Great Falls, Mont. - The University of Montana Western Track team battled blustery conditions and Frontier Conference opponents at the University of Providence Open as they tried to reach NAIA qualifying marks.

Freshman Jake Jessop paced the Bulldogs running the 400 meters in a blazing time of 52.28 to win his first collegiate race. 

"I'm real happy for Jake to win his event today," head coach Dylan Zitzer said. "He ran a great race." 

The weather wasn't conducive for the Bulldogs to shave those few seconds off their finish times.

Mindy Kaufman ran the 1500 meters in 4:59.67 and Eireann O'Connor ran the 800 meters in 2:29.17. 

"The conditions weren't great to run fast and qualify today," Zitzer said. "We know what we have to do tomorrow to reach the national meet."

Josh Jessop (2:07.38) and Russell Kujala (2:09.47) ran the men's 800 meters.

Matt Wilson (4:29.03) and Tanner Lehr (4:37.09) both finished strong in the 1500 meters. 

The Bulldogs have one more chance to qualify for the NAIA national meet tomorrow, May 3, when they run at the Tom Gage Classic in Bozeman, Mont.