Montana
Al Manuel Invitational
Griz open outdoor season with seven wins, nine qualifiers
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
Results
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The Montana track and field teams disregarded the blustery weather conditions at Dornblaser Field Saturday and opened their outdoor season with a solid effort at the annual Al Manuel Invitational.
The Grizzlies picked up seven event victories and had nine Big Sky Conference-qualifying performances, nearly half of what the teams had the entirety of the indoor season.
Junior Nicole Anskaitis, in the 100-meter hurdles and pole vault, and junior Samantha Hodgson, in the shot put and discus, were both two-event winners at a meet that included athletes from Montana State, Eastern Washington, MSU Billings, Carroll, Great Falls and Rocky Mountain.
"Overall I thought it was a pretty good meet," said coach Brian Schweyen. "I liked the way we came out. There were some lifetime bests and some conference qualifiers, which is great. We had some really good performances."
The meet actually opened Friday afternoon, when senior Caitlin Caraway dominated the hammer throw. Her mark of 187-9 won the event by nearly 20 feet and was less than seven feet off her school record.
Hodgson and junior Stephanie Wells continued Montana's winning ways in the throws on Saturday. Wells went 143-9 to claim the javelin, Hodgson went 46-8.25 to win the shot put by four feet and 155-4 to finish first in the discus.
It was the first time competing for Hodgson since last May at NCAA regionals. She spent the fall semester studying at University College Cork in Ireland, where the opportunities to train were limited. She redshirted the indoor season as she worked herself back into competition shape.
"I loved the experience. It was probably the best decision I've made in my life. It allowed me to come back more focused," Hodgson said of studying abroad. She is the UM record holder in the shot put and discus.
"It's definitely a different mindset you have to be in when you're competing and not just training. Shot put went okay, and I felt back in the groove after that. I'm excited to see what the season has to bring."
So is Schweyen, who watched his upperclassmen collect eight of the team's nine Big Sky qualifiers on the day, while some of his freshmen showed they have the makings of being the qualifiers of the (very near) future.
Morgan Sulser broke 15 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, Erika McLeod went sub-1:05 in her first attempt at the 400-meter hurdles, and Hana Feilzer looked like the second coming of Caraway in the hammer.
From the men's team, Nathan Wellington ran an altitude-adjusted time of 15:14.06 to finish second in the 5,000 meters in less-than-ideal conditions, and Jensen Lillquist hit the Big Sky standard in the javelin with a third-place throw of 188-8.
"You look at our studs, and I thought all of them had really good meets for our first competition," said Schweyen. "And we have some studs-in-the-making who are going to come along quickly."
Anskaitis, the Big Sky Conference indoor champion in the pole vault, won that event Saturday at a pedestrian height of 11-3.75. She also won the hurdles in an adjusted time of 14.39 to meet the qualifying standard.
Montana's other victory Saturday came in the men's 4x400-meter relay, where seniors Dylan Hambright and Drew Owens, sophomore Dominique Bobo and freshman Sterling Reneau ran an adjusted 3:18.48.
Hodgson, in both the shot and discus, Caraway and Wells gave the Griz women four Big Sky qualifiers. Anskaitis was No. 5 in the hurdles, and senior Keli Dennehy made it a half dozen in the steeplechase.
Dennehy was the top collegiate finisher in the event, coming in second overall in an adjusted time of 10:56.38.
The men's team had three Big Sky qualifiers, started by Lillquist in the javelin. Junior Henry Lilly, who finished fourth at 188-1, also qualified in the javelin.
Owens, the reigning Big Sky champion in the event, ran an adjusted 53.73 to qualify in the 400-meter hurdles.
In addition to Montana's seven event victories Saturday, the Grizzlies also had 12 runner-up finishes. Overall the team had 31 top-three finishes.
Montana will be on the road the next three weekends, starting next Saturday at the Montana State Relays in Bozeman.
Players Mentioned
