Track and field program signs three

The Griz track and field program signed three athletes, including two from Montana, to National Letters of Intent during the NCAA's recent early signing period.

Joining the team next year will be Abby Dodge, of Butte, Madeline Hamilton, of Missoula, and Andrea Baratte, of Luxembourg.

It's a small number of additions, but comes about because of a good problem that ninth-year head coach Brian Schweyen has.

With one of the strongest women's teams in the Big Sky Conference and a men's squad that is coming off a second-place finish at last spring's outdoor championships, the Grizzlies just didn't have that much money to hand out.

"It was a down year for us for early signings, but it's not at all discouraging," said Schweyen, whose athletes will compete Friday and Saturday at Eastern Washington as the indoor season opens.

"Our teams are very good right now, so most of our money is going to established talent. We weren't in a position to make a lot of offers because our teams are solid."

As a junior, Dodge finished second in the long jump and third in the triple jump for Butte High at the Class AA state meet in May.

She has PRs of 5-3 in the high jump, 17-5.5 in the long jump and 36-3 in the triple jump, making her just the kind of athlete Schweyen and assistant coach Adam Bork have a history of turning into point scorers.

"She has some good marks and is a pretty well-rounded athlete, but Abby is still raw," said Schweyen. "We've had a number of athletes with those kind of marks who have come in and produced very well for us.

"It's an area we're very comfortable coaching and confident in our ability to improve the performance of our athletes. Of course it comes down to how hard the athletes want to work and how good they want to be, but Abby has a great starting point with her junior-year marks."

Hamilton, who attends Sentinel High, finished fourth last spring in the 800 meters at the AA state meet in a field stacked with talent.

She ran a 2:11.40, a faster time than anybody for the Grizzlies ran in 2016, to finish behind Christina Aragon, who is now running at Stanford, future UM teammate Carly Smiedala and Annie Hill.

Hamilton finished 10th at last month's Class AA cross country meet. She was 11th as a sophomore.

"I saw Madeline race last spring, and I was very impressed. She reminded me a lot of myself as a runner," said distance coach Vicky Pounds, who was a 14-time All-American at Alabama.

"I'm super excited to work with her. She will come in and be successful in the 800, mile and cross country. It will be fun to work with someone with that kind of range."

In September, Academic Analytics ranked Montana's wildlife biology department as having the top program in the U.S. and Canada. That the Grizzlies were able to sign Baratte is a reminder that athletics and academics are often joined at the hip.

"He reached out to us," said Pounds. "It was the wildlife biology program that sold him on coming here. He was in touch with people in that department, and they did an excellent job of selling the school and their program."

Baratte had season bests in 2016 of 1:54.65 in the 800 meters and 3:49.85 in the 1,500 meters, a time two seconds faster than anyone for Montana ran last spring.

"He is a middle-distance guy who can also be a longer-distance guy," said Pounds. "It's been his dream to come to the States and be a wildlife biologist and live in a place like Montana."

Montana won't have another opportunity to sign prep athletes to NLIs until April.

"We still have our eye on some great talent, and I like to have money for the spring, because you never know who's going to come around in their senior year," Schweyen said.

"There are a lot of kids out there who are not signed and are very talented. And we're going to have a good shot to get them."

University of Montana Athletics

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