NCAA West Regional concludes in Kansas

Thursday, May 26

Lawrence, Kan.

Montana

NCAA West Regional

5/28/2016 3:42:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

Results

The NCAA West Regional concluded Saturday at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kan., and for the second time in two days, the Montana track and field team came up just short of sending an athlete to next month's NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

On Friday, sophomore Jensen Lillquist finished 14th in the javelin, coming up four feet short of cracking the top 12 and making nationals. On Saturday, junior Sammy Evans had the same finish, placing 14th in triple jump and needing two extra inches to advance.

It might be a spring of near misses for the Grizzlies. Sophomore Erika McLeod is sitting 26th on the list to make nationals in the heptathlon, with the top 24 athletes advancing. Her only chance of extending Montana's season is if two or more athletes who have already declared give up their spots by Tuesday.

"We had three near misses this year with Sammy, Jensen and Erika," said coach Brian Schweyen. "I think everybody we had here who has eligibility remaining has a legitimate shot to get back to regionals next year, and some have a very realistic shot at going to nationals."

Evans, who was competing in flight three of four, opened with a foul, then went 42-0 and 41-8. Her second jump was just off her PR of 42-0.75, which is also the school record. That had her in fourth place after flight three, with the region's top 12 triple jumpers still to go in flight four.

Ten of them surpassed Evans' mark, dropping her to 14th. Arizona State junior Keyasia Tibbs grabbed the 12th and final spot to nationals with a jump of 42-1.5.

"Sammy was ready to jump and competed well. She had the mindset that she was going to go 42 mid or high, but it didn't quite work out," said Schweyen. "She was two inches away from getting there."

Montana's only other athlete competing on Saturday was sophomore Alex Mustard in the 200 meters. He clocked a time of 21.23 to finish 30th. Mustard, whose PR is 20.88, would have needed a time of 20.66 or faster to advance.

"Alex raced well," said Schweyen. "He had one stumble on the corner that threw him off, but he still ran great. He had a fantastic start and was in position until he stumbled. Still, that's a great time."

Montana had 10 athletes competing at regionals, with Evans doubling up in the long and triple jumps. Out of those 11 performances, six times the Grizzlies finished higher than their pre-regional ranking.