Bobcat Track and Field

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 10:11 am

You can find info on the team at www.msubobcats.com but also at an unofficial site I started 7 years ago, www.montana.edu/cats Sometimes the unofficial site will have info quicker, or with more detail. MSU's women took second indoors, and our men were third, missing 2nd by only 1/2 point. The gpa's are above 3.0. Our men had the fifth highest gpa in Div I track in '02, and our women were fourth in 2003. After winning BSC titles in 2001 and 2003 our women need to rebuild in some areas. Our men are steadily building back to where they were in the 90's, and they were 11th at NCAA's in cross country in 2002. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Nice site. Thanks for all of the effort it must take to start something like this.

Mike Carignan
Asst Coach 22 yrs

Post by **kmax** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 10:55 am

Mike, thanks for stopping by and for the info. It is good to see the Track and Field teams representing MSU so well. I wish them all luck in the outdoor season.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 4:53 pm

Hey Mike - Can you keep us up to date on the goings-on in the track and field team, as well as give us a quick update on the renovations (completed and upcoming) that are slated for the MSU T&F complex? I've noticed some brief mentions of it on the MSU website, but I'd love to hear more when you get a chance.

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 9:46 pm

I usually wear shorts to the track once a year before the BSC Championships in mid-May. I've already worn them four days. We had a record high yesterday. We compete in Missoula with UM, ISU and EWU Saturday. There will be dual scores for all four teams. Track is so different from other sports, like our ability to dual three teams at once. We sometimes agree to meet without scoring. Sometimes we split the team and compete in two meets at once. But we'll go for it this weekend. We aren't near peak form yet, with two months of regular season remaining.

Erin Jones, our BSC champ in the pentathlon indoors will redshirt outdoors. She had shoulder surgery on her right shoulder. She really had a great indoor championship, scoring 29 points. We're redshirting some others that could score at conference. Ariana Lee, our great distance runner, completed her eligibility indoors. So our outdoor roster is not nearly as strong as indoors. We're redshirting some key men as well, like Josh Henigman and Jonathan Gibson, but we'll still be pretty good outdoors. Look for a lot of new faces on our women's team next year.

Our new track is fantastic, thanks to the Bobcat Track and Field Association and MSU. The Association raised $450,000, of which only $63,000 has yet to be paid off on a loan. MSU came through with about $260,000. So we have a totally new surface, with a slight bank and a drainage system, plus new runways for jumping and throwing the javelin. It was great hosting the BSC Championships last year. The trees outside the fence have grown enough to significantly change the overall appearance of the facility. The team planted most of those trees back in '90 as seedlings. We still need seating. We got by renting bleachers last year, which was pricey. Our plan is to build a good set of bleachers with a press box for results and timing. We really need to do this. The BTFA is moving forward with a great fund raising idea, the Bobcat Sports Plaza. $50,000 has been donated to assure that the construction will begin this summer or early fall. The plaza will fill space between the stadium and the track. It will feature paving stones with the names of alumni and other supporters of Bobcat Athletics. There will be wall space for monuments honoring Bobcat Athletes. You can learn more about the project at the MSU athletics web page. We need donors to purchase these bricks. Once the remainder of the loan is paid off the BTFA will focus on seating for the track.

Mike

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:48 am

I just checked out the Bobcat Plaza on the MSU athletics site, and it is very cool! Rest assured, I will be talking to the wife soon about which brick we should be purchasing.

This is exactly the kind of foresight our football and basketball programs need to improve those facilities. Outstanding work T&F, best of luck this season.

Why cant someone in the football department get something together to put some landscaping around the football field - maybe a little "between the hedges" type action like Georgia? Or maybe even to pave that parking lot on the west side? Or pave the lot between the stadium and field house? Dont get me started on the death traps in the south endzone.

Sorry, a little off topic there. Again, great job track program, keep it up.

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:51 am

kmax, rtb, BAC:

The link to Bobcat Plaza is exactly the kind of link that NEED to be on this site.

I know this is a work in progress, and I applaud the job that has been done already. =D^

Post by **rtb** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:21 am

We are waiting to hear from Athletics if they will let us post a link to the official pages. We don't want to do anything that would be problematic for athletics at this point in time. We are doing what we can, but we want to make sure we do the right thing.

Thanks for being part of the site.

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:46 am

Sounds good RTB, I know this is a work in progress, keep up the great job. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed.

WolfPtCat · Post by **WolfPtCat** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 5:01 pm

Thanks for the updates coach, it is great to see the program is improving, not just maintaining its excellence. I get a few updates from my sister's roomate, one of your throwers, Lynn. But, this will be a great place to get full information.

I will definetly be looking into one of those bricks, I'm pretty sure I need to repay some of my scholarship money.

Best of luck this season,

Jeff Rodenberg

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 12:23 pm

I think that Rodenberg would fit nicely on one of the bricks going into the new Bobcat Plaza. We met three BSC teams in duals in Missoula yesterday, and came out 3-3, splitting with the Griz. We had fun, but have a lot of hard work ahead of us. www.montana.edu/cats go to news. Well, time to work on team stats before we lift.

Mike

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 8:50 am

MSU track will compete this Saturday at home in an unscored open meet. UM will be there, as well as some unattached athletes. Often these are former All-Americans like Shannon (Agee) Jones in the vault, or UM's great multi-eventers. There will be some masters (over 40) athletes as well. Blake Jackson, Casey Jermyn and Jen Allen will be at the Mt Sac Relays. This is one of those weekends when the team divides and pursues objectives other than amassing points. Jermyn will join a fast field in the 10,000.

Jackson and Allen lead the teams in scoring so far, with 67 points each. An interesting sidenote about Blake and Jen is that they have both served as team captain for four years. I wonder if any Bobcat has ever done this before? I think that this is a first with our cross country and track and field program.

An architect was flagging off an area between the stadiun and the track where the proposed Bobcat Plaza will go. Paving Bricks are for sale. You can find info on this at MSU's Athletic Web Page. Hopefully the Plaza will be in place this fall, replacing the dumpster, porta potties, old javelin runway, and gophers. I think that many more people will want to add a personalized brick when they see the Plaza. $50,000 was donated to kick the project off. We hope to sell enough bricks to pay off the loan needed to finish the track. Then we start work toward adding bleachers for the track.

The weather continues to amaze me. It will be mid 70's today, perfect training weather. 3/4" of rain helped last Friday. I think that things are going to cool down to normal soon.

HelenaCat95 · Post by **HelenaCat95** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 8:57 am

Hammer,
What's the time on the track meet?
I'll be coming from Helena for the scrimmage, and if I can pull my wife out of Old Navy early, I can get there for the meet.

Please Hammer...don't hurt em

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 10:28 am

The meet starts at 11 AM, ends around 3 PM. At the MSU track.

mchammer · Post by **mchammer** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 1:36 pm

We competed at BYU and Oregon April 24, with some good results. Blake Blake Jackson was our lone winner at BYU, with a 59' 9" shot put. He also set a personal record (PR) of 184' 7" with the hammer. Jen Allen threw the hammer 192' 0" and now leads the BSC in three throwing events. She has been named BSC athlete of the week twice already this outdoor season. Joel Walthall and Amanda Emslie took seconds in the javelin at BYU. Freshman Kelsey Kirkpatrick was third in the triple jump with 38' 2". Blake barnes was third in the 110 hurdles. At Oregon, Kevin Clary qualified for regionals with a 9:03 steeplechase. Jonathan Gibson ran a 9:00 steeple as a redshirt. Josh Henigman, also redshirting, threw very well at Oregon with a second in the discus at 171' 4", and a 197' 3" hammer. Mayra morgado qualified for the BSC meet with 17:45 in the 5000. Our distance runners went to Oregon, and everyone else went to BYU.

We dual UM here this Saturday, starting at 11 AM.

Mike

Bobcat Track and Field

Bobcat Track and Field

Keeping Track

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