Track and field teams double up this week

Friday, April 8

Cheney, Wash.

Montana

Eastern Washington Pelluer Invitational

4/7/2016 6:34:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana Performance List || Big Sky Performance List

The Montana track and field teams will get two meets out of a single road trip this week when the Grizzlies travel to Washington for the 44th Pelluer Invitational and WAR IX, both of which are one-day events.

The former will be hosted by Eastern Washington in Cheney on Friday, the latter, whose title is an acronym for Washington (schools) Against the Region, will be held on Saturday and hosted by the Community Colleges of Spokane.

It marks the third weekend of competition for Montana during the outdoor season and is the first of three straight weekends the Grizzlies will be on the road. Next week they'll travel to Eugene for the Oregon Relays. In two weeks Montana will be in Bozeman for the Griz-Cat Dual.

The Grizzlies will be at home the last two weeks leading up to the Big Sky Conference championships, which will be held in Greeley, Colo., May 11-14. The three-day Montana Open will be held April 28-30, the Tom Gage Classic on May 6, both at Dornblaser Field in Missoula.

Montana enters this week's meet on a roll after an excellent home opener at the Al Manuel Northwest Dual last Friday and Saturday. The Grizzlies won 20 events, swept duals against Montana State, Eastern Washington and Idaho, and added nine Big Sky qualifiers.

With 22 qualifications, Montana ranks fourth in the Big Sky behind Northern Arizona (39), Sacramento State (35) and Southern Utah (26).

This week's meets will give Montana early-season training for the conference championships, when most of the Grizzlies will have to bring it on back-to-back days in Greeley, either going from preliminaries to finals or competing in multiple events.

"Most everyone is going to be competing on both days this week, which will be nice. For a good handful of athletes, it's going to simulate a conference championship," said coach Brian Schweyen. "This has been a pretty easy training week for everyone. Their big workouts are coming Friday and Saturday."

The Hot List (women's edition)

* The long jump was the event of the meet for Montana Saturday. Not only did the Grizzlies get big performances from Sammy Evans (19-4), Erika McLeod (18-9.25) and Nicole Stroot (18-5), Emma Andrews (17-8.75), Keyera Gaulden (17-4.25) and Darby Semenza (17-2) all broke 17 feet for the first time. ... Evans sits atop the Big Sky performance list, McLeod ranks sixth. ... Andrews added more than a foot to her PR, which previously was 16-8.

* It's been a good start to the outdoor season for Jessica Bailey. The sophomore ran an adjusted 36:45.11 two weeks ago at Montana State to qualify for the 10,000 meters. On Saturday she took more than 35 seconds off her steeplechase PR, running a second-place adjusted time of 10:59.13. That just brought her in under the Big Sky qualifying standard of 11 minutes.

* Emily Cheroske didn't win the 800 meters on Saturday -- she got out-sprinted by Montana State's Jenette Northey over the final 100 meters -- but her effort resulted in an adjusted time of 2:13.34, a career best and the No. 7 time in the Big Sky. Her previous PR was 2:15.01.

* Lindsey Dahl, who has a PR of 148-5, went 147-6 in the javelin at Montana State, 143-11 last Saturday morning, with a number of other throws landing in the same area. She ranks second in the Big Sky behind North Dakota's Jayd Eggert, who has thrown 157-3.

* Montana had a school record fall on Friday afternoon when Hana Feilzer took down Caitlin Caraway's hammer mark. Another will get broken soon, maybe this weekend. The current triple jump record is 41-0.75, which was set by Renee Dunn in 2003. Sammy Evans, the indoor record holder at 41-8.5, has gone 40-9.75 and 40-4 in Montana's first two meets. Her mark from Montana State has her atop the Big Sky performance list.

* At 10 a.m. local time in Cheney on Friday, Feilzer and EWU's Kaytlyn Coleman will go head-to-head in the hammer throw. The pair shared Big Sky Field Athlete of the Week honors on Monday after throwing the hammer 194-9 last weekend. That's the best mark in the conference and tied for 27th in the nation.

* Kayla Holmes, a freshman from Plains, swept the shot put and discus at Montana's first two meets. Her season-best discus throw of 152-6 ranks second in the Big Sky behind North Dakota's Alyssa Lueck (157-0).

* Erika McLeod ran a 100-meter hurdles time of 14.90 on Saturday, her first time going sub-15 seconds. If that, or something even faster, becomes the norm, that's bad news for the rest of the Big Sky's heptathletes.

* In addition to a PR in the hurdles on Saturday, McLeod was a double Big Sky qualifier, reaching the standards in both the long jump and 400-meter hurdles. McLeod won the hurdles by taking her PR from 1:02.34 to 1:00.83. She ranks third in the Big Sky and should make regionals if she can break 59 seconds at some point.

The Hot List (men's edition)

* Jonathan Eastwood, a freshman, went from a time of 3:58.35 in the 1,500 meters two weeks ago at Montana State to a winning time of 3:51.68 on Saturday at the Al Manuel. It came up just shy of the Big Sky standard of 3:51, but his time ranks third in the conference.

* Lee Hardt went 6-8.75 in the high jump on Saturday in his first time competing in a Montana uniform since February 2015. He is tied for third on the Big Sky performance list.

* One of Saturday's top stories was Daniel Jones in the javelin. Jones had to have career-threatening elbow surgery back in 2013 after competing in just one collegiate meet. He threw two times in 2014, going 151-4 and 173-7, and did not throw last spring. Throwing for just the fourth time as a fourth-year junior, Jones went 196-7 on Saturday, one of two throws that landed beyond 190 feet.

"He's been working his butt off the last two years to get to this point. In my head I was wondering if he was ever going to get it, then he came out on Saturday and everything he's worked on the last couple of years came together like I've never seen it," said Schweyen.

"You can get an elbow surgically repaired, and they can do a great job of fixing it, but you still have that mental block you have to get through, that you can put everything into a throw and that your elbow is going to hold up. Daniel had a great mental image in his head and was able to replicate it.

"It was nothing I did. It was Daniel putting it all together, and the result was fantastic."

* Jensen Lillquist opened the season going beyond 200 feet in the javelin -- 208-5 and 204-11 -- in back-to-back meets for the first time in his career. He ranks fifth in the Big Sky in an event that is getting some serious muscle. Eight athletes have already thrown farther than 200 this spring, and it's still early April.

* Matt Quist was a two-event Big Sky qualifier on Saturday. His high jump of 7-1 leads the Big Sky and is one of only 24 seven-foot jumps nationally to this point. He also went 45-4.25 in the triple jump.

* Sterling Reneau took nearly a second off his PR in the 400 meters on Saturday, taking his best from an adjusted 48.59 down to 47.71. He ranks third in the Big Sky and is one of five sprinters with a time in the 47s.

* Taylor Trollope's hurdles times from week one to week two: 110: from 15.42 to 15.03; 400: from 58.36 to 56.23.

* Adam Wollant dropped his PR in the 1,500 meters from 4:18.39 to 4:03.06 on Saturday.

* Alex Mustard swept the 100 and 200 meters on Saturday. His adjusted time of 10.81 in the 100 is tied for sixth in the Big Sky and is just off the qualifying standard of 10.75.

* Dylan Reynolds, who ran an adjusted time of 53.91 on Saturday, leads the Big Sky in the 400-meter hurdles. If he races to a Big Sky title next month in Colorado, he would give Montana its third straight Big Sky champion in the event. Drew Owens won titles in 2014 and '15.

* He's not qualified in either race, but Jacob Leininger still ranks sixth in the Big Sky in the 110-meter hurdles (14.92) and fifth in the 400-meter hurdles (55.21).