BILLINGS, Mont. – The MSU Billings track and field teams have been practicing all fall in preparation for the opening weekend of competition. This Saturday the men's and women's teams will be in Spearfish, S.D., at the Yellow Jacket Holiday Open hosted by Black Hills State University.
 
This Saturday is the fifth-straight year for MSUB to open competition at the Yellow Jacket Holiday Open. MSU Billings has this one meet before the holiday break, and returns to competition on Jan. 10 to another meet at BHSU.
 
Last year at the 2014 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Yellowjacket men placed sixth overall with 49 points, the most MSUB has ever accumulated at the indoor conference championships.
 
Junior Robert Peterson returns to the MSU Billings team having won the 1500m at the conference championships, setting a new MSUB record and earning all-conference recognition with his individual title. Peterson also placed fifth in the men's 3,000 earning 14 total points for the Yellowjacket team.
 
Also earning all-conference at the GNAC meet, the men's distance medley relay team finished third. Returning to the relay team this season are Peterson and sophomore Nate Vanderby.
 
Dual-sport athlete senior Cameron Stanek was seventh at the GNAC in the men's heptathlon. Last season was Stanek's first year competing for MSUB in track and field.
 
MSU Billings assistant track and field coach Nick Collins is looking forward to working with his key returners from last year. "We are looking for Cameron to contribute more than just in the multi-events this year," Collins said. "He will also be in the sprints, 60m, 200m, and the 400m. He won't do all of those at the conference meet, but he will be competing in all of them during the season, so we will see where he is at as we get closer to conference."
 
Stanek, the lone senior on the team, is joined by Peterson, as well as juniors Josh Panasuk, Tyler DiGiovanna, and transfer-student this year, Austin Lindquist as the only upperclassmen on the roster.
 
DiGiovanna participates in the sprints and relays, Panasuk is a cross-over athlete from cross country and will run some of the middle distances, and Lindquist is a junior transfer from the University of Montana.
 
Also, crossing over from the cross country season are Jorey Egeland, Mark Hovland, Garrett Love, and Jacob Marshall.
 
Vanderby, is looking to break the MSUB record in the 400m. Last year, Vanderby was just out of the top-8 at the conference meet at 12th and this year looks to crack into the all-conference ranks.
 
Lindquist and sophomore Landon Polkow are both transfers from DI University of Montana. Coach Collins has enjoyed working with both athletes this year and is looking for big things from both of them. "Austin should be one of the top 60m hurdlers in the conference, and he could potentially contribute in all three jumps," Collins said. "Polkow's main event is the 400m hurdles, which is just run during the outdoor season, but he has a lot of talent and speed. He could be a factor for us in the 200m or the 400m and add some points for MSUB in either event."
 
The Yellowjackets are an extremely young team with only one senior and four juniors, while having 10 sophomores and 12 freshmen. The men's roster is almost entirely comprised of student-athletes from the state of Montana. Only Liam McKay from Canada, and Stanek and Sam Zook from Wyoming are not native Montanans.
 
Coach Collins is also looking at a few of the sophomores and freshmen coming in to contribute to the team in the early going.
 
Zook, a freshman from Casper, Wyo., is competing in the sprints for the Yellowjackets. "We hope Sam will be a factor in either the 60m or the 200," Coach Collins said. "He has the potential to be in the top-8, but it's a tough conference field in those events."
 
Freshmen Preston Shubert and Loni Sherman both had big numbers in the pole vault coming out of Montana high schools. Sherman, from Kalispell, Mont., had last year's Montana high school pole vault record, while Shubert, a graduate of Thompson Falls, Mont., had the best pole vault results two years ago. Coach Collins looks for those kind of marks coming in to put them in the top-5 in the conference. "We were really lucky to get both Loni and Preston at MSUB," Collins said. "With the kinds of marks both of them achieved in high school, and their improvement so far, both of them could be top-3 in the conference." Schubert will also be competing in the jumps and hurdles for the team.
 
Sophomore Cole Campbell, who also competes in pole vault, will be redshirting the indoor season with an injury. Donald Hamm is back and will be competing in the multi-events and the jumps.
 
Another freshman, Kail Pope from Charlo, Mont., is making progress in the hurdle events. Chris Lords, a sprinter from Stevensville, Mont., is showing versatility in the early season; he will be competing in the 400m, but also could compete in the 200m and the long jump. Rounding out the MSUB roster in sprints are freshmen Tyler Delaney, Devontae Richardson, and sophomore Cale Howells. Nels Flanagan is the lone competitor for MSUB in the throws this indoor season.
 
"Our freshman class this year has a lot of talent," Coach Collins said. "It is too early to tell where they will end up; however we can see where they are after this first meet."
 
On the women's side, GNAC champion senior Corrie Holm looks to lead her team out of the bottom spot the Yellowjackets found themselves in last season at the conference meet.
 
"We have a small, but very talented women's indoor team," Coach Collins commented on the MSUB women's roster. "The women's team is trying to get out of the bottom spot at conference this year. We don't like being there. The team has the potential to do that, we need to increase the roster size and talent to keep climbing, but still I know this year we have the capability to do some very exciting things."
 
Holm returns to the Yellowjackets the GNAC champion in the outdoor discus event. At the indoor meets she will be competing in the weight throw. Holm, a Billings West High School product, was also an all-region award winner last season.
 
In the sprints, junior Blair Street is redshirting the indoor season. A junior from Havre, Mont., Ashlynn Van Voast will compete in the hurdles and the relays for MSUB. Kaitlyn Halle is a junior transfer from the University of Great Falls and will compete in the hurdles, sprints, and on the relay teams at MSUB.
 
Crossing over from the cross country team are Melanie Bock, Bailey Bomar, Brielle Davis, Jordan Donaghy, Nocona Frame, Rio Frame, Theresa Lombardi, Jinise Osborne, and Taylor Condon.
 
Last season, sisters Nocona and Rio Frame set new MSUB women's indoor records. Nocona holds the record in the women's mile with a time of 5:15.36 while Rio is now the 3,000m record holder in a time of 10:27.82. Davis is a transfer student from Gillette College and had a very successful two-year career as a Pronghorn. For Gillette, Davis ran the women's mile, the steeplechase, and was on two relay teams. The Skyview High School graduate was also an Academic All-American.
 
Also setting a new MSUB indoor record last year was Hope Reid. A sophomore from Thompson Falls, Mont., Reid set the 60m hurdles record in 9.36 seconds at the Yellow Jacket Holiday Open last year. At the GNAC Indoor Championships, Reid was fourth in the pole vault. "Hurdles are Hope's main event," Coach Collins said on the sophomore. "She keeps improving in the pole vault so we are expecting her to break into the top-3 this year, but also in the hurdles we think she can be top-8 in the conference."
 
Courtney Henry is a sophomore and is also a member of the MSUB women's basketball team. Henry will join the track and field team at the conclusion of the basketball season and will compete in javelin during the outdoor season for the Yellowjackets.
 
The freshman class for the women's team includes Bomar, Lacey Waid, Brandi Risa, Amanda Nichols, and Brianna Gray.
 
Risa and Nichols both compete in the pole vault. Risa is redshirting the indoor season this year. Nichols, a Billings West graduate has some exciting results coming out of high school. "We are working through some bad habits Lacey has," Collins said. "But we expect her to really progress late in the season, and hopefully will be able to come through in the top-3 in the conference."
 
Waid is competing in the pole vault, but will also be on the relay teams. Gray, a standout from Park City, Mont., was an all-state honoree in track and Coach Collins is looking for some big things from her in the sprints. "We are definitely expecting great things from Brianna," Collins commented. "Her high school marks already make her competitive in the conference. She will be competing in the 60m and the 200m, but she will also be on the 4x400 relay, which will be great practice for her."
 
All of the women on the MSUB roster are from the state of Montana. There are two seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores, and five freshmen on the team.
 
The indoor season commences with the meet this Saturday followed by the second meet at Black Hills on Jan. 10. On Jan. 16 the team travels to Montana State University for a competition with the Yellowjackets wrapping up the month of January at the Mountain State Games in Pocatello, Idaho hosted by Idaho State University. The team then has a meet in Gillette, Wyo., on Feb. 6, before the GNAC Indoor Championships Feb. 20, in Nampa, Idaho.
 
"After the first meet, we will get to see where the student-athletes are in the conference," Coach Collins said. "After the mid-January mark, it will be all about competing with the GNAC schools. We won't get to see any of the conference athletes during the season, so it will be a check-in every week to see where the athletes are. In the meantime, our competition will be DI schools, which is a great opportunity to rise to the occasion and compete against some really quality athletes."
 
There will not be live stats for the event on Saturday. The meet kicks off at 1 p.m. with the field events. Results and a full recap will be available following the meet at msubsports.com.
 
Yellow Jacket Holiday Classic
Hosted by Black Hills State University
Spearfish, S.D.
Dec. 6, 2014
 
Field Events:
 
1:00pm Weight throw (M, W); Shot Put to follow (M, W)
1:30pm Long Jump (M, W); Triple Jump to follow (M, W)
            High Jump (W, M)
            Pole Vault (W, M)
 
 
Running Events: (rolling schedule)
 
2:00pm                         Mile (W, M)
                                    60m Hurdles (W, M) – if prelims are required
                                    60m Dash (W, M) – if prelims are required
                                    400m Dash (W, M)
                                    60m Hurdle Final (W, M)
                                    60m Dash Final (W, M)
                                    800m Run (W, M)
                                    200m Dash (W, M)
                                    3000m Run (W, M)
                                    4x00m relay (W, M)