping 6.72m (22' 0.75"), with both marks landing him comfortably on the program's top ten lists. Behind Kokot in the high jump was Favor Okere, who cleared 1.80m (5' 10.75") on his way to a seventh-place finish, and Trenton Coronel, who finished eighth with an indoor PR of 1.75m (5' 8.75"). Goodness Okere finished in fourth for the men's triple jump, landing a best of 12.87m (42' 2.75"). On the women's side, Hannah Cooper set a new indoor PR in the high jump with a mark of 1.60m (5' 3"), moving into second place in program history, while finishing in fourth. Kyanna Jarvis made her collegiate debut, clearing 1.50m (4' 11") in the high jump and earning a 4.82m (15' 9.75m") mark in the long jump. Alyssa Sanchez would come in fifth overall in the triple jump, leaping 10.53m (34' 6.75").
 
Cooper would also pace the MSUB women in the throwing events, finishing as the team's top finisher in both the shot put and the weight throw. She once again moved within striking distance of a program record, with her weight throw of 15.70m (51' 6.25") finishing fifth overall in the meet, and moving into second place in the program's record books. Cooper also had the 'Jackets top finish in the shot put with a mark of 11.69m (38' 4.25"). Jaida Green had a quality finish in the weight throw, with her mark of 14.97m (49' 1.5") good enough for eighth place. For the Yellowjacket men's throwers, the day was highlighted by a big PR from Cort Sandefur in the weight throw, where he finished eighth with a best of 16.04m (52' 7.5"), moving into third all-time in program history. Isaac Perkins also had a solid start, finishing 10^th in the weight throw with a mark of 15.46m (50' 8.75") and 12^th in the shot put with a throw of 13.25m (43' 5.75").
 
THE BUZZ: Mya Richardson and Jaycee Herbert were selected as the Intermountain Health Athletes of the Meet.
 
UP NEXT: A handful of Yellowjacket athletes are set to compete this Saturday, December 7 in the Mike Thorson Open, hosted by University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. Live results will be available online here.