EUGENE, Ore. — Two Montana State men’s distance stars showed out on the big stage to open up the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday in Eugene, Oregon, with Rob McManus successfully carrying the ‘Steeple U’ legacy into the national final and Harvey Cramb earning honorable mention All-American honors in the 1,500 meters.
The evening did not go by without significant drama.
McManus qualified for Friday’s final in the 3,000 meter steeplechase by rebounding from a late fall on the last water barrier, popping back up after a hard crash to finish strong and place fourth in his heat with a time of 8:34.54.
McManus was leading going into the final water jump, but lost his footing and splashed down into the pit before quickly getting to his feet and passing a competitor on the home stretch to secure one of the five automatic qualifying spots to Friday.
The three-time All-American jumped out to a quick lead to start the race and never fell out of the top-five throughout the entirety of the seven-and-a-half laps.
“Rob was in control that whole race and looked really good,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “He seemed to be well within himself and seemed to be having as good of a steeple race as he’s ever run. Right through the end he was moving great until that last steeple barrier. That added a little bit of drama to the finish of that race, but overall it was a workman-like race where whenever he needed to react he did and whenever he needed to move forward he did. He ran that race like the vet he is.”
The senior from Cashmere, Washington, felt sweet relief in redemption after just missing out on qualifying for the final in each of the last two seasons—including by a single spot last year in Eugene, when he took 13th behind teammate Levi Taylor.
This year, there was no such disappointment.
With McManus’ qualification, it marks the fifth straight year that a Montana State man has made the national final in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, joining BYU and Eastern Kentucky as the only schools to put someone in the final each season during that span.
Duncan Hamilton finished sixth in 2021 before placing runner-up in 2022 and 2023. Levi Taylor represented the Cats in the final last year, finishing 12th.
Friday, McManus will look to leave his mark in the 12-man final slated for 5:24 p.m. PT/6:24 p.m. MT on ESPN2.
Earlier in the evening, Harvey Cramb closed out a memorable sophomore campaign finishing 17th in the 1,500 meters. The native of Brisbane, Australia, moved up and down throughout the race, keeping a hold of the top pack before fading in the final lap.
In a show of just how different the two heats played out, Cramb’s time of 3:44.57 was still seven seconds faster than the winner of the other section, where Bradley’s Jack Crull won in 3:51.96.
Cramb was competing as just the fourth-ever Bobcat to make it to the national championships in the 1,500 meters, joining Cristian Soratos (2015), Patrick Casey (2011) and Mike Feist (2000).
Cramb’s 17th place result is the third-best finish ever by a Bobcat in the event behind Soratos (7th) and Casey (8th).
“For Harvey to have raced at two NCAA Championships between indoors in the mile and outdoors in the 1,500, it’s really incredibly valuable experience,” Weese said. “He has come so far this year and improved so much, so this whole season was a gigantic step forward. There have been so many highlights for his season—it’s been a pretty special year. It was great for him to as a sophomore get into two NCAA Championships, and I think in future years he will benefit from those experiences.”
This season, Cramb placed 11th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn Second Team All-American honors, won the Big Sky title in the 1,500 meters, broke the school record in the 800 meters, and ran the second-fastest 1,500 in school history (3:37.31).
“It was special to have two guys competing in different events tonight,” Weese said. “Obviously we’ve had a lot of steeplechase entries in this meet over the last few years, but it was nice to get an entry in the 1,500 meters, where we haven’t had one in a while. I think it just speaks volumes to the strength of that entire men’s distance group.”
UP NEXT
The Montana State women take their turn at Hayward Field on Thursday, with multiple entries competing at the national meet for just the fourth time in program history.
Hailey Coey becomes the first Montana State long jumper ever to compete at the NCAA Championships, taking to the runway at 5:40 p.m. PT/6:40 p.m. MT. The junior from Billings will compete in Flight 1, with the entire event streaming on ESPN+.
Then, the first-ever relay in program history to compete at the national meet races at 7:36 p.m. PT/8:36 p.m. MT as the women’s 4×400 group of Peyton Garrison, Caroline Hawkes, Olivia Lewis, and Giulia Gandolfi lines up in Eugene.
The Cats will compete in the first of three heats, running out of lane two. The top-two teams from each heat advance to Saturday night’s final, plus the next three fastest time qualifiers.
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