Montana track and field teams unable to travel to Bozeman
2/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Feb. 20, 2014
Friday update: Because of dangerous road conditions and numerous accidents delaying traffic east of Missoula, the Montana track and field team will not be competing this evening at the Montana State Bobcat Open in Bozeman. The Grizzlies will travel next week to Pocatello, Idaho, for the Big Sky Conference indoor championships.
Montana Performance List | Big Sky Conference Performance List
The Montana track and field teams will conclude their pre-championships indoor season Friday when the Grizzlies compete at the last-chance Montana State Bobcat Open in Bozeman.
Montana will travel next week to the Big Sky Conference championships, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at Pocatello, Idaho.
The Bobcat Open begins at 3:30 p.m. with the field events. Running events start at 4:30 p.m.
"This is a last-chance meet, but it's also another week for us to get better and post improved performances and build some momentum heading into conference," said UM coach Brian Schweyen.
"We have some kids who are on the cusp of getting to conference, and Friday will be their chance to get that guaranteed spot. Others can move up in the conference rankings."
One week out from the Big Sky championships, Montana has four individuals and one relay team that rank No. 1 in the conference.
Redshirt senior Austin Emry tops the heptathlon (5,554), redshirt senior Keith Webber (17-1.5) leads the pole vault, senior Kellee Glaus has the top triple jump (39-8) and freshman Reagan Colyer has run the fastest 800 meters (2:08.25).
Montana's distance medley relay team of Colyer (1,200 meters), senior McKenzie Luth (400 meters), redshirt senior Kourtney Danreuther (800 meters) and redshirt junior Keli Dennehy (1,600 meters) has the top time in the conference of 11:46.65.
Outside of Glaus and Colyer, the Montana women have seven other performances that rank in the top three in the Big Sky. Emry and Webber are the only UM men's performances in the top three.
Beyond the Big Sky indoor championships, nationals will be held March 14-15 at Albuquerque, N.M. If things go really well, Montana could have as many as three athletes competing next month.
With the cut to the NCAA indoor championships going 16 athletes deep, Emry currently ranks No. 9 in the heptathlon.
That sounds solid, but with so many heptathlons being held at upcoming conference championships, it's a tenuous position at best. He'll likely need a better score next week at Pocatello to ensure his second straight trip to nationals.
Hall has been to outdoor nationals but never indoor. The nation's 16th-best score is currently 3,963, but that, too, is expected to rise. She will likely need a score of at least 4,000 points next week if Hall is going to extend her final indoor season beyond next week.
Bonus athlete: Keith Webber in the pole vault. The current cut at 16th place is 17-7.25, and Webber has been hovering comfortably in the high 16s and low 17s all winter. He'll be competing Friday and again at the conference championships in an effort to push higher into the 17s.
"I'm really happy where both teams are. There have been some surprises on both sides and there has been some consistency from the athletes who need to be performing," Schweyen said.
"The coaches have done a fantastic job, but the athletes should get all the credit. They are the ones who put in the work every day and done what it takes to be where they are."
Nine Talking Points
1. What will Kourtney Danreuther do next week at Pocatello? She ranks No. 2 in the Big Sky in the 400 meters and No. 3 in the 800, which is a possible, but tough, double to pull off. Easier would be the 200 and 400, but can she score enough in the 200 to make it worthwhile at the expense of the 800?
She currently ranks 12th in the conference in the 200 with her season-best time of 25.24. She is racing the 200 on Friday, and if she doesn't post a time under 25 seconds, look for her to try the 400/800 double next week, in addition to running the relays.
2. Austin Emry and junior Jacob Leininger rank fourth and sixth in the Big Sky in the 60-meter hurdles. The Grizzlies do not have any other athletes with top-eight rankings in the conference in any other running events.
3. Lindsey Hall will be competing in the triple jump Friday. It will be her first time competing in the event since the 2012 Big Sky indoor championships.
What that does: Sets Hall up to compete in the pentathlon next Thursday at Pocatello, then score for Montana in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump and triple jump Friday and Saturday.
The last time the indoor championships were at Pocatello, in 2011, Hall scored 34 points and was named Most Valuable Athlete.
4. Men's athlete to cheer for Friday: Junior David Norris in the 800 meters. His season-best time of 1:55.74 last Friday is just outside the current cut line of 1:55.59.
5. Women's athlete to cheer for Friday: Sophomore Lauryn Wate in the mile. Wate ran a five-second PR last Friday at Bozeman, clocking a 5:03.23. She'll need to break 5:00 on Friday to make the deep women's mile at Pocatello. Seventeen athletes have already hit the Big Sky standard of 5:00.
6. Men's redshirts competing Friday: Freshmen Riley Neville in the pole vault and Nate Deming in the long jump. Both are going to be really good down the road.
7. Women's redshirts competing Friday: Seniors Gwenn Abbott in the high jump and Caitlin Caraway in the throws. Abbott, who only has one final season out outdoor eligibility remaining, has four times finished top three in the high jump at Big Sky championships.
8. When it comes to next week's conference championships, the UM men will be relying heavily on Austin Emry, Lee Hardt and Keith Webber in the field events.
In addition to ranking first in the heptathlon and fourth in the hurdles, Emry ranks fifth in the long jump and sixth in the high jump. Hardt ranks fourth in both the high jump and triple jump. And Webber ranks first in the pole vault by more than eight inches over the Big Sky's No. 2-ranked pole vaulter.
9. Montana is on a list of three or four teams who could win a Big Sky women's championship next week. For that to happen for the Grizzlies, the expected points have to be there, then a few surprise points need to be sprinkled in as well.
Example: Sophomore Sammy Evans. She ranks second in the triple jump behind Kellee Glaus and does not rank in the top eight in either the high jump or long jump, but she could score in both.
She went a career-best 5-3.25 in the high jump last week and would likely need to go 5-5 next week to score. She also has a season-best mark in the long jump of 17-10.75, an event she has only tried twice in her collegiate career. Mid-18s would score next week. She'll be giving both events a go on Friday.
Players Mentioned
