Elena Carter excels on Day 2 at NCAA Regional

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Elena Carter’s emotional, redemptive long jump stood out from Montana State’s second day of competition at the NCAA West First Rounds at John McDonnell Field on Thursday.

Carter came into Thursday’s long jump competition seeded 39th but finished 23rd to cap a legendary outdoor track and field career.

What made the Helena native’s leap that much more special was that it came on her third and final attempt and pushed her into sixth place through the first two of four flights.

Carter’s mark of 20 feet, 10.75 inches (+2.7) would have broken the school record held by Lacy Hinzpeter since 2003 (20-09), but was just barely over the wind-legal limit of +2.0 to qualify for the Bobcat all-time top 10. As it stands, the mark is still nearly a six-inch personal-best for Carter, a seven-time Big Sky Conference champion and 13-time all-conference honoree.

Carter had been warming up for both the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump at the same time, with both flights in both events scheduled to get underway simultaneously.

After a DNF in the hurdles following a clipped second hurdle, Carter had just a few minutes to turn her attention to the long jump.

“We had some individuals that have had incredible careers finish it up. Starting with Elena Carter, just finishing her career with a great long jump on her very last jump was pretty special,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “Maisee Brown finishing up in pole vault, she’s just had a great career and come so far coming back from an injury she suffered in high school. There were some younger people that got some experience, some freshman and a sophomore, so it was a mix of some veterans finishing up and some newcomers getting their first experiences.”

Brown, a senior, closed the book on her tremendous career by placing 41st in the pole vault. The Billings native is a four-time all-conference honoree and holds the No. 2 mark in the pole vault both indoors and outdoors.

Bozeman native Clara Fox, one of four Bobcat freshmen competing this week at their first NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, placed 43rd in the women’s javelin with a throw of 143-7. The Big Sky runner-up in the event ends her first year in an MSU uniform ranked sixth all-time in MSU history in the event.

Sydney Brewster, another freshman thrower also competing in her first NCAA Regional, recorded a mark of 50-11 to place 39th. The throw, on her third and final attempt, was her best mark of the outdoor season since setting the school record in the outdoor opener back in March (52-2.5).

Caroline Hawkes, a sophomore taking part in her first NCAA Regional, ran 53.70 seconds in the women’s 400 meters. The Big Sky silver medalist at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets placed 35th with the mark.

Montana State’s men will return to action on Friday at John McDonnell Field for the third of four days at the NCAA West First Rounds.

Due to the potential of severe weather late in the evening tomorrow, the NCAA has moved each field event up by 90 minutes, and every running event has been moved up three hours in the hopes of concluding competition early tomorrow.

MSU’s Elijah Jackman will compete in his third throwing event of the week, kicking off the discus at 9 a.m. Mountain Time. The sophomore placed 44th in the shot put and did not record a mark in the hammer on Wednesday.

Later, Rob McManus, Levi Taylor and Owen Smith will aim to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships Eugene, Oregon, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Montana State has had the top-ranked men’s steeplechase group in America all season thanks in large part to McManus and Taylor, who are trying to return to the NCAA Championships yet again — Taylor for a third time and McManus for a second straight year.

McManus (fourth) and Taylor (sixth) enter the race seeded in the top 10, while Smith (45th) will try to make it three Bobcats in Eugene in the steeple for the second summer in a row.

McManus will race in the first heat at 1:40 p.m. MT, while Taylor and Smith will both be in the third heat. The top three finishers in each heat plus the next three fastest times will advance to the NCAA Championships.

Elsewhere, Destiny Nkeonye and Ian Fosdick will compete in the men’s triple jump at 2 p.m. MT.

Nkeonye (38th) booked his trip to Arkansas with a personal-best leap at the Big Sky Championships to earn a bronze medal, while Fosdick (42nd) is the current program record-holder in the event.

Later, Janis Pohl will look to recapture some of his Wednesday magic in the men’s 400-meter hurdles at 3:25 p.m. MT.

Pohl posted a personal-best time of 50.69 in the first round of heats on Wednesday to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal, improving on his No. 2 mark all-time at MSU in the process. Pohl will most likely have to replicate that performance, which was the 10th-fastest time in the prelims, if he’s to earn one of 12 bids to Eugene in the event.

Drake Schneider was the first Bobcat to punch a ticket to Eugene in the 400 hurdles in 2022.

Matthew Richtman and Ben Perrin will compete in the 5,000 meters on Friday at approximately 4:25 p.m. MT.

Richtman placed 14th and Perrin placed 18th in the 10k, just missing out on one of the 12 bids to Eugene in the event.

In the 5k, Perrin is seeded sixth and Richtman is seeded 18th. Both will race in the second of two flights on Friday, with the top five finishers from each heat plus the next two fastest times advancing to the NCAA Championships.

ESPN+ will carry live coverage of the NCAA West First Rounds from 4 to 8 p.m. MT.