Sac State?s indoor track and field team showed signs of improvement in its 2001 campaign.Coach Joe Neff thought that his team?s performance in this past weekend?s 21st annual Men?s Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, and 14th annual Women?s Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships in Bozeman, Mont., was the best that the Hornets have produced since joining the competition five years ago.

Unfortunately for Sac State, the rest of the field had also progressed.

“This was the very best indoor competition in the Big Sky I?ve ever seen. There was depth of quality everywhere,” said Neff, who was hoarse by the end of the meet.

In comparison to previous years, Neff?s team took several steps in the right direction.”I?m really pleased with both (men?s and women?s) teams,” Neff said. “The main goal for us was to qualify for the second day, and we had several individuals do that.”

The Hornets? most notable individual effort came from freshman Shanita Bryant, whose 20-00.50 leap for first place in the long jump broke Worthington Arena and Sac State records. The provisional mark gives her the 27th seed in the nation and could qualify her to the NCAA Championships at the University of Arkansas.

Neff predicted last week that Bryant could easily break the 20-foot barrier in the conference championships, which he said would be difficult to pull off in an indoor competition. Both the Hornets? men?s and women?s squads rounded out the league finale in eighth place at Worthington Arena, scoring 25 and 28 points, respectively.

Weber State (121 points), led by last year?s Big Sky Field MVP Charles Clinger, unseated defending champion and preseason favorite Northern Arizona University (106 points, third place) in the men?s division.

Montana State (124) came out on top in the highly competitive women?s class, edging out Weber State (120), NAU (104) and Cal State Northridge (90). The host Bobcats maintained their small lead and clinched the conference crown with a dramatic second-place finish in the 4×400 relay, the final event of the meet.

“I was really surprised with Montana State?s women?s team,” Neff said. “At first, it looked like Weber State was ahead … but in some events that aren?t as noticeable, like the field events, Montana State really stepped it up.”

The Hornet women had a lot of near misses over the weekend.

Jennifer Burkhalter and Karen Trapini were first non-qualifiers in their respective events. Burkhalter was one spot shy of advancing to the final heat in the 400-meter run, clocking in at 57.57. Trapini missed the top eight with a 37-00.25 measurement, a personal indoor best, in the triple jump.

Sac State junior sprinter Myesha Kirtman placed fourth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.20, and Windi Selle took 10th in the women?s weight throw, with a 51-06.50 toss.Kirtman, Bryant, Davis and Burkhalter joined forces in the 4×400 relay and took fifth place in three minutes, 50.40 seconds.

Jonathan Davis spearheaded the men?s contingent with a third-place sprint (6.42) in the 55-meter dash. Alongside Davis in the finals were teammates Lloyd Jackson (sixth, 6.55) and Christopher Brown (seventh, 6.60).

“We took up a lot of lanes there,” Neff said. “That increases the likelihood of scoring points.”

Also tallying points for the Hornets? men?s team were junior Charles Amey (sixth, 7.65) in the men?s 55-meter hurdles, senior Rokeem Osby (eighth, 6-04.75) in the men?s high jump, and junior Dustin Diaz (seventh, 1:53.34), who set a personal record in the men?s 800-meter.

Sac State?s quartet of Jacob Mills, Stephan Gaitan, Howard Story and Erik Mencarini took fourth in the distance medley, timing in at 10:17.94.

“Our men?s distance medley team had their best run this year,” Neff said. “They were just a couple seconds off the school record.”

Gaitan and Keenan Smith teamed up with Gerald Franks and Shawn Hooper in the 4×400 relay, where the foursome finished sixth.

Sac State begins the outdoor season, on March 10 with the Bruce Drummond Invitational at Hornet Stadium.