Griz in Pullman Saturday for Cougar Invitational
4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
April 20, 2012
Montana performance list 
Big Sky Conference performance list
The Montana track and field teams will continue their outdoor season this weekend when the Grizzlies compete at the 12th annual Cougar Invitational at Pullman, Wash. The one-day meet takes place Saturday at Washington State's Mooberry Track Complex.
Athletes from Montana and Washington State will be joined by competitors from Idaho, Lewis-Clark State and Spokane CC, as well as unattached athletes.
The meet begins at 11 a.m. (MT) with the first field events. The running events begin at 2:15 p.m. (MT).
The three Division I programs all have athletes competing as well this weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. The Grizzlies sent seniors Lynn Reynolds and Katrina Drennen to California to race in the Relays' steeplechase and 1,500 meters, respectively.
Reynolds competed Thursday night in the Open A steeplechase, one of five men's steeplechase races yesterday. Reynolds leads the Big Sky Conference with his time of 8:55.60 from a meet at Stanford earlier this month. He ran a 9:25.47 Thursday to finish 20th in his heat of 23.
Drennen will compete Friday at 8 p.m. (MT) in the high-level, 18-athlete elite heat of the 1,500 meters. Drennen, who has a career best of 4:15.34 in the event, advanced to nationals last year in the 1,500 and will be using Friday's race to post another nationally competitive time.
Her season-opening time of 4:26.57 from the Al Manuel Invitational March 31, her only attempt at the distance so far in 2012, ranks third in the Big Sky and 37th in the NCAA West Region.
The Montana women are in good position just three weeks out from the Big Sky outdoor championships. The Grizzlies have 14 athletes holding 21 qualifications for the meet in 13 different events.
Montana does not currently have an automatic qualifier in the high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin and heptathlon.
With Lindsey Hall and Gwenn Abbott redshirting, the Grizzlies are sitting two of the Big Sky's top high jumpers, and Hall is one of the league's top long jumpers and the defending heptathlon champion.
Nycole Devers is one of the better javelin throwers, but she'll be undergoing a second elbow surgery this spring.
Drennen and junior Anika Green both hold three different Big Sky qualifications. Drennen leads the Big Sky in the 5,000 meters with her school-record time of 16:12.60 from Stanford earlier this month, and she ranks third in both the 800 (2:10.14) and 1,500 meters.
Green is a qualifier in the 100 meters (12.11), 100-meter hurdles (14.20) and 200 meters (25.09). She ranks fourth in the Big Sky in the hurdles and outside the top ten in both sprints.
Sophomore Kourtney Danreuther, the defending champion in the event, leads the Big Sky in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.16), senior Nicole Ennen has the top-ranked discus throw of 155-1, which is also the Montana school record, and the Grizzlies' 4x400-meter relay of Danreuther, senior Melissa Jenkins and juniors Emily Eickholt and Brittany Schroeder also ranks first with a time of 3:45.05.
Though the NCAA West Region performance list is fluid from week to week, Drennen and Danreuther both rank in the top 40 in their events. The top 48 in each event at season's end will advance to the NCAA West Regional, which will be held this year at Austin, Texas, May 24-26.
Drennen ranks sixth in the 5,000 meters, Danreuther ranks 32nd in the 400-meter hurdles, and Drennen ranks 37th in the 1,500.
The Montana men on the other hand have some work to do the next three weekends. The Grizzlies have nine athletes holding 11 qualifications in nine events, but only two of those qualifications currently rank among the top three in the Big Sky.
Reynolds leads the league in the steeplechase, and sophomore Kaleb Horlick is tied for first in the pole vault at 15-11. Reynolds' steeplechase time also ranks eighth in the region.
Sophomore Drew Owens, the event's defending champion, ranks fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (53.74), freshman Lee Hardt ranks fourth in the high jump (6-9), junior Nathan Klug ranks fifth in the hammer (182-8), sophomore Austin Emry ranks fifth in the decathlon (6,568), and freshman Brandon Forson ranks fifth in the discus (162-5).
Upcoming: Montana will compete at the Griz-Cat Dual next Saturday, April 28, at Bozeman, Mont.
