Full Griz squads open indoor season Friday at Bozeman
1/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
2015 Performance List
The complete Montana track and field teams will open their 2015 indoor season Friday evening at the Montana State Open at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Field events begin at 4 p.m., running events at 5 p.m.
Most of Montana's athletes began their season in early December at Eastern Washington's Candy Cane Invitational at Cheney. The Grizzlies' multi-event athletes also competed at MSU in early January.
Friday will be the first time competing since cross country season for Montana's distance athletes.
The Montana women picked up six Big Sky Conference qualifications across four events from five athletes at Eastern Washington.
Junior Sammy Evans qualified in the long jump and triple jump, senior Shayle Dezellem, sophomore Nicole Stroot and freshman Erika McLeod in the pentathlon, and freshman Claire Dalman in the pole vault.
Senior Jacob Leininger, in the 55-meter hurdles, was Montana's only automatic qualifier on the men's side at EWU. Senior Drew Owens established the first school record in the 600 meters of 1:23.93.
In the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' polls that were released this week, the Montana men were picked third, along with Montana State. Northern Arizona, which has won five of the last six Big Sky indoor titles, is the favorite, followed by Sacramento State and the Grizzlies and Bobcats.
The UM men overachieved in 2014 and finished third, but more than half of the team's 87 points at that meet graduated. Most of them went with Austin Emry, who scored 29 points while earning both Outstanding Performer and Most Valuable Athlete honors.
The team's highest-scoring returner is senior Lee Hardt, who finished second in the high jump and sixth in the triple jump last winter.
The Montana women, who also lost a load of talent, matched the men and placed third last indoor season. The Grizzlies were picked sixth in this year's preseason poll, coming in behind Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, Weber State, Portland State and Montana State.
The team's most notable loss was Lindsey Hall, who scored 30 points at last year's indoor championships and 105.5 for her career. She was named last year's Outstanding Performer.
Evans is a returning Big Sky Conference champion in the triple jump. Sophomore Reagan Colyer won the 800 meters and finished third in the mile at last year's indoor championships.
Montana will compete two straight weeks at Montana State, then travel south for the Mountain States Games at Pocatello, Idaho. The Grizzlies will take three more trips to Bozeman to open February and compete at the Big Sky indoor championships at Flagstaff, Ariz., Feb. 26-28.
Players Mentioned
