BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings track & field teams concluded their 2025 outdoor season by competing at the GNAC Outdoor Championships over the past two days, finishing the year with quality performances, including one podium finish, and a pair of school records.
 
Leading the pack for MSUB with the best finish of the meet would be Hannah Cooper, who collected the lone podium finish of the meet after taking second place in the discus. Cooper would earn all-conference honors and a silver medal after achieving a PR in the event, with her mark of 42.99m (141' 0") landing in third place in MSUB's record books. Cooper would also compete strong in her other events across the conference championships, finishing fifth in high jump after achieving a season-best mark of 1.62m (5' 3.75"), and a seventh-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 38.11m (125' 0"). Overall, Cooper would earn the MSUB women 14 total points at the outdoor championships, the most among all Yellowjackets.
 
The Yellowjackets would also set a pair of school records at the meet, with one coming from each side. On the opening day of competition Friday, Isaac Perkins would achieve the best finish of the day for the 'Jackets with a fourth-place finish of 53.60m (175' 10"). That mark would give Perkins the school record in the event, besting the previous best mark of 53.15m (174' 4") set in 2021 by Nels Flanagan. It would also mark Perkins' best finish of the meet, with the thrower finishing in 11^th place in the shot put with a mark of 13.96m (45' 9.75"), and 16^th in the discus with a throw of 39.53m (129' 8").
 
Meanwhile, the women's 4x100 relay team consisting of Bella Klein, Mya Richardson, Kyanna Jarvis, and Katelyn Hamill would improve upon the school record the group broke previously this season, finishing with a time of 48.80 seconds. It beat out their previous record-breaking mark by .06 seconds, and was good enough to land the group in fourth place at the meet. The 4x400 relay group, where Klein, Richardson, and Hamill would be joined by Madeline Severson, would conclude the meet by nearly besting the school record, with their time of 3:57.94 ranking as a season best and second in program history.
 
Around the rest of the meet for the MSUB men, Ben Ralston would score a point for the 'Jackets in the 200m. The senior would open the meet Friday with a 21.73 time, good enough for sixth place in the prelims and advancing him to the finals on Saturday, where Ralston would run a 22.07 to finish eighth. Ralston, who already ranks second all-time for MSUB in the event, would also climb the program's record books after running a PR time of 10.74 in the 100m prelims, ninth at the meet and fourth fastest in school history. Payton Kokot would collect three points in the long jump, bounding 6.80m (22' 3.75") to rank in sixth place at the meet, with the junior also coming in ninth in the high jump with a mark of 1.82m (5' 11.5"). Rounding out MSUB's point earners for the men would be Goodness Okere, who collecting one with his eighth-place mark of 12.92m (42' 4.75") in the triple jump.
 
Cort Sandefur would narrowly miss out on earning points in the shot put, with his 14.20m (46' 7.25") mark ranking in ninth place at the meet and giving the junior a new PR. Kody Cooper would PR in the javelin, while finishing as MSUB's top competitor in the event with mark of 52.17m (171' 2"), taking tenth place at the meet. Meanwhile, Braydon Tucker would earn a pair of PRs at the meet, finishing 11^th in the javelin with a mark of 52.16m (171' 1") and 12^th in the hammer throw with a mark of 46.64m (153' 0").
 
For the Yellowjacket women, Cecily Eagleton would PR in the 3000m steeplechase, putting together a time of 11:30.61 to land in tenth. Narrowly missing out on PRs would be Richardson in the 100m, whose time of 12.44 would finish tenth in the prelims, and Klein, whose would likewise finish tenth in the 400m prelims with a time of 58.65. Madeline Severson would run a time of 2:20.79 in the 800m prelims to finish 13^th. In the field events, Jaida Green would finish ninth in the hammer throw and lead all MSUB athletes with a mark of 46.21m (151' 7"). Jarvis would finish behind Cooper for MSUB in the high jump, taking 11^th with a leap of 1.52m (4' 11.75"), and Alyssa Sanchez would take 12^th in the triple jump with a mark of 10.22m (33' 6.5").
 
The Yellowjacket women's team would take eighth place at the meet with a team score of 23, and then men would finish ninth with a team score of 13. Western Washington University would finish first in both the women's and men's team scores to claim both GNAC Championships.
 
THE BUZZ: Cooper was named the Intermountain Health Athlete of the Meet on both days of competition for the women… for the men, Perkins was named Athlete of the Meet for day one, while Ralston was named Athlete of the Meet on day two.