Montana taking underdog role into Griz-Cat Dual
4/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
April 24, 2014
Montana Performance List | Big Sky Performance List | Griz-Cat Dual Records
Montana swept both the men's and women's Griz-Cat Duals last spring at Dornblaser Field in Missoula, UM's first sweep of the annual dual since 2010, but the Grizzlies will be the underdogs when they compete in the 2014 edition Saturday at Bozeman.
The team rosters are formidable, but injuries and other absences will keep both teams from competing at full strength.
The Montana women will be without seniors Kourtney Danreuther and Anika Green, and senior Lindsey Hall, who normally would be entered in four or five events, will be limited by a tender hamstring.
The Grizzlies won the dual-scored Al Manuel Invitational over the Bobcats 115-80, but that gap vanishes quickly without Danreuther and Green and a less-than-100-percent Hall.
"That's a lot of points right there," said UM coach Brian Schweyen. "We've got to step it up in every other area, and only then maybe sneak out a win."
The Montana State men defeated Montana at the Al Manuel 111-91, and on Saturday the Grizzlies won't have junior Lee Hardt, who would have been favored in the high jump and a threat to finish second to MSU's Kevin Close in the triple jump, or junior Dylan Hambright, who would have been favored in the 400 meters and who would have helped Montana in the 200 meters and 4x400-meter relay.
"We're going to have a thin team, but for everyone else competing, it's an opportunity," Schweyen said. "I'm expecting a lot of great performances out of this meet, mostly because it's another opportunity to compete. That's how I want our athletes looking at it.
"On top of that, it's the dual, so they should be excited, even if it's windy, raining or snowing, and it very well could be all three on Saturday."
The Montana women have won five of the last seven duals to take a slim 16-15 advantage.
UM's Kellee Glaus set a new dual record in the triple jump last April at Dornblaser Field, going 40-5. Samantha Hodgson set a new record in the discus at 168-2.
Records that might fall Saturday:
* UM's Beth Coomes' record in the 800 meters of 2:12.44, set in 1987. Montana freshman Reagan Colyer ran a 2:11.85 last Friday at the Mt. SAC Relays. Montana State sophomore Kaylee Schmitz ran a 2:11.92 at the same meet.
* UM's Katrina Drennen's record in the 1,500 meters of 4:30.38, set in 2011. Schmitz has a season best of 4:31.18, Colyer a season best of 4:32.06. Schmitz's time was altitude-adjusted, Colyer's was not.
* UM's Kara DeWalt's record of 10:44.08 in the steeplechase, set in 2011. Montana State's Heather Demorest (10:22.32) and Jenette Northey (10:33.10) and Montana's Allie Parks (10:36.54) have all gone faster than DeWalt's time this season.
* MSU's Erin Jones-Graf's record of 13.88 in the 100-meter hurdles in 2006. Forget it. Lindsey Hall, who ran a 13.70 last week at Mt. SAC, for sure is not competing in the hurdles Saturday.
* The high jump record of 5-8, set by four different athletes, two from Montana, two from Montana State. MSU's Amber Amsbaugh could clear 5-9 on Saturday.
* MSU's Teri Ketcham's javelin mark of 163-0, set in 1998. Hall broke Ketcham's stadium record when Hall went 161-7.5 at Eastern Washington two weeks ago.
The men's dual has been taking place since 1906 (or at least that's the first year with records). Montana won that dual 79.5-33.5 and has led in the series ever since. The Grizzlies' advantage is currently 55-25.
The lone record set last spring was by MSU's David Phillips, who went 211-7 in the hammer.
Records that might fall Saturday:
* UM's Roy Robinson's record of 10.49 in the 100 meters, set in 1968. Montana State's Chris Wilson ran a raw time of 10.49 at the MSU Open earlier this month. Robinson's mark is currently the oldest record in the dual.
* UM's Ryan Flaherty's record of 1:51.07 in the 800 meters, set in 2007. MSU's Cristian Soratos (1:50.95) and Matthew Tex (1:51.00) both had raw times faster than that earlier this month at Utah.
* MSU's Lyle Weese's record of 3:50.70 in the 1,500 meters, set in 2003. MSU's Grant Grosvenor (3:46.97) and Tex (3:48.07) both went faster than that last Saturday at the Long Beach State Invitational, and Soratos ran an altitude-adjusted 3:45.86 at Weber State two weeks ago.
* He hasn't gone higher than 16-6.75 this season, but Montana senior Keith Webber could challenge MSU's John Wurtz's pole vault mark of 17-1.25 from 1998. If he did, that would give Webber the Montana outdoor record to go with the indoor record he broke in January. Montana's outdoor pole vault record belongs to current UM jumps coach Adam Bork, who went 16-10.75 in 2002.
The Grizzlies will be at home for the three-day Montana Open next week, then host the Tom Gage Classic last-chance meet on Friday, May 9, before traveling to Flagstaff, Ariz., for the Big Sky Conference outdoor championships.
"The feeling of momentum we had coming out of the indoor season maybe isn't quite there right now, but the potential is certainly still there," Schweyen said, "and we still have enough time left in the season to really start rolling.
"This is the point in the season when we really start freshening up and seeing some improvements. You get excited for outdoors and have some good early performances, then you hit a plateau. I think we're at the end of that plateau and will be seeing some good things happen for us these next couple of weeks."
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