Cat-Griz Track and Field Dual Ends in Narrow Split

Saturday, April 22

Missoula, MT

TBA

Montana State University

104

Cat-Griz Dual

Leslie Gappa

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

4/22/2017 7:27:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Men's Results Women's Results

The point disparity came down to single digits as the men's team won by six while the MSU women's team fell by just four to Montana Saturday in Missoula

By: Andrew Pedersen

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Cat-Griz Dual has been known to provide some close finishes in the past and this year's version didn't disappoint. The Montana State men's track and field team earned a 102-96 dual victory over Montana, but the Bobcat women narrowly lost to the Griz by a 102-98 margin at Dornblaser Field.

"A great battle as almost always with Montana," Montana State head coach Dale Kennedy said. "The men came out on top and our women fell just short. I thought we competed really well and we had multiple numbers of season and lifetime bests."

The men's team earned 10 first-place finishes over the span of the meet.

Junior Kyle Douglass continued his strong outdoor campaign with two lifetime bests and a meet record. Douglass finished first in the shot put with his throw of 59-08.25 (18.19m) that set a Cat-Griz Dual record in the meet, but also moved him from eighth to fourth on the MSU all-time top 10 list. He also placed first in the discus with another personal-best throw of 186-00 (56.59m).

Diego Leon crossed the line first in two events to provide a total of 10 points to MSU's team score. He earned a lifetime best in the 1,500-meter run with his time of 3 minutes, 56.07 seconds and also led the charge in the 5,000 with a mark of 15:04.20.

Junior Christopher Lange and sophomore Anthony Schmalz also recorded lifetime bests while winning a race apiece for the Bobcats. Lange placed first in the 110 hurdles with his personal-best time of 15.35 and led MSU in the 400 hurdles (54.03). Schmalz earned a time of 9:37.39 for first in the 3,000 steeplechase.

Samuel Bloom (1:53.42) led MSU's 1-2 finish in the 800, Calvin Root (194-06) had the top mark in the hammer throw, Graham Reid (14-11) earned first place in the pole vault and Trevor Simanski (46-00) finished atop the triple jump standings.

Jadin Casey, Cameron Carroll, Ty Mogan, Alex Lewis, Austin Decker and Alec Nehring all finished with a runner-up showing in at least one event. Tyler McQueen, Shawn Peden, Adam Wollant, Ty Bermes, and Caleb Neth also helped contribute to the Bobcat cause with a third-place finish in their respective events.

The Bobcat women's team earned seven first-place finishes, with freshman McKenna Ramsay notching two of them. She took first in both the 200 (24.89) and the 400 (55.61).

Multiple Bobcats on the women's side made their mark on the MSU all-time top 10 list.

Senior Leslie Gappa joined it for the first time with her throw of 146-11 (44.78m) in the javelin, jumping to eight in program history in the event. Jacqueline Verlanic continued her strong outdoor campaign by topping her previous best in the hammer throw (191-04), which moved her from 5th to 4th on the all-time top 10 chart. Truanne Roginske moved from 10th to 6th in the record book in the triple jump with her leap of 38-05.50 (11.72m).

Senior Christie Schiel (4:35.23) took first in the 1,500, sophomore Alyssa Snyder crossed the line ahead of the pack in the 5,000 (17:22.15), junior Amanda Jaynes achieved a lifetime best in the 400 hurdles (59.51) for first place and senior Casey Teska had the top clearance in the pole vault (12-11.50) to complete MSU's reign atop its respective events.

Jessica Chrisp and Shey Hannum also earned runner-up finishes on the women's side.

Both Bobcat men's and women's 4x100 and 4x400 relays eventually achieved season-best times during the Cat-Griz Dual.

"It was a good meet," Kennedy said. "We had really great conditions to compete in. We wound up with some pretty significant headwinds in (some of the sprint races), so when it came to their chances of running really good times, it just wasn't going to happen."

The Bobcats return to Missoula next weekend for the Montana Open which is set to begin Saturday, April 29, at Dornblaser Field.