Bobcat track and field breaks records at first home meet

The Bobcats saw a record-crushing weekend at their first home track and field meet of the season. Not only did the women’s team break four school records, the entire group walked out with three Big Sky Conference (BSC) weekly awards.

Senior Hailey Coey broke two school records she had previously set in the long and triple jump. For this, she was awarded Women’s Field Athlete of the Week by the BSC, her second consecutive conference award after setting the conference record for long jump in December. 

Coey’s mark of 21-2.75 in the long jump this past weekend not only won the meet and smashed her previous conference record, but also moved her to No. 5 in the NCAA for the event.

She also marked 41-10 in the triple jump, securing another win and beating her own school record.

“I think both teams have goals to win the conference,” Coey said. “There’s a lot of work to be put in until then, but I think if we can do it, this would be the year to do it.”

Overall, the Bobcats saw consistent wins throughout the meet. To open the weekend, junior Sydney Brewster beat her own school record in the shot put and moved up to sixteenth in the NCAA rankings. To close out the meet on day two, the women’s 4x400 team also shattered the school record by nearly 1.5 seconds. 

The team — composed of sophomore Tilde Bjerager and seniors Caroline Hawkes, Peyton Garrison and Giulia Gandolfi — won the event by over seven seconds and secured their spot as sixteenth overall this season in the NCAA rankings. The performance earned them Women’s Track Athletes of the Week. 

“We’re leaving the weekend feeling really motivated, really confident about the relay, and really excited for other meets that we can run in,” Hawkes said. “We have a lot of goals for the season, so we’re excited to train really hard the next few weeks.”

Senior Sam Ells finished first in the men’s mile with a sub-four-minute time. Ells earned Men’s Track Athlete of the Week in his first race of the indoor season after a successful All-Big Sky cross country season. Two other Bobcats finished in the top five slots, securing a mile sweep for MSU. 

Ells reflected on the team’s outlook for the rest of the season after the successful opener. “We’re definitely hungry for more,” he said. “We know where we are right now and what the end goal is.”

Director of MSU Track and Field and Cross Country Lyle Weese hopes that the Bobcats will continue to improve.

“We do have a ways to go, but the good thing is this was just our first meet,” Weese said. “We’re looking to see improvement from meet to meet, and then head into the [BSC] Championships ready to perform at our absolute best and do everything we can to compete well as a team.”

The Bobcats will continue their season this weekend at the Stacy Dragila Invite at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. The BSC Indoor Championships will also be held at Idaho State University from Feb. 26-28.

“[This weekend] will be a great opportunity to preview the facility and for everyone to get comfortable down there,” Weese said. “So that when we get to the conference meet, they’re just worried about performing and they’re not worried about external factors.”

MSU will return home to host another home meet, the Carignan Classic, on Feb. 6.

To learn more, visit https://msubobcats.com/sports/track-field.