Big Sky Times

‘Jackets Conclude Indoor Season at GNAC Championships

The Montana State University Billings track and field teams finished their indoor season at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, competing hard and finding success over the past two days.

 

Competing at The Podium in Spokane with the best athletes in the conference present, many Yellowjackets put forth their top efforts, setting new season and personal bests while shaking up the school's all-time leaderboard. The men's team finished in eighth as a group, while the women finished in ninth. Western Oregon University finished top for both the men's and women's team competitions.

 

"We had a solid showing at the meet, and it gives us a good platform to build on for outdoor season," said Yellowjackets head coach Jonathan Woehl. "Each of our event groups had several season bests and contributed towards our team scores. We're excited to see how this group performs as we move towards outdoor, and are proud of the way they performed."

 

The 'Jackets performances were lead by a trio of top three finishers in Bradley Graves, Tatum Hull and Kailee Stoppel. On Monday, Graves finished first in the preliminaries of the 60m hurdles, setting a new school record with a time of 8.34. It broke the previous record set by Graves earlier this season when he ran a 8.41 at the Bobcat Challenge. Graves was unable to top that time in the finals Tuesday, but his 8.42 mark was good enough to finish in third. "Brad pushed hard for a win in the 60h, but it just wasn't his day," said Woehl. "He's a great team leader, and continues to improve each season he competes for us."

 

Competing in the long jump on Monday, Hull jumped a distance of 5.47 meters (17'-11.50"), breaking the school record. The freshman smashed both the previous record of 5.32 meters (17'-5.5") set by Brenna Beckett in 2020, along with her previous career high of 5.17 meters (16'-11.55"). On top of that, Hull tied another school record in the 60m dash with a time of 7.93. It matched the time of Michaela Johnson set in 2018. "Tatum was outstanding," said Woehl. "This is just the beginning for her, we can't wait to see what else she can bring."

 

Meanwhile, the senior Stoppel, owner of MSUB's indoor record in the 800m, competed once more in her record holding event. Stoppel placed fourth in the preliminaries with a time of 2:17.93 to qualify for the finals, where she proceeded to improve in both position and time. Stoppel ran a 2:16.84, good enough for third place at the meet. "Kailee ran a great prelim, and followed it up with an even better final," said Woehl. "It's her second all-GNAC finish in the ITF 800."

 

The 'Jackets had one more school record set during the GNAC Championships by Ben Ralston in the 400m. Ralston's qualifying time in the prelims came in at a 49.75, good enough to surpass the 50.20 mark he set at the Whitworth Invitational just a week prior. Ralston went on to run a 50.43 in the finals to finish in seventh. He also finished fifth in the 60m finals, setting a new personal best. "Ben excelled in spite of a tough schedule," Woehl said. "The 60m and 400m are ran back-to-back, so to qualify and then place highly in both is impressive."

 

Behind them, the 'Jackets had a slew of positive finishes. Ase Ackerman placed fourth in the mile with a time of 4:13.96. It was the second best time of the season for Ackerman, who hold the second fastest indoor mile in MSUB history. Favor Okere competed in multiple events, collecting a top five finish in the high jump. His mark of 1.89 meters (6'-2.25") was .01m off setting a new personal record. Okere did however set a personal record in the 60m, with his time of 7.15 being good enough to enter the top ten in MSUB history.

 

Isaac Perkins had a pair of top ten finished, landing in sixth in the shot put and fifth in the weight throw. The distance of 15.43 meters (50'-7.5") for Perkins weight throw was a new personal record for the freshman, and good enough for fifth in school history. Logan Straus ran a personal best 15:18.06 in the 5000m. The time from the senior was good enough to finish in tenth.

 

On the women's side, two throwers set personal records on their way to quality finishes. Jaida Green earned a mark of 11.29 meters (37'-0.5") in the shot put, and 13.05 meters (42'-9.75") in the shot put and weight throw respectively. Green's shot put mark was good enough to finish in fifth. Meanwhile, Grace Jones threw a 14.96 meters (49'-1") weight throw, placing fifth while moving her into third in school history.

 

Mya Richardson improved her career best once again by running an 8.01 in the 60m. Richardson is fourth in MSUB indoor history. Kendall Lynn finished in seventh in the long jump with a mark of 5.22 meters (17'-1.50"). Madeline Severson jumped 1.41 meters (4'-7.50") to finish seventh in the high jump, while Kaylee Dalling set a new personal high in the mile (5:43.75)

 

In terms of relays, the women's 4X400 team made up of Richardson, Stoppel, Severson, and Bella Klein set a new season high with a time of 4:10.19, while the distance medley relay team consisting of Stoppel, Severson, Dalling, and Ally Whitmer did the same, running a combined 12:59.77. The men's 4X400 relay squad consisting of Graves, Ralston, Lucas Harper and William Ullery would also set a seasons best at the GNAC Championships, running a 3:28.42 time.

 

THE BUZZ: Graves was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Men's Athlete of the Meet, while Hull was chosen for the women.

 

UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets next competition will mark the kickoff of outdoor season, when they compete against athletes from crosstown rivals Rocky Mountain College in the Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Icebreaker Open at Lockwood High School on Saturday, March 18.

Original source can be found here.