Nine Grizzlies to compete at regional in Lincoln
5/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Nine outdoor track and field athletes from the University of Montana will compete this weekend at the 2008 NCAA Midwest Region Championships at the University of Nebraska's Ed Weir Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. Qualifying athletes will advance to the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held June 11-14 at Des Moines, Iowa.
Representing the Grizzlies Friday and Saturday will be seniors Curtis Bean (hammer), Loni Perkins-Judisch (400 meters, 1,600-meter relay), Stephanie Radke (1,600-meter relay) and James Stanton (shot), sophomores Erin Clark (1,600-meter relay) and Kara DeWalt (steeplechase) and freshmen Jenna Haven (1,600-meter relay), Courtney Kosovich (pole vault) and Lynn Reynolds (steeplechase).
All the athletes, with the exception of Haven, who is from East Wenatchee, Wash., are products of Montana high schools.
Junior Logan Labbe of Superior, Mont., who qualified for the region meet in the javelin, will be unable to compete due to injury.
The Midwest Regional in Lincoln is one of four NCAA regionals taking place this weekend. The East Regional is in Tallahassee, Fla., the Mid East Regional is in Fayetteville, Ark., and the West Regional is in Northridge, Calif.
The top five finishers in each event in each region advance to the NCAA Championships.
"We were able to qualify a few more people for regionals than we originally expected," Montana coach Tom Raunig said. "Typically we've been in the eight- to 12-athlete range, but it's so hard to predict, especially with the Big Sky meet factored in. We were sitting at six (qualified) athletes until the women's mile relay qualified Saturday afternoon by two-hundredths of a second in the final event of the conference meet. We had to hurry and buy three additional plane tickets at the last minute, but that's always a good problem to have."
The schedule (all times Mountain)
Friday, May 30
3:00 p.m. ... Women's 400-meter preliminaries (Perkins-Judisch)
4:00 p.m. ... Women's pole vault (Kosovich)
4:00 p.m. ... Men's shot (Stanton)
Saturday, May 31
Noon ... Men's hammer (Bean)
4:15 p.m. ... Women's 400-meter finals (Perkins-Judisch, if necessary)
5:15 p.m. ... Women's steeplechase (DeWalt)
5:40 p.m. ... Men's steeplechase (Reynolds)
6:05 p.m. ... Women's 1,600-meter relay (Clark, Haven, Perkins-Judisch, Radke)
Live results of the Midwest Regional will be available at Huskers.com.
The athletes
Curtis Bean (senior, Eureka, Mont. -- hammer)
* How he got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 186-4 at Montana's season-opening outdoor meet with a throw of 195-6 at the Al Manuel Invitational April 4. Reached the mark on four other occasions, including a career-best throw of 196-2 at Eastern Washington on April 11.
* How he fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Placed fifth with a throw of 190-8.
* Where he ranks in the region: 11th (leader: Egor Agafonov, Kansas, senior, 226-2)
* Midwest Region history: Also advanced in the hammer as a junior in 2007. Finished 17th at Des Moines, Iowa, with a throw of 179-7.
* Coach Raunig's take: "Curtis has had a strong season from day one; he's been able to maintain his throwing at a high level throughout the season. Hopefully with the reduced amount of events he's needing to do he'll be able to step it up another notch.
"He's been over 190 feet in practices consistently recently, so we think there's a chance he could break 200 at regionals. That's what he'll probably have to do to advance to the finals and put himself in the picture to go to nationals."
Loni Perkins-Judisch (senior, Conrad, Mont. -- 400 meters)
* How she got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 54.61 when she ran a 54.31 at the Montana Last Chance Meet May 9.
* How she fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Won the Big Sky outdoor 400-meter title for the fourth straight year, running a career-best and school-record 53.48.
* Where she ranks in the region: 8th (leader: Jessica Beard, Texas A&M, freshman, 51.20)
* Midwest Region history: Fourth appearance in the 400 meters in the last four years. Has yet to advance beyond the preliminaries.
* Coach Raunig's take: "Loni won't have a lot of room for error at regionals. She's within striking distance of the top five on paper, but she ranks eighth going in and only the top eight advance (out of the preliminaries) to the finals.
"She's definitely sitting better than she has been in other years. She's coming off her fastest time ever, which will get her a better lane assignment. That should be a huge factor in her running well. In the past she's been stuck out in lane eight where you can't see your competition."
James Stanton (senior, Billings, Mont. -- shot)
* How he got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 55-1.5 when he went 55-4.75 at the Griz-Cat Dual on May 3. It was his first and only career effort over 55 feet.
* How he fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Placed third with a distance of 53-4.5.
* Where he ranks in the region: 15th (leader: Aaron Studt, Minnesota, sophomore, 62-7.75)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Like Curtis, Jimmy should be another example where focusing on just one event these last two weeks should really help. We know he's got a bigger throw in him than he's shown so far. He'd really like to unleash one up near the school record (of 56-7.5, set by Mark Doane in 1971).
"He had 20 throws over 50 feet in practice just the other day when they were throwing for volume, so he's working hard. He'll just have to rest up and see if he can't pop a big throw."
Kara DeWalt (sophomore, Darby, Mont. -- steeplechase)
* How she got to regionals: The Montana record-holder in the steeplechase (10:50.73) hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 10:50.25 when she ran an altitude-adjusted 10:43.73 (10:59.98 without the adjustment) at the Griz-Cat Dual on May 3.
* How she fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Placed fifth in a time of 10:58.60.
* Where she ranks in the region: 20th (leader: two-time NCAA cross country champion Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech, senior, 9:55.12)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Kara would like to get her school record knocked down a little further at regionals. I think she's capable of around a 10:30 if she can pace it right and be on with her hurdling."
* Note: Altitude-adjusted times do not count toward school records, just actual clock times.
Courtney Kosovich (freshman, Billings, Mont. -- pole vault)
* How she got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 12-7.5 when she went that height to win the pole vault at the Spokane Falls Invitational April 19.
* How she fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Tied for third with a height of 12-2.5.
* Where she ranks in the region: 21st (leader: Ashley Laughlin, Texas, senior, 13-11.25)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Courtney still has some goals in front of her. First, she'd like to qualify for the U.S. Junior Championships. She needs to hit 12-9.5, so she's got that to shoot for.
"And breaking the school record of 12-10 is also a realistic goal, so she could kill two birds with one stone if she puts together a good meet."
* Note: The 2008 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 20-22 at Columbus, Ohio. Competing athletes must be at least 14 years old on the day of competition but not turn 20 years old during the 2008 calendar year.
Lynn Reynolds (freshman, Dillon, Mont. -- steeplechase)
* How he got to regionals: Met the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 9:07 when he went 9:06.43 to finish second at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships May 16 in his fourth collegiate steeplechase.
* Where he ranks in the region: 21st (leader: Billy Nelson, Colorado, senior, 8:36.44)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Lynn had a PR by over 30 (non-altitude-adjusted) seconds at the Big Sky meet, so it would be tough for him to step it up a lot more. But it was also hot and breezy at Sacramento, so if he can get better weather conditions and run as good a race, he should be able to break nine minutes. No freshman at Montana has ever done that."
* Note: Reynolds, who is eligible in age, met the qualifying standard of 9:38 for the USA Junior Championships in all four steeplechase races this season. "He's qualified to go if he wants to extend his season that long," Raunig said. "If you do well enough there, which usually means finishing in the top two, you can qualify for free travel overseas to compete at the world championships." The 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships are July 8-13 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
1,600-meter relay team (Perkins-Judisch; Stephanie Radke, senior, Billings, Mont.; Erin Clark, sophomore, Frenchtown, Mont.; Jenna Haven, freshman, East Wenatchee, Wash.)
* How they got to regionals: Earned the Big Sky Conference's automatic bid by winning the event at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships May 17 at Sacramento, Calif. The Grizzlies edged out the Hornets at the tape, 3:44.71 to 3:44.73.
* Where they rank in the region: 24th (leader: Texas A&M, 3:32.21
* Midwest Region history: This will be Perkins-Judisch's third trip to the Midwest Regional as part of Montana's Big Sky Conference-champion 1,600-meter relay team. The Grizzlies also advanced in 2005 and '06. Radke, Clark and Haven will be making their first appearance.
* Coach Raunig's take: "The relay team has the slowest time in the region going in (by nearly three seconds), so their main motivation will be trying to break the school record that's over 20 years old. Loni is a senior, so this is her final chance to get her name on that record. We're hopeful the weather cooperates and we get a decent lane draw for the opening leg so they can give the record a really good shot."
* Note: The current 1,600-meter relay record is 3:43.13, set by Jennifer Harlan, Paula Good, Sara Robitaille and Kris Schmitt in 1987. Montana's regional relay team ran a season-best 3:43.84 at the Griz-Cat Dual on May 3.
Cox a long shot to advance to nationals: Senior Baily Cox, who posted a career-best score of 5,278 points to finish second in the heptathlon at the 2008 Big Sky Conference Multi-Events, has likely competed for the final time in her career. Cox, who is Montana's alternate in the 1,600-meter relay team for regionals, ranks 31st on the national heptathlon performance list. Approximately 25 athletes are typically selected to advance to the NCAA meet.
The heptathlon, decathlon and 10,000 meters are not held at the region meets. Athletes in those events are selected off the national performance lists.
Idaho State's Cassie Merkley, the 2008 Big Sky heptathlon champion who has a season-best point total of 5,563, ranks 12th nationally.
Arizona State senior Jacquelyn Johnson has the nation's top score of 6,307, more than 400 points better than any other collegiate athlete in 2008.
Representing the Grizzlies Friday and Saturday will be seniors Curtis Bean (hammer), Loni Perkins-Judisch (400 meters, 1,600-meter relay), Stephanie Radke (1,600-meter relay) and James Stanton (shot), sophomores Erin Clark (1,600-meter relay) and Kara DeWalt (steeplechase) and freshmen Jenna Haven (1,600-meter relay), Courtney Kosovich (pole vault) and Lynn Reynolds (steeplechase).
All the athletes, with the exception of Haven, who is from East Wenatchee, Wash., are products of Montana high schools.
Junior Logan Labbe of Superior, Mont., who qualified for the region meet in the javelin, will be unable to compete due to injury.
The Midwest Regional in Lincoln is one of four NCAA regionals taking place this weekend. The East Regional is in Tallahassee, Fla., the Mid East Regional is in Fayetteville, Ark., and the West Regional is in Northridge, Calif.
The top five finishers in each event in each region advance to the NCAA Championships.
"We were able to qualify a few more people for regionals than we originally expected," Montana coach Tom Raunig said. "Typically we've been in the eight- to 12-athlete range, but it's so hard to predict, especially with the Big Sky meet factored in. We were sitting at six (qualified) athletes until the women's mile relay qualified Saturday afternoon by two-hundredths of a second in the final event of the conference meet. We had to hurry and buy three additional plane tickets at the last minute, but that's always a good problem to have."
The schedule (all times Mountain)
Friday, May 30
3:00 p.m. ... Women's 400-meter preliminaries (Perkins-Judisch)
4:00 p.m. ... Women's pole vault (Kosovich)
4:00 p.m. ... Men's shot (Stanton)
Saturday, May 31
Noon ... Men's hammer (Bean)
4:15 p.m. ... Women's 400-meter finals (Perkins-Judisch, if necessary)
5:15 p.m. ... Women's steeplechase (DeWalt)
5:40 p.m. ... Men's steeplechase (Reynolds)
6:05 p.m. ... Women's 1,600-meter relay (Clark, Haven, Perkins-Judisch, Radke)
Live results of the Midwest Regional will be available at Huskers.com.
The athletes
Curtis Bean (senior, Eureka, Mont. -- hammer)
* How he got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 186-4 at Montana's season-opening outdoor meet with a throw of 195-6 at the Al Manuel Invitational April 4. Reached the mark on four other occasions, including a career-best throw of 196-2 at Eastern Washington on April 11.
* How he fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Placed fifth with a throw of 190-8.
* Where he ranks in the region: 11th (leader: Egor Agafonov, Kansas, senior, 226-2)
* Midwest Region history: Also advanced in the hammer as a junior in 2007. Finished 17th at Des Moines, Iowa, with a throw of 179-7.
* Coach Raunig's take: "Curtis has had a strong season from day one; he's been able to maintain his throwing at a high level throughout the season. Hopefully with the reduced amount of events he's needing to do he'll be able to step it up another notch.
"He's been over 190 feet in practices consistently recently, so we think there's a chance he could break 200 at regionals. That's what he'll probably have to do to advance to the finals and put himself in the picture to go to nationals."
Loni Perkins-Judisch (senior, Conrad, Mont. -- 400 meters)
* How she got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 54.61 when she ran a 54.31 at the Montana Last Chance Meet May 9.
* How she fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Won the Big Sky outdoor 400-meter title for the fourth straight year, running a career-best and school-record 53.48.
* Where she ranks in the region: 8th (leader: Jessica Beard, Texas A&M, freshman, 51.20)
* Midwest Region history: Fourth appearance in the 400 meters in the last four years. Has yet to advance beyond the preliminaries.
* Coach Raunig's take: "Loni won't have a lot of room for error at regionals. She's within striking distance of the top five on paper, but she ranks eighth going in and only the top eight advance (out of the preliminaries) to the finals.
"She's definitely sitting better than she has been in other years. She's coming off her fastest time ever, which will get her a better lane assignment. That should be a huge factor in her running well. In the past she's been stuck out in lane eight where you can't see your competition."
James Stanton (senior, Billings, Mont. -- shot)
* How he got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 55-1.5 when he went 55-4.75 at the Griz-Cat Dual on May 3. It was his first and only career effort over 55 feet.
* How he fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Placed third with a distance of 53-4.5.
* Where he ranks in the region: 15th (leader: Aaron Studt, Minnesota, sophomore, 62-7.75)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Like Curtis, Jimmy should be another example where focusing on just one event these last two weeks should really help. We know he's got a bigger throw in him than he's shown so far. He'd really like to unleash one up near the school record (of 56-7.5, set by Mark Doane in 1971).
"He had 20 throws over 50 feet in practice just the other day when they were throwing for volume, so he's working hard. He'll just have to rest up and see if he can't pop a big throw."
Kara DeWalt (sophomore, Darby, Mont. -- steeplechase)
* How she got to regionals: The Montana record-holder in the steeplechase (10:50.73) hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 10:50.25 when she ran an altitude-adjusted 10:43.73 (10:59.98 without the adjustment) at the Griz-Cat Dual on May 3.
* How she fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Placed fifth in a time of 10:58.60.
* Where she ranks in the region: 20th (leader: two-time NCAA cross country champion Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech, senior, 9:55.12)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Kara would like to get her school record knocked down a little further at regionals. I think she's capable of around a 10:30 if she can pace it right and be on with her hurdling."
* Note: Altitude-adjusted times do not count toward school records, just actual clock times.
Courtney Kosovich (freshman, Billings, Mont. -- pole vault)
* How she got to regionals: Hit the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 12-7.5 when she went that height to win the pole vault at the Spokane Falls Invitational April 19.
* How she fared at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships: Tied for third with a height of 12-2.5.
* Where she ranks in the region: 21st (leader: Ashley Laughlin, Texas, senior, 13-11.25)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Courtney still has some goals in front of her. First, she'd like to qualify for the U.S. Junior Championships. She needs to hit 12-9.5, so she's got that to shoot for.
"And breaking the school record of 12-10 is also a realistic goal, so she could kill two birds with one stone if she puts together a good meet."
* Note: The 2008 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 20-22 at Columbus, Ohio. Competing athletes must be at least 14 years old on the day of competition but not turn 20 years old during the 2008 calendar year.
Lynn Reynolds (freshman, Dillon, Mont. -- steeplechase)
* How he got to regionals: Met the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 9:07 when he went 9:06.43 to finish second at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships May 16 in his fourth collegiate steeplechase.
* Where he ranks in the region: 21st (leader: Billy Nelson, Colorado, senior, 8:36.44)
* Midwest Region history: First appearance
* Coach Raunig's take: "Lynn had a PR by over 30 (non-altitude-adjusted) seconds at the Big Sky meet, so it would be tough for him to step it up a lot more. But it was also hot and breezy at Sacramento, so if he can get better weather conditions and run as good a race, he should be able to break nine minutes. No freshman at Montana has ever done that."
* Note: Reynolds, who is eligible in age, met the qualifying standard of 9:38 for the USA Junior Championships in all four steeplechase races this season. "He's qualified to go if he wants to extend his season that long," Raunig said. "If you do well enough there, which usually means finishing in the top two, you can qualify for free travel overseas to compete at the world championships." The 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships are July 8-13 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
1,600-meter relay team (Perkins-Judisch; Stephanie Radke, senior, Billings, Mont.; Erin Clark, sophomore, Frenchtown, Mont.; Jenna Haven, freshman, East Wenatchee, Wash.)
* How they got to regionals: Earned the Big Sky Conference's automatic bid by winning the event at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championships May 17 at Sacramento, Calif. The Grizzlies edged out the Hornets at the tape, 3:44.71 to 3:44.73.
* Where they rank in the region: 24th (leader: Texas A&M, 3:32.21
* Midwest Region history: This will be Perkins-Judisch's third trip to the Midwest Regional as part of Montana's Big Sky Conference-champion 1,600-meter relay team. The Grizzlies also advanced in 2005 and '06. Radke, Clark and Haven will be making their first appearance.
* Coach Raunig's take: "The relay team has the slowest time in the region going in (by nearly three seconds), so their main motivation will be trying to break the school record that's over 20 years old. Loni is a senior, so this is her final chance to get her name on that record. We're hopeful the weather cooperates and we get a decent lane draw for the opening leg so they can give the record a really good shot."
* Note: The current 1,600-meter relay record is 3:43.13, set by Jennifer Harlan, Paula Good, Sara Robitaille and Kris Schmitt in 1987. Montana's regional relay team ran a season-best 3:43.84 at the Griz-Cat Dual on May 3.
Cox a long shot to advance to nationals: Senior Baily Cox, who posted a career-best score of 5,278 points to finish second in the heptathlon at the 2008 Big Sky Conference Multi-Events, has likely competed for the final time in her career. Cox, who is Montana's alternate in the 1,600-meter relay team for regionals, ranks 31st on the national heptathlon performance list. Approximately 25 athletes are typically selected to advance to the NCAA meet.
The heptathlon, decathlon and 10,000 meters are not held at the region meets. Athletes in those events are selected off the national performance lists.
Idaho State's Cassie Merkley, the 2008 Big Sky heptathlon champion who has a season-best point total of 5,563, ranks 12th nationally.
Arizona State senior Jacquelyn Johnson has the nation's top score of 6,307, more than 400 points better than any other collegiate athlete in 2008.
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