BOZEMAN -- Montana Tech's track & field program's national qualifying count continued to rise Friday.
The Orediggers piled up two more NAIA national qualifying marks and re-upped a pair more at Montana State's Carignan Classic in Bozeman.
Nicolo Lancini highlighted the day with a win in the men's triple jump, besting his own program record on his way to another NAIA 'A' qualifying standard at 15.11 meters. That mark moved the junior up to sixth on the national leaderboard. Lancini also led the way in the long jump, posting an indoor personal best of 6.83m to finish third and move to second all-time in Oredigger history.
Cade VanVleet also had a big day for the Montana Tech men with a pair of NAIA 'B' standards. VanVleet broke his own program record in the weight throw with a 17.89m toss that put him fourth in the event and 14th in the country. The Noxon product improved his own hold on the fourth-longest shot put of the NAIA season, throwing 16.68m to finish third with a 'B' standard. He also
Ayla Janzen added the final national-qualifying mark of the day for Montana Tech. The sophomore won the women's triple jump with her 11.53m leap, notching the 14th-longest mark in the NAIA this season and a 'B' qualifying standard. Freshman
Montannah Piar finished not far behind with a 10.97m bound, putting her fourth in Montana Tech history.
Ava Epler topped another program record for the Orediggers with her 16.19m weight throw, a mark that put the sophomore 25th on the NAIA leaderboard. She was eighth in the event.
Seniors
Alyssa Jany and
Jadyn Vermillion accounted for the Orediggers' other two event wins. Jany set the pace in the 3,000m run with a winning time of 10:45.64, while Vermillion topped the long jump list with her 5.67m leap. Vermillion also became the second-ever Tech woman to break 26 seconds in the 200m dash, crossing the line 12th in 25.72 seconds.
Meanwhile in Spokane, Wash., sophomore
Matthew Moreni topped his own program record in the men's 200m at the Riverfront Invitational & Multis. The Helena native raced the sprint in 21.64, missing the NAIA 'B' cut by less than .1 seconds and moving up to No. 44 in the national standings.
Moreni and a contingent of the Oredigger men will compete again Saturday at The Podium in Spokane.
Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.
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