Grizzlies travel to Eastern Washington for Big Sky championships
5/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
The University of Montana outdoor track and field teams will compete at the 2006 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships this week at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash. The women's heptathlon and men's decathlon will take place Wednesday and Thursday, with the remainder of the meet running Friday and Saturday.
The UM men, who finished seventh at the 2005 outdoor championships with 86.33 points, were picked for a sixth-place finish in this year's preseason coaches poll. The Montana women, who finished eighth at the 2005 outdoor championships with 53 points, were picked for seventh.
Multi-Events Kick Championships Off Wednesday: Sophomore Bailey Cox and freshman Amber Aikins will be Montana's heptathlon representatives at the 2006 Big Sky Conference Multi-Events, which run Wednesday and Thursday. The Grizzlies will not have anyone competing in the men's decathlon.
Day one of the heptathlon includes the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. Day two includes the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
Cox ranked sixth in the final Big Sky Conference heptathlon performance list with the 4,617 points she scored April 6-7 at the Eastern Washington Multi-Events. Aikins ranks 13th entering the championships. She scored 4,195 points at the same meet.
Montana State senior Erin Jones-Graf had the regular-season's top heptathlon score of 5,194. Three Big Sky athletes had heptathlon scores of over 5,000 points in 2006.
"With Bailey ranked sixth, we have three points right now on paper," UM track and field coach Tom Raunig said, "but we're hoping to score more points than that. Bailey has been throwing tremendously. She's been PRing in the shot and the javelin and staying strong in her sprints and hurdles.
"And I feel like Amber has proved herself. She was seventh indoors in the pentathlon, and she's been doing great in all her events, so we're hoping to have both score some points."
Montana Women Return Experienced Crew: While the Grizzlies finished in eighth place last year with 53 points, every one of those point scorers will return to the championships in 2006. Sophomore Loni Perkins scored 18 points (first, 400 meters, second, 200 meters) last spring, senior Tara Schwager six (third, 400 meters), sophomore Rachel Hendricks five (fourth, high jump), senior Mara Bronson (sixth, 400 meters), junior Alicia Mills (sixth, javelin) and sophomore Nicole Walker (sixth, 800 meters) three each.
Montana also returns all four members of its BSC champion 1,600-meter relay team (Bronson, Schwager, Walker and Perkins).
Perkins enters the 2006 meet ranked first in the Big Sky in the 400 meters (55.24) and third in the 200 meters (24.60), sophomore Allie Brosh ranks first in the 5,000 meters (16:48.90) and Mills ranks third in the javelin (156-0).
The Grizzlies' 1,600-meter relay team's time of 3:48.62 also ranks atop the Big Sky.
"We have 75 points on paper going into the meet, but that's not counting Alicia Mills, who may or may not be ready to throw this weekend," Raunig said. "We can usually score more points than we have on paper just because with our weather we don't get quite as many opportunities to get great performances during the course of the year. Our rankings on the Big Sky performance list aren't always indicative of what the team can do compared to some of the warmer weather schools in the conference.
"We feel like we can score more points than what we have. The women are probably capable of fourth if they put together a good meet."
Men Capable of Second Place, Raunig Believes: While the Montana women enter the meet with proven scorers, the men will be trying to replace the point production of departed seniors Andrew Levin, who scored 26 points last spring in the decathlon, 110-meter hurdles, high jump and pole vault, Dane Brubaker, who scored eight points in the javelin and Trevor Gunlock, who scored eight points in the long jump.
Montana has 26.33 points of returners to the 2006 meet, starting with senior Jas Gill, who totaled 15 points last year with a first-place finish in the high jump and fourth-place showing in the triple jump. Senior Jefferson Heidelberger scored five points in 2005 (fourth, 200 meters), junior James Stanton scored four (seventh place in both the shot and discus), junior Robb Hollenbeck (eighth, long jump) and sophomore Eli Hermann (eighth, steeplechase) each scored one point and Levi Zell picked up a third of a point (tied for eighth, pole vault).
In the Big Sky's final performance list, Gill ranked No. 1 in both the high jump and triple jump, sophomore Dan Bingham ranked first in the steeplechase, sophomore Levi Zell ranked second in the pole vault and freshman Ryan Grinnell ranked third in the high jump and triple jump.
"The men have 92.5 points on paper, and that's counting on nothing from Robb Hollenbeck, who took second in the long jump indoors," Raunig said. "We feel like we can break 100 if we put together a good meet. We just need to avoid having any letdowns and defend the points we've got, and then have a few people come through.
"If we can break 100, we have a shot at second place. Weber is the prohibitive favorite on the men's side, then there's a lot of parity after that. It isn't very far from second to sixth. There are a lot of teams hovering right around 100 points."
NCAA Midwest Regional List at Four and Holding: Montana currently has four athletes qualified to compete at the 2006 NCAA Midwest Region Championships at Austin, Texas, May 26-27. On the women's side, the Grizzlies will be represented by junior Alicia Mills in the javelin, sophomore Allie Brosh in the 5,000 meters and freshman Abbey Effertz in the shot. Senior Jas Gill is the lone qualifier on the men's side.
To earn a spot at the regional meet, athletes can either qualify automatically by hitting the standard in their event, or win a Big Sky Conference title.
"In terms of winning a Big Sky title and getting an automatic spot at regionals, I'd have to say Loni in the quarter and our women's 1,600-meter relay team are solid possibilities," Raunig said. "And Dan Bingham is ranked No. 1 in the steeplechase.
"Then we have a lot of people close to the standard that could reach it this weekend. Levi Zell in the pole vault, Jimmy Stanton in the discus and the shot. Both of them are close, so it should be exciting to see if we can have a few more regional qualifiers."
The UM men, who finished seventh at the 2005 outdoor championships with 86.33 points, were picked for a sixth-place finish in this year's preseason coaches poll. The Montana women, who finished eighth at the 2005 outdoor championships with 53 points, were picked for seventh.
Multi-Events Kick Championships Off Wednesday: Sophomore Bailey Cox and freshman Amber Aikins will be Montana's heptathlon representatives at the 2006 Big Sky Conference Multi-Events, which run Wednesday and Thursday. The Grizzlies will not have anyone competing in the men's decathlon.
Day one of the heptathlon includes the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. Day two includes the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
Cox ranked sixth in the final Big Sky Conference heptathlon performance list with the 4,617 points she scored April 6-7 at the Eastern Washington Multi-Events. Aikins ranks 13th entering the championships. She scored 4,195 points at the same meet.
Montana State senior Erin Jones-Graf had the regular-season's top heptathlon score of 5,194. Three Big Sky athletes had heptathlon scores of over 5,000 points in 2006.
"With Bailey ranked sixth, we have three points right now on paper," UM track and field coach Tom Raunig said, "but we're hoping to score more points than that. Bailey has been throwing tremendously. She's been PRing in the shot and the javelin and staying strong in her sprints and hurdles.
"And I feel like Amber has proved herself. She was seventh indoors in the pentathlon, and she's been doing great in all her events, so we're hoping to have both score some points."
Montana Women Return Experienced Crew: While the Grizzlies finished in eighth place last year with 53 points, every one of those point scorers will return to the championships in 2006. Sophomore Loni Perkins scored 18 points (first, 400 meters, second, 200 meters) last spring, senior Tara Schwager six (third, 400 meters), sophomore Rachel Hendricks five (fourth, high jump), senior Mara Bronson (sixth, 400 meters), junior Alicia Mills (sixth, javelin) and sophomore Nicole Walker (sixth, 800 meters) three each.
Montana also returns all four members of its BSC champion 1,600-meter relay team (Bronson, Schwager, Walker and Perkins).
Perkins enters the 2006 meet ranked first in the Big Sky in the 400 meters (55.24) and third in the 200 meters (24.60), sophomore Allie Brosh ranks first in the 5,000 meters (16:48.90) and Mills ranks third in the javelin (156-0).
The Grizzlies' 1,600-meter relay team's time of 3:48.62 also ranks atop the Big Sky.
"We have 75 points on paper going into the meet, but that's not counting Alicia Mills, who may or may not be ready to throw this weekend," Raunig said. "We can usually score more points than we have on paper just because with our weather we don't get quite as many opportunities to get great performances during the course of the year. Our rankings on the Big Sky performance list aren't always indicative of what the team can do compared to some of the warmer weather schools in the conference.
"We feel like we can score more points than what we have. The women are probably capable of fourth if they put together a good meet."
Men Capable of Second Place, Raunig Believes: While the Montana women enter the meet with proven scorers, the men will be trying to replace the point production of departed seniors Andrew Levin, who scored 26 points last spring in the decathlon, 110-meter hurdles, high jump and pole vault, Dane Brubaker, who scored eight points in the javelin and Trevor Gunlock, who scored eight points in the long jump.
Montana has 26.33 points of returners to the 2006 meet, starting with senior Jas Gill, who totaled 15 points last year with a first-place finish in the high jump and fourth-place showing in the triple jump. Senior Jefferson Heidelberger scored five points in 2005 (fourth, 200 meters), junior James Stanton scored four (seventh place in both the shot and discus), junior Robb Hollenbeck (eighth, long jump) and sophomore Eli Hermann (eighth, steeplechase) each scored one point and Levi Zell picked up a third of a point (tied for eighth, pole vault).
In the Big Sky's final performance list, Gill ranked No. 1 in both the high jump and triple jump, sophomore Dan Bingham ranked first in the steeplechase, sophomore Levi Zell ranked second in the pole vault and freshman Ryan Grinnell ranked third in the high jump and triple jump.
"The men have 92.5 points on paper, and that's counting on nothing from Robb Hollenbeck, who took second in the long jump indoors," Raunig said. "We feel like we can break 100 if we put together a good meet. We just need to avoid having any letdowns and defend the points we've got, and then have a few people come through.
"If we can break 100, we have a shot at second place. Weber is the prohibitive favorite on the men's side, then there's a lot of parity after that. It isn't very far from second to sixth. There are a lot of teams hovering right around 100 points."
NCAA Midwest Regional List at Four and Holding: Montana currently has four athletes qualified to compete at the 2006 NCAA Midwest Region Championships at Austin, Texas, May 26-27. On the women's side, the Grizzlies will be represented by junior Alicia Mills in the javelin, sophomore Allie Brosh in the 5,000 meters and freshman Abbey Effertz in the shot. Senior Jas Gill is the lone qualifier on the men's side.
To earn a spot at the regional meet, athletes can either qualify automatically by hitting the standard in their event, or win a Big Sky Conference title.
"In terms of winning a Big Sky title and getting an automatic spot at regionals, I'd have to say Loni in the quarter and our women's 1,600-meter relay team are solid possibilities," Raunig said. "And Dan Bingham is ranked No. 1 in the steeplechase.
"Then we have a lot of people close to the standard that could reach it this weekend. Levi Zell in the pole vault, Jimmy Stanton in the discus and the shot. Both of them are close, so it should be exciting to see if we can have a few more regional qualifiers."
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