HELENA, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings track and field teams competed over two days in Helena at the Fighting Saints Open, sending one men's athlete and two women's athletes to compete in the decathlon and heptatlon.
 
Competing in the multi events for the first time this season, the Yellowjacket's competitors each finished in quality positions. Chief among them was sophomore Hannah Cooper, who added to a year of impressive finishes by breaking the MSUB school record in heptathlon with a score of 3,797. She bested the previous high, a score of 3,699 set by Leah Berry in 2011. Competing in heptathlon for the first time in her career, Cooper finished in first place in the multis in both the high jump with a leap of 1.62m (5' 3.75") and the shot put with a throw of 11.45m (37' 6.75"). She would also finish second in the javelin with a mark of 34.10m (111' 10"), and in long jump with a mark of 4.92m (16' 1.75").
 
Also competing in the heptathlon for the first time was freshman Kyanna Jarvis, who finished in fourth place on the women's side with a score of 3,415. Her score would be the fourth highest score in program history. Jarvis's standout finishes would come in the 100m hurdles, where she would finish second with a time of 16.50, and in the high jump, where her leap of 1.52m (4' 11.75") would also rank second at the meet. She would also set PR times in the 200m with a time of 28.84, and in the 800m with a time of 2:48.35, finishing third in both events.
 
Meanwhile on the men's side, current school record holder Ryan Fenley finished in third place with a score of 5,210 in the decathlon in his first multi competition of the season. Fenley finished with a pair of PRs on the day, grabbing a third place mark in the discus with a throw of 31.40m (103' 0") and in the javelin with a mark of 42.16m (138' 4"). Fenley would also collect third place finishes in the 100m with a time of 12.03, the 110m hurdles with a time of 17.86, and the 1500 with a time of 5:08.65 to round out his top marks in the meet.
 
THE BUZZ: Cooper and Fenley were both named Intermountain Health Athletes of the Meet… Cooper and Jarvis marked the first MSUB women's track and field athletes to compete in the multis for the 'Jackets since the 2012 outdoor season.
 
UP NEXT: The full Yellowjacket track & field rosters are set to compete next at the Nighthawk Open, hosted by Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, April 12 in Nampa, Idaho. Coverage for all MSUB men's track meets can be found online here, and online here for the women's team.