Griz invade Fayetteville for NCAA West Regional
5/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
May 28, 2014
Montana Performance List | Schedule of Events
Ten athletes from the Montana track and field teams will compete this week at the NCAA West Regional at Fayetteville, Ark. The three-day meet will be held Thursday through Saturday at Arkansas's John McDonnell Field.
What's at stake: More than 1,650 athletes will be competing with one goal: make the top 12 (out of 48) in 18 individual events or the top 12 (out of 24) in the two relays and advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held June 11-14 at Eugene, Ore.
The East Regional also will be held Thursday through Saturday at Jacksonville, Fla. The top 12 athletes in each event from the two regions will make up the 24-athlete field at nationals.
Weather forecast: Because weather at the West Regional is always such a factor for Montana's athletes, who are not quite ready to compete in the 90-degree weather of most recent host sites (Austin, Norman), Fayetteville's forecast looks promising.
The high temperature each day is supposed to be around 80 degrees, with light winds, though there is a decent chance of light rain each day and the humidity will be high.
How to track: Live results can be followed here. Live video can be watched here (starting at 3:30 p.m. [MT] on Thursday, 4 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Late entry: Montana originally had nine athletes make the cut to regionals, with sophomores Lindsey Dahl (javelin) and Samantha Hodgson(shot put) both sitting in the maddening No. 49 spot (the top 48 athletes in each event make regionals).
Hodgson earned a late entry into the meet over the weekend when one of the top 48 shot putters had to scratch because of an injury.
Where the Griz stack up: Montana's 10 regional qualifiers are tied for third in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Arizona, which won both the women's and men's Big Sky outdoor championships two weeks ago at Flagstaff, Ariz., had a league-high 18.
Eastern Washington had 11, while Montana State tied with Montana at 10 qualifiers. Sacramento State and Southern Utah both had eight.
Thursday schedule for Montana's athletes (all times Mountain):
11:00 a.m.: Women's javelin -- Lindsey Hall, Stephanie Wells
Noon: Men's pole vault -- Keith Webber
3:30 p.m.: Men's 400m hurdles (prelims) -- Drew Owens
4:00 p.m.: Women's 400m hurdles (prelims) -- Kourtney Danreuther
4:30 p.m.: Men's javelin -- Lukas Scherer
5:30 p.m.: Women's shot put -- Samantha Hodgson
Friday schedule:
4:00 p.m.: Women's triple jump -- Sammy Evans
4:00 p.m.: Men's high jump -- Lee Hardt
4:30 p.m.: Women's 100m hurdles (prelims) -- Lindsey Hall
6:30 p.m.: Men's 400m hurdles (finals) -- Drew Owens (if necessary)
6:45 p.m.: Women's 400m hurdles (finals) -- Kourtney Danreuther(if necessary)
Saturday schedule:
9:00 a.m.: Women's hammer -- Caitlin Caraway
6:20 p.m.: Women's 100m hurdles -- Lindsey Hall(if necessary)
Technical talk: The hurdles have two rounds to determine the dozen who will advance to nationals. In the preliminaries, there are six heats of eight athletes. The top three in each heat advance to finals, plus the next six fastest times. In the finals, there are three heats of eight. The top three in each heat advance to Eugene, plus the next three fastest times.
In the triple jump, shot put, hammer and javelin, every athlete gets three attempts. The top 16 marks advance to finals for three more attempts. The top 12 performances after finals advance to nationals.
One ticket already punched: No matter what happens this week at Fayetteville, Montana has one athlete already locked into nationals: Lindsey Hall. The fifth-year senior will be competing in the heptathlon Wednesday and Thursday, June 11-12, at Eugene. She is tied for 13th on the national performance list.
Montana's regional qualifiers:
Caitlin Caraway
Event: Hammer
Where you'll see her: Flight 2 of 3
Regional appearance: First
Season best: 194-2 (UM record)
Region rank: 28th
Region's best: Oregon junior Jillian Weir (221-2.75)
Region's 12th-best mark: 201-3
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Caraway: "To go in and set a new school record and maybe break the 200 mark. That would be a fantastic improvement and a huge confidence boost for her. And 200 maybe gets her into the top 16 and into finals."
Kourtney Danreuther
Event: 400m hurdles
Where you'll see her: Heat 4, lane 7
Regional appearance: Fourth (3x 400m hurdles, 1x 400m)
Season best: 58.09 (UM record; gets altitude-adjusted by the NCAA to 58.20)
Region rank: 14th
Region's best: Texas A&M senior Janeil Bellille (55.67)
Region's 12th-fastest time: 58.08
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Danreuther: "She has to go in there confident and not one bit scared and have the race of her life. And she has to do that twice. Last year she came out in prelims and ran a lifetime best and went into finals with the 12th-fastest time, but she did not run a confident or aggressive race in the finals. This year she needs to repeat what she did in the first round, then take it to a new level in the finals. She is one of the best in the region, and she has to see that."
Sammy Evans
Event: Triple jump
Where you'll see her: Flight 1 of 4
Regional appearance: First
Season best: 40-6.25
Region rank: 45th
Region's best: San Diego State senior Shanieka Thomas (45-0.5)
Region's 12th-best mark: 42-0.75
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Evans: "It's going to be a big meet, and she usually gets excited and competes really well the better the competition, so this is a great situation for her. She's ready to jump far. She can go in and jump 42 feet. She's had jumps that are near 42 feet when you look at where she's taken off. If she goes in with some adrenaline and hits one of those 42 footers, she could get into nationals."
Lindsey Hall
Events: 100m hurdles/javelin
Where you'll see her: Heat 4, lane 8 in the hurdles/flight 2 of 3 in the javelin
Regional appearance: Fourth (2x high jump, 2x javelin, 1x 100m hurdles)
Season bests: Wind-aided 13.42 in the hurdles/161-7.5 in the javelin
Region rank: 24th in the hurdles/18th in the javelin
Region's best: Baylor junior Tiffani McReynolds (12.63)/Oklahoma sophomore Elizabeth Herrs (189-4.75)
Region's 12th-best time/mark: 13.34 in the hurdles/165-7.75 in the javelin
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Hall: "I want to see her throw over 160 in the javelin, which she can do if she is confident and relaxed. If she does that, it should get her to nationals. In the hurdles, I want her getting through fast and staying healthy. It's going to be a high-level practice for her and should lead to a new school record. Mostly I want to see her coming out healthy and confident going into nationals."
Lee Hardt
Event: High jump
Where you'll see him: Flight 2 of 2
Regional appearance: Second
Season best: 7-0.25
Region rank: Tied for 22nd
Region's best: Arizona senior Nick Ross (7-6.5)
Region's 12th-best height: 7-2.25
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Hardt: "His legs are poppy. At conference his legs were looking really good. If he can hit a position at takeoff, I can see him going 7-1 or 7-2. You make 7-2 on a first jump, you're going to nationals. He has to be ready though. The biggest challenge is that he's used to coming in at lower heights as a warm-up. The bar at regionals is probably going to start at 6-10, maybe 6-8.75, so there is no time to warm up. You have to come in and be ready to hit it."
Samantha Hodgson
Event: Shot put
Where you'll see her: Flight 1 of 4
Regional appearance: Second (1x shot put, 1x discus)
Season best: 48-3.5 (UM record)
Region rank: 48th
Region's best: Missouri junior Kearsten Peoples (58-8.75)
Region's 12th-best mark: 53-2.5
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Hodgson: "She is 100 percent capable of going in and throwing over 50 feet. You do that, and you don't know what happens at this meet. That could get her into the top 16 and into finals. This is an opportunity for her. She was hoping to get in, and originally she didn't and was disappointed. Now she's in and excited about it. A lot of times those situations turn into great performances."
Drew Owens
Event: 400m hurdles
Where you'll see him: Heat 4, lane 5
Regional appearance: Third
Season best: 51.28 (gets altitude-adjusted by the NCAA to 51.49)
Region rank: 34th
Region's best: Kansas junior Michael Stigler (49.35)
Region's 12th-fastest time: 50.77
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Owens: "With what he's been doing the last two weeks, I can see him going under 51 seconds. Maybe set a new school record (current: 50.92) and be right there with a chance to go to nationals. He competes so well and is really getting a handle on the hurdles and how to run them strategically."
Lukas Scherer
Event: Javelin
Where you'll see him: Flight 1 of 3
Regional appearance: Second
Season best: 208-1
Region rank: 37th
Region's best: Oregon junior Sam Crouser (247-4.75)
Region's 12th-best mark: 224-8.75
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Scherer: "Best case scenario for Lukas is for him to throw 212 on his first attempt, then get excited for his next throw and go 220. Then he's set, because 220 is probably going to get him to nationals. The key will be to open with a nice throw, then bang the second one."
Keith Webber
Event: Pole vault
Where you'll see him: Flight 1 of 2
Regional appearance: First
Season best: 17-2.75
Region rank: Tied for 27th
Region's best: Stephen F. Austin senior Colton Ross (18-8.25)
Region's 12th-best height: 17-10.25
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Webber: "Keith is going to go in with a lot of confidence and be ready to roll. If he does that, I think he goes 17-10 and gets to nationals. The bar is going to start high, so he's got to be vaulting well right off the bat. He's got to hit a great jump on his first attempt, and that's going to set him up. Then when the bar gets to 17-10, he's going to be ready to come off the top and hit it really well."
Stephanie Wells
Event: Javelin
Where you'll see her: Flight 1 of 2
Regional appearance: Second
Season best: 150-5
Region rank: 43rd
Region's best: Oklahoma sophomore Elizabeth Herrs (189-4.75)
Region's 12th-best mark: 165-7.75
Coach Brian Schweyen's best case scenario for Wells: "She's capable of throwing 160 feet, and that's kind of the magical mark. Hopefully her arm is feeling good and she's confident and competes. Last year she didn't compete at regionals, and you can't be scared. If she comes in and does what she is capable of, she's got a chance of going to nationals."
Players Mentioned
