Preview: MSUB track and field competes at UM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, April 27, 2017 Preview: MSUB track and field competes at UM

MSUB’s track and field team heads to Missoula for a meet at the University of Montana running Friday and Saturday this weekend.

BILLINGS, Mont. – With the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships approaching in just two weeks, the Montana State University Billings track and field squad enters its final stages of preparation with a meet at the University of Montana this weekend.

The Montana Open kicks off Friday evening with field events, and the main slate of competition will run throughout the day Saturday at Dornblaser Field. The Yellowjackets will put an emphasis on their relay squads on both the men’s and women’s side this weekend, with teams entered in both the 4x400-meter relay and 4x100-meter relay.

“Only the top-eight in our conference qualify for the relays, and we are sitting just outside that in a couple of them,” commented MSUB head coach Dave Coppock. “Our men’s 4x1 has looked pretty good, and if they get their exchanges down they’re going to be really fast.”

On the women’s side, freshman Michaela Johnson is coming off a win last week in the 100-meter hurdles at the Trudnowski Open hosted by Carroll College. The first-year sprinter is set to take on the hurdles again this week, and will also run the second leg in MSUB’s 4x100 relay squad. “I had been hurt for a while, so it was nice to get back on the track,” said Johnson. “The relays have been looking good, and we are hoping to get a good time and a mark that will get us to GNAC.” Katelyn Eastburn and Brenna Beckett will run on either side of Johnson, and sophomore Josey Smiedala will anchor MSUB’s top relay squad. Smiedala, who broke the school record in the 400-meter hurdles in her first-ever attempt at the race at home two weeks ago, will take her 1:05.65 time into the event again this weekend. She will also anchor the Yellowjackets’ 4x400 relay team, along with Beckett, Eastburn, and Janessa Williams.

Baylie Bullington and Savannah Merritt will run alongside Johnson in the 100-meters, and each will also compete in the 200 for the ‘Jackets. Sarah Beatty, Ella McKenzie, and Catrina Schuchard will represent the team in the 800-meters, and senior Rio Frame will join the group in the 1,500-meters.

MSUB’s jumps squad is stacked tall this weekend, with five different Yellowjackets competing in the three events. Jamie Orme enters with the top mark of 1.53 meters in the high jump, Shaniah Schwend is the long jump leader at 4.97 meters, and Shelby Browning enters with a mark of 9.62 meters in the triple jump.

Freshman Michaela Johnson is coming off a win in the 100meter hurdles last week.

Freshman Hailey Steinbeisser is entered in all four throwing events, and Taylor Stringari is set to throw the shot put, discus, and hammer for MSUB. Junior star Sam Zook is coming off another record-breaking performance last week, and is expected to anchor the men’s 4x100-meter relay race. The GNAC leader in the 200-meters is entered in that heat as well, along with Braden Rykal, Kaelen Shay, and Santiago de la Rosa joining him.

After a personal-best mark in the 10,000-meters last week, sophomore Ivan Colmenero will cut down on distance and run the 800-meters and 1,500-meters for the ‘Jackets. Senior Jacob Marshall is also set to go in the 1,500, and fellow fourth-year runner Garrett Love is entered in the 5,000-meters with a time of 15:51.88.

Seniors Austin Lindquist and Landon Polkow will hold down the hurdles for MSUB, with the former taking a personal best mark of 14.98 seconds into the 110-meter high hurdles and the latter checking in at 58.64 seconds in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. “This is going to be a big meet for me, and Sam, Kaelen, and Braden are all hitting their stride right now in the 100 and 200,” said Polkow. “We all feel like we could put in a pretty good mark right now in the 4x1, and those guys have been running well all season long.”

Jorey Egeland, Tyus Mendoza, and Josh Panasuk will have a chance to work on their times in the steeplechase, running the race for the first time in three weeks.

Freshmen Chuck Carr and Isaiah Girard are each entered in the high jump and long jump, and Marcus Lindquist will take on the long jump, triple jump, and 100-meter dash.

Forrest Cross, Brady Ostermiller, and Beau Peaslee are each entered in three different throwing events, and Beau Ackerman takes his team-best toss of 60.16 meters into the javelin.

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