Montana Open closes with few surprises

Thursday, April 28

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Montana Open

4/30/2016 7:50:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

Results

It was a no-surprises Saturday as the three-day Montana Open concluded at Dornblaser Field in Missoula. The Grizzlies' top athletes all looked like Big Sky Conference contenders as the league championships come within view, now just 11 days away.

Sammy Evans swept the high, long and triple jumps, Alex Mustard won the 100 and 200 meters, and Dylan Reynolds, the Big Sky's leader in his event, won the 400-meter hurdles in a career-best time.

"Our top athletes continue to do what they've been doing, and that's great," said UM coach Brian Schweyen.

"We have other athletes who are capable of being in the mix to score points. We need them to come along and step up and get that confidence and get rolling. We need the whole team if we're going to be successful in two weeks."

Evans, who ranks second in the Big Sky in the former and first in the latter, hasn't been beaten in the long jump or triple jump through five weeks of the outdoor season.

She added to that streak on Saturday, winning the long jump at 18-9.25 and the triple jump at 39-7.75. Evans also claimed the high jump, clearing 5-5 for the first time since December 2014.

Mustard, who also has been consistently winning his events this spring, won the 100 meters over a talented field by more than a quarter of a second. He later won the 200 meters in a career-best time of 21.59, which gave him one of Montana's two new Big Sky qualifications on the day.

He edged out Dionee Marrero in the 100 meters and Sterling Reneau in the 200, and anchored those two teammates, plus Andrew Monaco, to a win in the 4x100-meter relay.

"We have some pretty solid guys, and as a group we all push each other a lot," said Mustard. "I know how hard they've worked, and they know how hard I've worked. That's where we get our confidence from."

Reynolds also was a double winner on Saturday, taking the hurdles in a time of 52.43 and the long jump at 21-6.75. To cap off his day, he anchored Montana's winning 4x400-meter relay team.

He led the Grizzlies to a 1-2-3 finish in the hurdles, but he ran his own race ahead of Jacob Leininger and Callum Macnab. Leininger finished second in a career-best time of 54.03, Macnab was third in 54.38 to grab the team's other new Big Sky qualification.

"The last few races I've been out ahead like that," said Reynolds. "Brian (Schweyen) and I have been working on my adrenaline when there is no one in front of me to chase. It's all about staying relaxed through the first 200, then finding the adrenaline to start pushing and digging."

Reynolds' season-best time solidifies his spot atop the Big Sky performance list. Should that hold through next week's meets, Reynolds will be the favorite when the league's teams convene in Greeley.

"I've never been in that position before, even in high school, so that would be new," said Reynolds. "I would want to run the exact race I ran today in prelims, because it was super relaxed. But I have another gear at 120 meters if I need it (for finals)."

Leininger won the 110-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 14.41, and Montana won three of the four men's jumps. Matt Quist won the high jump at 6-8.75, Nolan Staats the two-competitor triple jump at 41-11.5 and Pierce Frazier, clearing his first bar of the outdoor season, the pole vault at 14-7.25.

Adam Wollant finished fourth in the 5,000 meters, but the leaders pulled him along to a huge PR. He woke up Saturday morning with a career-best time of 15:06.47. He'll go to sleep with a PR of 14:50.94.

Evans, along with Claire Dalman, who won the pole vault at 11-7.75, helped the Montana women to a sweep of the jumps.

The Grizzlies also claimed both hurdles races. Morgan Sulser won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.55, her second win with a sub-14.6 time in two weeks, and Erika McLeod took the 400-meter hurdles by one-hundredth of a second over Montana State's Amanda Jaynes, clocking a career-best 1:00.44.

That result was significant for a few reasons, the most important being that Jaynes, who beat McLeod by more than three seconds last Saturday at the Griz-Cat Dual in Bozeman, entered the race fresh. McLeod put up the Big Sky's best heptathlon score of the season Thursday and Friday.

Jessica Bailey won the day's first track event, the women's steeplechase. Hana Feilzer won the hammer on Friday afternoon, throwing 185-4.

Montana athletes also finished first and second in the women's discus. Samantha Hodgson, who is redshirting and was competing unattached, won with a throw of 152-7. Kayla Holmes was second at 150-1.

Alanna Vann ran a season-best time of 12.25 to finish second in the 100 meters, Keyera Gaulden went sub-26 for the first time this outdoor season to finish second at 25.67 in the 200 meters, and Lauryn Wate had a season-best adjusted time of 4:35.78 to place third in the 1,500 meters.

In the field events, Carla Nicosia went a lifetime-best 37-5 to finish third in the triple jump and come within four inches of the Big Sky qualifying standard.

Montana will host the Tom Gage Classic on Friday at Dornblaser Field, the team's final meet before the Big Sky championships.