Four Bobcats Reach Podium on Third Day of Big Sky Outdoor Championships

Friday, May 12

Sacramento, CA

2 p.m.

Montana State University

Big Sky Outdoor Championship - Day Three

Calvin Root

Photo by: Big Sky Conference

Four Bobcats Reach Podium on Third Day of Big Sky Outdoor Championships

5/12/2017 9:53:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Third Day Results

Alyssa Snyder earned gold in the 10,000, throwers Kyle Douglass and Calvin Root picked up runner-up finishes and Leslie Gappa completed a bronze-medal performance to lead Montana State at the Big Sky meet Friday

By: Andrew Pedersen

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Four Bobcats earned all-conference honors as Montana State completed the third day of the 2017 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships Friday, May 12, at Hornet Stadium.

MSU sophomore Alyssa Snyder won the Bobcats' lone gold medal on Friday at Sacramento State's home track in the women's 10,000-meter run. Snyder cruised to a first-plash finish with a time of 35 minutes, 23.85 seconds, for her first gold at a Big Sky Conference meet.

Throwers Calvin Root and Kyle Douglass continued their strong outdoor campaigns with runner-up finishes. Root earned his best finish ever at a conference meet as he completed the hammer throw with a top mark of 194-09.00 (59.36m). Douglass netted his second consecutive silver medal in the discus with a throw of 180-04.00 (54.98m).

Senior Leslie Gappa produced her career-best finish and first podium appearance during her collegiate career Friday. She completed the javelin with a throw of 144-06 (44.04m) to receive the bronze medal.

The Bobcat men sit in fourth place in the team standings with 31 points, trailing Northern Arizona (34) for third. Weber State (44) and Sacramento State (43) are in a heated battle for first through day three of the Big Sky men's meet.

MSU's women's squad is in fifth trailing Eastern Washington by one point. Weber State leads the women's competition with 56 points while the host Hornets follow in second place with 50.

Several Bobcats placed in finals Friday to contribute to their respective team totals.

Senior Casey Teska finished fourth in the women's pole vault by clearing 12-10.75 (3.93m) and senior Carter Theade took seventh with a season-best 11-10.75 (3.63m) to get MSU seven points in the event.

Freshman Carley VonHeeder picked up three points for the Bobcats in the javelin by taking sixth with her mark of 139-05.00 (42.50m).

Sophomore Ty Mogan led the MSU men in the 10,000 by finishing fifth with a time of 30:46.38. Freshman Alec Nehring contributed to the point total by completing a lifetime best in the discus behind his throw of 164-02.00 (50.05m). Sophomore Anthony Schmalz took seventh behind a personal-best finish of 9:21.03 in the 3,000 steeplechase.

Multiple MSU runners qualified for finals events Saturday by finishing in the top eight of their respective preliminaries Friday.

Amanda Jaynes qualified for two finals on the women's side. She finished fourth overall in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.03, which moved her from ninth to sixth all-time in program history. The junior also placed first in her heat and finished second overall by coasting across the line in 59.77.

Freshman McKenna Ramsay continued her onslaught on the program's 400 all-time chart. She finished first in her heat and had the second-best time overall of 54.84 to improve from eighth to fourth in the MSU record book.

Two-time Big Sky 800 champion Christie Schiel will look to continue her title streak after qualifying for the finals in the event. She had the top time among the eight that will head into Saturday by crossing the line in 2:08.60.

Junior Christopher Lange led three MSU men that qualified for finals races. He had a lifetime best while taking third overall in the 400 hurdles (53.14). Freshman Cameron Carroll moved from 10th to seventh in program history in the 800 with his time of 1:51.55 while taking fifth overall. Sophomore Jadin Casey advanced to the 400 finals by finishing the prelims sixth overall in a season-best time of 48.47.

Mitch Horning took ninth overall in the men's 100 to lead a contingent of Bobcats that just missed qualifying for the finals. Root, Taylor Buschy, Samuel Bloom, Hailey Phillips and Truanne Roginske all took 10th in one set of prelims. Phillips had a lifetime best (1:02.72) in the 400 hurdles and Roginske had her career-best in the 100 (12.27) as both had solid showings.

Recording the fastest marks of their Bobcat careers Friday included Madison Liechty, Frankie Hoerner and John Purlee. Liechty moved from ninth to eighth on the women's team's all-time top 10 in the 3,000 steeplechase with her finish of 11:03.03. Hoerner placed 14th overall in the men's 800 with a time of 1:53.19 and Purlee followed him in 1:53.91.

Montana State heads into the final day of action at the 2017 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday. The first event is set to start at 11 a.m. MDT. A live stream and live results for the conclusion of the conference meet are available on the Montana State track and field schedule pages.