Men's Track and Field | 04/26/21 | 6:37 AM

HELENA, Mont. -- This past weekend marked the the first full home track meet in nearly 2 years hosted at Vigilante Stadium for Carroll College. 

The Trudnowski Open served as the third outdoor track meet of the season for the Fighting Saints. 

Coach Harry Clark was more than pleased with the mid-season form in which many of his athletes have taken, and likes the steps they are taking moving into a competitive conference meet next week. 

The Saints added to their total of national qualifiers on both the men's and women's sides this weekend with quality performances in both track and field events. The events were made up of competitors from six different area schools including: Carroll, MSU-Billings, Providence, Rocky Mountain, Montana Tech, and Montana Western. 

As far as team competition is concerned, the Saints had dominant performances on both sides with the men comfortably holding off MSU-Billings for the win and the women winning the meet on their side by a solid margin. 

Men's event winners included: Broder Thurston (400m, 50.17s), Chris Abell (110m hurdles, 15.54s), Chad Hemsley (400m hurdles, 55.12s), Josh Malone (High Jump, 1.90m/6'2.75", Long Jump, 6.81m 22'4.25"), Garrett Kocab (Shot Put, 14.60m/47'11", Discuss 48.78m/160'0"), Lee Walburn (6528 points). 

The Fighting Saints also added victories in both the 4 x 100m relay (comprised of: Chad Hemsley, Broder Thurston, Chris Abell, and Alex Olmes) and the 4 x 400m relay (comprised of: Chad Hemsley, Alex Olmes, Kaiden Romney, and Van Gottwals).

Garrett Kocab was able to B-qualify for the national championships with his big throw in discus. Lee Walburn and Brett Glaser currently rank 3rd and 16th respectively in the decathlon.

Women's event winners included: Shae Helterbran (100m, 12.68s), Paige Baxtresser (200m, 26.87s), Mar Sorini (400m, 1:03.06s), Natalie Yocum (800m, 2:21.24s), Reghan Worley (5000m 18:08.06s), Kamden Hillborn (100m hurdles, 16.37s), Brette Graham (400m hurdles, 1:11.57s), Madde Boles (High Jump, 1.65m/5'5"), Kelsey Bassett (Pole Vault, 3.65m/11'11.75"), Reilly Rostad (Long Jump, 5.07m/16'7.75"), Nikki Krueger (Shot Put, 14.26m/46'9.5", Discus, 40.08m/131'6"). 

Reghan Worley B-qualified in a solo effort in the 5000m for the national championships, Madde Boles A-qualified in the high jump, Kelsey Bassett A-qualified in the pole vault, Shae Helterbran B-qualified in the pole vault, and Nikki Krueger moved up to second in the nation with her A-qualification in the shot put. 

Full results from the Trudnowski Open can be found at: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/69559/Trudnowski_Open_2021/

Next weekend, the Saints look forward to hosting the first Frontier Conference Championships on the track in nearly four decades. The Championship will be hosted at Vigilante Stadium in Helena on Thursday and Friday, April 29th and 30th.