Bobcat Open final pre-championship meet for Grizzlies
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Montana Performance List 
 || Big Sky Performance List
The Montana track and field teams will have their final pre-championships meet Friday when the Grizzlies travel to Montana State for the Bobcat Open at Bozeman. The meet begins at 4 p.m. at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Montana will have 22 women's and 22 men's athletes going to Flagstaff, Ariz., next week for the Big Sky Conference indoor championships.
The women's pentathlon will be contested next Thursday, the men's heptathlon Thursday and Friday. The championships' open events will all take place Friday and Saturday.
Entering Friday's meet, Montana has 10 automatic Big Sky qualifications from its women's team. Those qualifications have come from nine athletes in six events. The men's team has six qualifications in five events from five athletes.
Ten of those qualifications or season-best marks for those qualifications have come in February after a slow start for the team in January.
"I anticipate double-figure lifetime bests on Friday, and that's what we need to keep moving forward," said UM coach Brian Schweyen. "If we get that and have the rest of our athletes get awfully close to lifetime bests, I think we'll be sitting good going into conference.
"We still have some athletes with some big performances inside of them. I fully expect those performances to come out tomorrow, then be even better the following week."
The Hot List
* Montana's indoor season will come to a close at Flagstaff unless someone qualifies for the NCAA championships, which will be held March 13-14 at Fayetteville, Ark. The Grizzlies' two best chances to advance come in the women's jumps.
Junior Nicole Anskaitis leads the Big Sky Conference with her pole vault mark of 13-3.5 at Montana State on Feb. 6. She is tied for 45th nationally, and the top 16 athletes make nationals. The current cut for nationals is 13-11.75. Anskaitis is competing in the pole vault Friday.
Anskaitis holds the best pole vault mark in Montana history, indoor or outdoor, and her 13-3.5 is tied for sixth on the all-time Big Sky indoor performance list.
Junior Sammy Evans ranks first in the Big Sky in the triple jump at 41-8.5, which is the top triple jump in program history, indoor or outdoor, and is tied for 10th in Big Sky Conference indoor history.
Evans is tied for 36th on the national performance list. The current cut to make nationals is 42-4.2.5. Evans is competing in the triple jump Friday.
* Sophomore Reagan Colyer ran a season-best 2:11.50 Saturday in the 800 meters at the Husky Classic at Seattle to move up to No. 3 in the Big Sky. She'll be running the 800 on Friday again, but as a rabbit for a pair of freshman teammates who need faster times to make the trip to Flagstaff.
Emily Cheroske opened the indoor season with times of 2:25 and 2:26. She improved to 2:17.56 two weeks ago, then clocked a 2:16.41 last Friday. Megan Franz went from the low 2:20s to 2:17.77 on Friday. The No. 20 time in the Big Sky Conference is currently 2:15.81.
* Redshirt senior Caitlin Caraway entered her final indoor season with a career best in the weight throw of 51-0. The last three meets she's gone 53-2.5, 53-3.5 and 55-8.5 to move up to No. 9 on the Big Sky performance list.
Next up: Surpassing 56 feet and breaking the UM record of 56-2.5, which Brittany Williams set in 2010.
Caraway also set a new PR Friday in the shot put, going 42-9.5.
* Sophomore Dominique Bobo ran an adjusted 21.88 in the 200 meters on Friday to move up to No. 4 in the Big Sky. That should be one of the tightest events next week at Flagstaff. The top-ranked time is 21.70. The seventh-ranked time is 21.95, and five more athletes have gone faster than 22.1.
* After running a career-best 48.69 in the 400 meters two weeks ago at Montana State, junior Dylan Reynolds nearly did it again last Friday, going 48.70. He ranks sixth in the Big Sky.
* Senior Ben Williamson's career-best mile time of 4:10.60 last Friday moved him up to No. 9 in the Big Sky.
* Sophomore Nolan Nagle moved up to No. 11 in the weight throw with his career-best mark of 55-1.5 last Friday. He is one of only two underclassmen in the top 12. He entered his second indoor season with a PR in the event of 49-7.5.
* Redshirt senior Shayle Dezellem ran a career-best 9.11 in the hurdles Friday. ... Freshman Hana Feilzer cracked 40 feet in the shot put Friday, going 40-7.75, a PR of 16 inches. ... At 53-0.75, sophomore Nick Jackson for the second straight week went over 53 feet in the shot put. ... It was season bests Friday for freshman Logan Laird in the 200 (23.18) and 400 meters (51.79).
Players Mentioned
