Seven winners, 10 new qualifiers at MSU
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
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The University of Montana indoor track and field teams had seven individual winners and 10 new Big Sky Conference qualifiers at Friday night???s Montana State Duals in Bozeman, Mont. With three indoor meets remaining before the 2009 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships the UM women have 12 qualifiers in 21 events, while the men have 13 qualifiers in 16 events.
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The 2009 indoor championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, at Flagstaff, Ariz.
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Montana went 1-3 in its dual-scored competitions with Montana State and Idaho State. The Griz men fell to both ISU (83.5-63.5) and MSU (79-68), while the UM women topped the Bobcats (78-70) and fell to the Bengals (75-72).
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The Griz women had four new qualifiers Friday: junior Brooke Andrus in the mile, junior Erin Clark in the 400 meters, sophomore Shannon Sullivan in the 55 meters and freshman Melissa Jenkins in the 400 meters.
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Andrus???s mile time of 5:08.62, when altitude-adjusted to 5:02.45, just met the qualifying standard of 5:03. Jenkins (57.91) and Clark (57.93) went two-three in the 400 meters, meeting the qualifying time of 58 seconds. Sullivan had her first career Big Sky qualification when she ran 7.36 in the 55-meter preliminaries.
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Junior Kara DeWalt, who qualified last week in the mile and 5,000 meters, added a 3,000-meter qualification Friday, winning the event in a time of 10:15.73. Her altitude-adjusted time of 10:01.86 met the qualifying standard of 10:10.
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In addition to DeWalt???s winning effort in the 3,000 meters, sophomore Katrina Drennen swept the 800 meters and mile (one week after sweeping the mile and 3,000 meters at the MSU Open), sophomore Jennifer Walter won the 55 meters and freshman Asia Graham won the triple jump.
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Drennen just edged out sophomore teammate Emily Eickholt in the 800 meters, winning in a time of 2:17.62. Eickholt posted a 2:17.68.
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Drennen had a dominant victory in the mile, improving on last weekend???s qualifying time with a career-best 4:57.81, winning the event by over 10 seconds. Her altitude-adjusted time was 4:51.64.
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Walter won the 55 meters in a time of 7.33, Graham won the triple jump with a distance of 37-8.75. Both are already qualified in those events. Walter ran a 7.30 at Eastern Washington in December. Graham jumped a 38-1.25 at EWU.
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Montana???s top 1,600-meter relay team of Clark, Eickholt, Jenkins and sophomore Jenna Haven won the event in a time of 3:54.09.
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Freshman Melissa Mauro improved upon her previous qualification in the 55-meter hurdles, running an 8.58 to finish third.
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New qualifiers for the Montana men were senior Dennis Brands in the mile and senior Eli Hermann, junior Mac Bloom, sophomore Lynn Reynolds and sophomore Colin O???Neill in the 5,000 meters.
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All four 5,000-meter qualifiers earned spots with their performances in the 3,000 meters.
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Brands placed second in the mile, running a 4:16.38. His altitude-adjusted time of 4:11.10 met the Big Sky standard of 4:14.50.
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Senior Dan Bingham was third in the mile, hitting the standard for the second straight week with a 4:17.62 (4:12.34).
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Bloom (8:42.95/8:31.09), Reynolds (8:43.05/8:31.19), O???Neill (8:50.70/8:38.84) and Hermann (8:53.80/8:41.94) went fourth through seventh in the 3,000 meters. Bloom and Reynolds missed the 3,000-meter qualifying time of 8:30 by just over a second. All four hit the 5,000-meter standard of 8:45 for the 3,000.
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Junior Chris Hellekson, who previously qualified in the shot put, added the weight throw Friday, improving on his career best by over 22 inches to finish second with a distance of 55-5.5. Hellekson also won the shot with a mark of 54-7.25.
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Junior Landon Bowery, who was already qualified in the event, won the 55-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 7.70.
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???Overall this was a better week than last week,??? UM track and field coach Brian Schweyen said. ???We had some nice improvements across the board, and most everyone was better, which is what we???re looking for.
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???I told the team before the meet that the dual scores are not as important to us as seeing improvement this week and every week leading up to conference. So we accomplished what we wanted.???
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Montana will compete next Friday and Saturday at the Mountain States Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho.
