MSUB’s outdoor opener features personal bests

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Saturday, March 25, 2017 MSUB’s outdoor opener features personal bests

MSUB’s men’s and women’s track and field teams open the outdoor season with several personal-bests on Saturday in a dual-meet with Montana State.

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Kicking off its 2017 outdoor season on Saturday at the Montana State University Bobcat Invite, the Montana State University Billings men’s and women’s track and field teams continued to break school records and set personal-best marks.

Junior sprinter Sam Zook set the school record in both the 100-meters and 200-meters, with times of 10.68 and 21.61, respectively. On the women’s side, Katelyn Eastburn posted personal-best marks of 12.86 in the 100 and 25.88 in the 200, and senior Rio Frame had one of her best-career marks in the 1,500 at 5:17.04.

“We had some pretty good performances to start out the season with, and overall this was a really good day for us,” said MSUB head coach Dave Coppock. “Sam was probably the highlight of the day, setting two school records and taking first in both the 100 and 200. That was a great start for him, and he looked really strong and relaxed.”

Michaela Johnson kept her stellar freshman season going, finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.44. Janessa Williams took third in the 400-meter hurdles, posting a mark of 1:15.34.

Jamie Orme recovered after a frustrating finish to her indoor season with a pair of no-heights, as she cleared 4-11 to place third on Saturday. In the long jump and triple jump, fellow freshman Brenna Beckett came close to her best scores from the indoor season, with marks of 16 feet and 34-2 feet, respectively.

Taylor Stringari had a solid opening meet in the throws department, placing second in the shot put with a mark of 37-8 feet. Kassadee Kuoha paced the quartet of women’s throwers in the discus, with a distance of 115-10 with Stringari close behind at 111-10.

In the women’s relays, Beckett, Miranda Livingston, Eastburn, and Josey Smiedala teamed up to post a time of 4:13 to place third.

In addition to Zook winning both his races, Kaelen Shay had a strong showing with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meters at 11.26 and fifth in the 200-meters at 23.39.

Marcus Lindquist leapt to a mark of 42-08.25 in the triple jump Saturday.

Junior Jorey Egeland, who won the 5k a season ago at the Bobcat Invite, defended that title by taking first in a time of 15:39.53. Senior Jacob Marshall posted a personal-best with a time of 16:45.63 in the 5k, as the Yellowjacket distance runners had a solid performance in their first outdoor event of the year.

Josh Panasuk was called upon for double duty Saturday, posting a time of 4:07 in the 1,500 before finishing fifth in the 800-meters with a time of 2:00.15. Mark Hovland crossed the line just in front of Panasuk, in fourth with a time of 1:59.91 in the 800.

Chuck Carr led the ‘Jacket jumpers, finishing second in both the high jump and long jump with marks of 6-04.75 and 1010.75, respectively. Isaiah Girard was also solid in the high jump, sticking with Carr and matching the height of 6-04.75.

Marcus Lindquist was the lone competitor in the triple jump, and was on the board in 5 of 6 attempts while improving each time to a final leap of 42-08.25.

Brady Ostermiller led the throws squad, with marks of 46-10.25 in the shot put and 135-02 in the discus for fourth and fifth place, respectively. Beau Peaslee was the team’s top performer in the hammer throw, reaching a distance of 13006, and Beau Ackerman took first in the javelin with a toss of 179-11.

THE BUZZ: Zook and Eastburn were picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Players of the Day. NEXT UP: The teams head to Greeley, Colo., next week for the Tom Benich Invitational. The Yellowjackets are scheduled to compete each weekend leading up to the GNAC Championships on May 12-13 hosted by Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--