Griz heading to Seattle for Washington Invitational

Friday, January 29

Seattle, Wash.

Montana

Washington Invitational

Griz heading to Seattle for Washington Invitational

1/28/2016 11:05:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

Sixteen athletes from the Montana track and field teams will compete this week at the Washington Invitational in Seattle. The meet will run Friday and Saturday.

Ten athletes from the women's team and six from the men's will face deep fields across every event area. For example, 90 athletes are scheduled to race the women's 200 meters, an event that will require 18 heats to complete.

"This will be similar to competition we see at a conference meet, maybe even a bit elevated in some of the areas," said coach Brian Schweyen.

"This is the type of environment we need to get our athletes in, especially those athletes who are sitting near the top of their events in the conference. It's a great opportunity to compete at a high level and get the competitive juices flowing."

In addition to competing at sea level, athletes will get the chance to race on Dempsey Indoor's 307-meter flat track. Most of the Grizzlies' races during the indoor season are held on Montana State's 200-meter flat track.

"It makes the 200 and 400 easier," said Schweyen. "The corners are wider and bigger than they are at Bozeman, so we should see some faster times."

The meet opens Friday afternoon with the women's pentathlon and day one of the men's heptathlon. Montana will be represented in both, with juniors Lakyn Connors and Nicole Stroot, and sophomore Erika McLeod competing in the pentathlon, and sophomore Charlie Bush in the heptathlon.

Connors, Stroot and McLeod all completed their first pentathlon of the season earlier this month at Montana State. All three should have improved scores on Friday.

McLeod was the only one of the three to reach the Big Sky qualifying standard of 3,300 points at MSU, finishing with 3,307 once track and altitude adjustments were made. She is one of eight Big Sky athletes to have reached the qualifying standard. Connors scored 3,075 points.

Stroot, who finished seventh at last winter's indoor championships and has a PR of 3,553, just 37 points below the best score posted in the Big Sky this winter, did not record a distance in the long jump at MSU and scored 2,708 points.

The pentathlon field is 32 athletes deep.

Bush, who has a heptathlon PR of 4,684, had a no-height in the pole vault and scored 3,828 points at Bozeman. The Big Sky qualifying standard is 4,700 points. Bush finished eighth in the heptathlon at last year's indoor championships.

Other Griz athletes competing on Friday will be freshman Carrie Jacka in the pole vault and sophomore Alanna Vann in the 200 meters.

Jacka is one of 11 athletes in the Big Sky automatically qualified in the pole vault. Six of those, including Jacka, have season bests of 11-11.75. The top five vaulters have all gone better than 12 feet, with Sacramento State sophomore Danielle Brandon topping the list at 12-11.5.

Vann, who has a career best of 25.25, will be racing the 200 meters for just the second time this winter.

Montana will have three athletes racing in the men's 200 Friday evening, including junior Dominique Bobo, this week's Big Sky Men's Track Athlete of the Week, who ranks second in the conference at 21.67. Junior Dionee Marrero and redshirt freshman Sterling Reneau also will race the 200.

Bush will conclude the heptathlon, which has a field of 21, on Saturday with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters. Fourteen of the 16 athletes making the trip, outside of Connors and Jacka, who will be done on Friday, will compete on Saturday.

Stroot will run the open 60-meter hurdles and possibly add the long jump, McLeod will compete in the long jump, and Vann will try to move up from her current ranking of seventh in the Big Sky in the 60 meters.

Senior Nicole Anskaitis, last year's Big Sky indoor champion in the pole vault, will compete Saturday in both the pole vault and hurdles. Anskaitis, who went 13-4.5 last winter, joins Jacka at 11-11.75 on the Big Sky pole vault qualifying list.

Sophomore Maddie Taylor, twice this winter a 5-5 high jumper, will try to hit the Big Sky qualifying standard of 5-7 on Saturday, a height only three athletes in the Big Sky have reached this season.

Sophomore Morgan Sulser ranks fifth in the Big Sky in the 60-meter hurdles. Junior Samantha Hodgson will compete in the shot put and weight throw, sophomore Hana Feilzer the weight. Hodgson, at 46-11, ranks fourth in the Big Sky in the shot put, Feilzer, at 55-7.5, sits ninth in the weight.

Bobo, Marrero and Reneau will all compete on Saturday, Bobo in the 60 and 400 meters, and the long jump, Marrero in the 60 meters, Reneau in the 400.

Bobo, at 23-5.25, is ranked second in the Big Sky in the long jump and seventh in the 60 meters at 6.96. Marrero is tied for fourth in the 60 meters at 6.94, Reneau is tied for seventh in the 400 at 49.47.

Sophomore Matt Quist will compete in the high jump, freshman Taylor Trollope in the 60-meter hurdles. Both already hold qualifying marks in their events. Quist ranks second in the Big Sky at 6-9, Trollope is tied for fourth at 8.34.

Montana will compete in Bozeman the first three Fridays of February, then return to Montana State for the Big Sky indoor championships Feb. 25-27.