Griz competing this week at Hayward Field
4/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Outdoor Track, Women's Track and Field
Montana Performance List 
 || Big Sky Performance List
The Montana track and field teams will compete this week at the Oregon Relays in Eugene, Ore. The three-day meet will be held at UO's historic Hayward Field.
Montana originally was scheduled to compete this week at the California Invitational, Mt. SAC Relays and Beach Invitational in Southern California, but a computer problem with the national track and field reporting site forced the Grizzlies to find an alternate option.
Though competing at Eugene and Hayward Field should never be considered a Plan B.
Hayward Field has hosted the NCAA championships a dozen times since 1962, the most of any venue in modern history, and five times has held the Olympic Trials. The facility seats 10,500, and for most of Oregon's home meets, those seats are nearly filled.
"Hayward Field is kind of the hallowed ground of track and field in the United States," said UM coach Brian Schweyen. "Eugene is Track Town USA.
"You're going to have more fans in the stands this week than any meet these kids go to. It's exciting to be in an atmosphere like that in a sport that does not generally have that. It will be a special place for our athletes to experience."
The meet will open Thursday with the women's heptathlon and men's decathlon. Montana will not begin competing until Friday afternoon.
The region's top athletes will be at the Mt. SAC Relays, but there are plenty of other athletes from Oregon and Oregon State competing. Portland State is entered, as are athletes from a number of smaller schools.
They'll compete under sunny skies. The high each day should be in the low 70s.
"We'll have plenty of competition, and the weather is going to be great. It's an opportunity for our athletes to go out and have the meet of their lives," said Schweyen.
The positive from the schedule change: Because Montana bused to Eugene, more athletes will be competing this week than if the Grizzlies had flown to Southern California. The negative: Because of the late change, the multi-events at the Oregon Relays were already full.
Montana's four heptathletes won't get an opportunity to compete in the combined events until Thursday, April 30, and Friday, May 1, as part of the Montana Open at Dornblaser Field. That will be their only multi-events before the Big Sky Conference championships two weeks later at Cheney, Wash.
"Getting some experience competing in the multi-events can certainly be beneficial, but we're not in that situation this spring," said Schweyen.
"(Redshirt senior Shayle Dezellem) has done enough of them at this point in her career that she doesn't have to do a lot of them. The rest of the athletes did quite a few pentathlons indoor, so they know what it's all about."
What the athletes have been doing -- loading up on events at Montana's single-day meets -- is not that much different than doing a multi-events. The pentathlon is five events in one day. The heptathlon is seven events spread over two days.
Dezellem and sophomore Nicole Stroot, who finished sixth and seventh in the pentathlon at the Big Sky Conference indoor championship at Flagstaff, Ariz., in February, both will be competing in four events this week. Sophomore Lakyn Connors and freshman Erika McLeod will be competing in three.
"If you load the athletes up with a number of events in a single day, it's not that much different than competing in the multi-events," said Schweyen. "Plus I like them working on their individual events and really concentrating on their strong events at this point in their careers."
With freshman Charlie Bush redshirting the outdoor season, Montana will not have anyone competing this spring in the decathlon.
Three weeks into the season Montana has eight women holding nine Big Sky qualifications in six events. Six Griz men have seven qualifications in four events.
Montana's top-ranked female athletes on the Big Sky performance list are redshirt senior Caitlin Caraway and junior Stephanie Wells.
Caraway, with her throw of 187-9 at the Al Manuel Invitational, is sitting second in the hammer throw behind Northern Arizona sophomore Brooke Andersen (207-8). Wells, who went 153-8 at the Montana State Open, is second behind NAU sophomore Kylene Knutsen (159-10) in the javelin.
The Griz women do not have any athletes in the top 20 in the Big Sky in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,500 or 5,000 meters, which is an indictment.
The top-ranked athletes for the Montana men are redshirt senior Drew Owens and freshman Jensen Lillquist.
Owens, with his adjusted time of 52.98 at the Montana State Open, ranks third in the 400-meter hurdles. He is the defending Big Sky champion in the event. Lillquist, who threw 203-6 in the javelin at the MSU Open, is third behind a pair of Montana State throwers.
Freshman Luke Hilmes, at 200-5, ranks fourth in the javelin. Freshman Matt Quist, at 6-6.75, is tied for fourth in the high jump.
Montana will host the Griz-Cat Dual on Saturday, April 25, followed the next week by the three-day Montana Open. The Grizzlies' final pre-championships meet will be the Tom Gage Classic on Friday, May 8, at Bozeman.
Players Mentioned
