(Missoula, Mon.) - Competing in what was more like early spring conditions at the Tom Gage Classic at Dornblaster Field on the campus of the University of Montana, the Sasquatch men and women once again rose to the challenge in hitting some of their best marks of the year.
Kicking the meet off on Friday afternoon in the hammer throw, Sam Enigh saw an incredible twenty-one-foot personal improvement over three consecutive throws, getting better on each effort. She eventually reached a best of 119 feet and11.5 inches. This moves her up the NWAC performance list to seventh place. Emigh only recently joined the track squad and has been throwing the hammer about six weeks.
On the men’s side, Brooks Michaels led the way in similar fashion hitting his best throws of the season while just missing breaking into the 150 feet range, hitting 149 feet and 9 inches. This moves Brooks up to fourth place on the NWAC list, giving the men three out of the top ten in the conference.
Also hitting a personal best and moving up the conference list was Reise Raymond. Raymond reached 115 feet and 7 inches, and ranks eleventh.
The momentum from Friday’s action carried over to the Saturday portion and the majority of the meet.
Hurdle specialist Kiley Cutler, had a major break through in the 100-meter hurdles running 16.30 sconds, finishing in eighth place in a stellar field consisting of mostly NCAA schools. This moves her up to fourth on the conference list. Far from done on the day, Cutler ran a stellar and season best in the 400-meter hurdles, taking almost a second off her previous best, finishing in third place overall running 1:05.85. This performance moves her into the number two spot in the conference.
Another of the top ranked hurdlers in the conference, Miranda Irwin ran two solid races and finished in tenth place in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.02 seconds and then running 1:11.05 in the 400-meter hurdles and finishing sixth overall. Irwin is ranked sixth in both events.
The conference top ranked javelin thrower Maddie Gebers once again showed her consistency against an outstanding field of jav throwers. Geber finished ninth while throwing 124 feet and 11.50 inches. Not finished on the day, Gebers traded her javelin boots in for her high jump spikes. She had a season best while jumping 4 feet and 9.75 inches and ranking sixth in a very close conference event.
Her high jump teammate and team captain, Jaxson Nichols also had a huge breakout meet in the high jump. Nichols best jump of the season and of his collegiate career came with a second attempt clearance of 6 feet and 4.75 inches, the number two jump in the conference this year by just .25 inches. Nichols finished in second place in the meet. The men’s high jump will be a great event at the conference championships in two weeks.
The final event of a very long day of competition was well worth the wait. The men’s discus was a loaded field with many of the best throwers in the Big Sky conference competing. The goal of every field event athlete is to throw or jump well enough in the preliminary rounds of three attempts to qualify for the final nine competitor’s and get three more throws or jumps.
Colby Anderson was ready and up for the challenge after a great week of practice. He cracked the top nine in the prelims on his very last throw hitting a new season and personal best of 148 feet and 7 inches, and earned three more throws in the finals, the only non-NCAA athlete in the field. Anderson remains ranked second on the conference performance list. The Eagle, Idaho native will take his skills to La Grande, Oregon at Eastern Oregon University next season having recently signed with the Mountaineers.
Only one regular season meet remains of the schedule for the Sasquatch with the Whitworth Last Chance meet scheduled for this Wednesday, May 11th at the Boppel Track. This gives the team the last opportunity to qualify for the NWAC championships scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, May 23rd and 24th at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon.
Tags
#Men's Track and Field
#TrackField
#Women's Track and Field