Last-chance meet Friday at Dornblaser

Montana Performance List | Big Sky Performance List | Schedule of Events

The Montana track and field teams will compete in their final pre-championships meet on Friday when the Grizzlies host the Tom Gage Classic at Dornblaser Field in Missoula.

Throwing events begin at noon, with the men's hammer. Running events begin at 3 p.m., with the women's steeplechase.

The meet will include athletes from Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, MSU Billings, Carroll and Great Falls.

"Kids who need to get a mark will be entered, and some just want to sharpen up on what they're doing, so they'll compete as well," said UM coach Brian Schweyen. "Our athletes who need to rest and are confident and ready to roll next week will not be competing."

Next week is the four-day Big Sky Conference outdoor championships, this year held at Greeley, Colo. The women's heptathlon and men's decathlon will be contested Wednesday and Thursday, the rest of the meet on Friday and Saturday.

As the Big Sky championships near, Montana is holding 31 qualifications, with 17 from its men's team and 14 from its women's squad. That total ranks fifth in the Big Sky behind Northern Arizona (60), Sacramento State (46), Eastern Washington (35) and Southern Utah (35).

Sammy Evans (triple jump), Erika McLeod (heptathlon), Dylan Reynolds (400-meter hurdles) and Matt Quist (high jump) all rank first in the Big Sky in their events. The Grizzlies hold three second-place rankings, two third-place rankings.

"Our top athletes are performing very well," said Schweyen. "We have some others who are capable of jumping into the top eight in their events, maybe getting as high as third or fourth, but they still need a little bit of work to get there."

Meet Notes:

* Freshman Jess Beaman, who moved up to second place on the Big Sky performance list with his decathlon score of 6,341 last week at the Montana Open, will be back at it on Friday. He'll compete in the long jump, pole vault and discus before traveling to Greeley on Monday evening.

* Junior Dylan Reynolds will race the 400-meter hurdles on Friday with the No. 1 priority to run a time that locks him into a trip to NCAA regionals, which will be held in Lawrence, Kan., two weeks after the Big Sky championships. Reynolds is currently tied for 49th in the region with his adjusted time on Saturday of 52.54. The top 48 in each event make regionals. A time of 52.2 or faster should do it.

* Junior Sammy Evans, who could have a huge meet next week in Greeley, will warm up for the championships by competing in the long and triple jumps on Friday. She is the heavy favorite to win her fourth Big Sky triple jump title, and she ranks second in the long jump, her season-best 19-5.5 falling behind Northern Colorado senior Alisha Allen's 20-2.5. The 5-5 she high-jumped on Saturday at the Montana Open would have placed fifth at the indoor championships.

* Sophomore Erika McLeod will be racing the 400-meter hurdles with the same goal as Reynolds: post a time that sends her to regionals. She'll need to make a bigger jump than Reynolds though. Her season-best adjusted time of 1:00.55, clocked on Saturday on legs that had just finished a heptathlon, probably needs to be clipped down to 59.4 or faster.

* Sophomore Megan Franz will be back at it in the 800 meters on Friday, six days after running a season-best adjusted time of 2:15.90. She'll be joined by sophomore Emily Cheroske, who is trying to return to her mid-2:12 form from the WAR IX meet in Spokane on April 9.

* Freshman Carla Nicosia has gone farther than 37 feet in the triple jump the last two weeks, with her 37-5 on Saturday a lifetime best. She is tied for ninth in the conference. Low 38s is good enough for a top-five spot on the latest performance list.

* Junior Nick Jackson threw the hammer a season-best 180-2 on Friday afternoon at Dornblaser. He ranks fifth in the Big Sky and is one of only six athletes to reach the qualifying standard of 177-2.

* Dillon May's adjusted steeplechase times this spring: 10:08, 9:58, 9:42. Another runner finding his groove training under assistant coach Vicky Pounds.

* Senior Jacob Leininger isn't racing the 110-meter hurdles on Friday. That will add a bit of pressure in Greeley if he wants to race beyond next week. The latest cut to make regionals in the hurdles: 14.38. Leininger's season-best adjusted time (from last Saturday): 14.45.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jess Beaman

Emily Cheroske

Sammy Evans

Megan Franz

Nick Jackson

Jacob Leininger

Dillon May

Erika McLeod

Carla Nicosia

Matt Quist

Dylan Reynolds

University of Montana Athletics