Griz open indoor season at Candy Cane V
12/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Dec. 6, 2012
2012-13 track and field schedule poster 
The Montana track and field teams will open their 2012-13 indoor season this weekend when the Grizzlies compete in the two-day Candy Cane V meet at Cheney, Wash. Montana and Eastern Washington are the only two teams competing.
The meet, which is being held at EWU's Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse, begins Friday morning with the women's pentathlon and day one of the men's heptathlon. The heptathlon concludes Saturday morning, followed by the open track and field events.
While the meet will have the full complement of field events on Saturday -- all four jumps, plus the shot put and weight throw -- the only track events will be the 55 meters and 55-meter hurdles.
Montana will have three multi-event athletes competing. That small group is headlined by junior Austin Emry, one the few Grizzlies who could realistically end their indoor season competing at the NCAA championships in early March at Fayetteville, Ark.
Emry is coming off a breakthrough outdoor season last spring, which resulted in a third-place finish in the decathlon at the Big Sky Conference championships and NCAA West Region qualifying marks in both the high jump and long jump.
His personal-best decathlon score of 7,169 at the Big Sky meet at Bozeman, Mont., was the nation's 43rd-ranked mark at season's end.
That success has stayed with Emry through the summer and fall, and UM multi-events coach Adam Bork says almost everything is in play for Emry: Andrew Levin's school heptathlon record, a Big Sky Conference championship and not just landing a spot at nationals, but making waves at nationals.
"Austin's success at conference last year has made him a different person," Bork says. "He's been training harder this fall than he ever has, and he's definitely in the best shape of his life.
"He's as strong as he's ever been, he's fit, and he has a level of confidence in his workouts he hasn't had before. I expect a lot from him this year."
Emry, who is the lone heptathlete competing, will face the 55 meters, long jump, shot put and high jump Friday and the 55-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters on Saturday.
Montana will have two athletes competing in the pentathlon: junior Shayle Dezellem and freshman Lindsey Dahl (not to be confused with NCAA multi-events qualifier Lindsey Hall, who is redshirting the indoor season).
Both will be competing for the first time in a Montana uniform Friday morning. Dezellem, of Spokane, Wash., is a transfer from the Community Colleges of Spokane, where she won two Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges outdoor heptathlon titles. Dahl is a freshman from Auburn, Wash.
Dezellem and Dahl will compete in the 55-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 meters, all Friday.
"For both Shayle and Lindsey this will be a chance for them to compete and see where they're at," Bork continued. "We'll get one under our belt, then evaluate where we need to spend more time and put in more work."
The open field events begin at noon (MT) on Saturday with the long jump, pole vault and shot put. The track events commence with the preliminaries of the women's 55-meter hurdles at 2 p.m. (MT).
"Every year we look at this meet the same," said UM track and field program director Brian Schweyen. "There is going to be some good and there is going to be some bad.
"But (this year) I think we're going to have more good than bad. Practices have been going great, and the kids' attitudes are fantastic. It feels like there is some new energy on the team."
Montana's multi-event athletes will kick off the 2013 schedule when they compete in Bozeman Jan. 7-8. The Grizzlies' full team, distance events and all, will compete for the first time at MSU on Friday, Jan. 18.
Players Mentioned
