Montana in Texas this week for regionals

Thursday, May 25

Austin, Texas

Montana

NCAA West Regional

5/24/2017 1:42:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana Performance List || Schedule of Events || Live Results

Eleven athletes from the Montana track and field teams are in Austin, Texas, this week for the NCAA West Regional. The three-day meet will be held at Texas's Mike A. Myers Stadium, starting Thursday and going through Saturday, with Grizzlies scheduled to compete each day.

The West Regional will mirror the East Regional, held this week in Lexington, Ky. The top 12 finishers from each region's event fields of 48 will advance to the NCAA Championships, held in two weeks at Eugene, Ore.

The eleven qualifiers -- seven of whom are first-timers to regionals, five of whom are true or redshirt freshmen -- matches the most for the program under ninth-year coach Brian Schweyen, who took 10 athletes in 2011 and '16, and 11 in 2013, when the meet also was at Austin.

Montana tied with Sacramento State for the third-most regional qualifiers in the Big Sky. Northern Arizona is sending 18 individuals, Weber State had 13 qualifiers.

Making her third appearance will be senior Sammy Evans, who qualified in the triple jump in 2014 and both the long and triple jumps last spring. She qualified in the triple jump this year.

Competing at regionals for the second time in their careers will be senior Daniel Jones, in the javelin, junior Hana Feilzer, in the hammer, and junior Matt Quist, in the high jump.

Three of the first-timers will join Jones in throwing the javelin. Freshman Darby Henthorn will compete in the women's javelin, redshirt freshman Brady Coffman and freshman Kyle Morris in the men's.

Junior Emily Cheroske and freshman Carly Smiedala will race the 800 meters, junior Jessica Bailey the steeplechase, and redshirt freshman Jane Booth will compete in the high jump.

The schedule (all times MT):

Thursday, May 25
10 a.m. -- Women's hammer -- Hana Feilzer
10 a.m. -- Men's javelin -- Brady Coffman, Daniel Jones, Kyle Morris
2 p.m. -- Women's javelin -- Darby Henthorn
7:10 p.m. -- Women's 800 meters (preliminaries) -- Emily Cheroske, Carly Smiedala

Friday, May 26
3:30 p.m. -- Women's high jump -- Jane Booth
5:30 p.m. -- Women's 800 meters (finals) -- Emily Cheroske, Carly Smiedala (if qualify)
7:20 p.m. -- Women's steeplechase -- Jessica Bailey

Saturday, May 27
5 p.m. -- Women's triple jump -- Sammy Evans
5 p.m. -- Men's high jump -- Matt Quist

"It's a great group that covers a wide range of event areas. It just shows the great things the coaches and staff are doing to improve the team across the board to make it stronger," said Schweyen.

"The athletes have been performing well, and the coaches did a great job of getting them to regionals."

Sitting 18th out of 48 in the triple jump, with her season-best mark of 42-8.25 from the Montana Open, Evans doesn't have the team's best position -- that belongs to Feilzer -- but hers is the story that will be most intriguing to watch unfold on Saturday evening.

Evans has been to regionals, she's won six Big Sky Conference titles in the jumps, but one thing she hasn't done is advance to nationals. As a fifth-year senior, this week is her final shot.

She placed 14th in the triple jump last May at Lawrence, Kan., missing nationals by two spots and less than two inches.

"She wants it. She's thought about it a long, long time," said Schweyen. "She's ready to go. It's something she and (jumps coach Adam Bork) have had constant discussions about. Adam has covered all the bases necessary to get Sammy's mind where it needs to be."

Feilzer is sitting 10th in the region in the hammer, with her career-best and school-record throw of 206-3 two weeks ago while winning a Big Sky title at Sacramento, Calif. It was the third time this spring Feilzer has thrown farther than 204 feet.

Feilzer's PR at Sacramento State has her ranked fifth in Big Sky history.

As with all the field events at Austin, it will be a true and fair competition, full of pressure to bring it the moment it needs to be brought. Every athlete gets three attempts and three only. The top 12 will advance to nationals.

"Even for the best competitors who are sitting at the top of the list at regionals, nothing is a given," said Schweyen. "You have to go out and perform, and that's the beauty of this meet. It gives everybody a chance to do it. Hana is one of those people with a perfect opportunity."

Montana is one of just 14 states that have the javelin as an event at the high-school level, and that continues to pay off for the Grizzlies.

Montana has had 76 athletes travel to regionals in nine years under Schweyen. Twenty-six of those have qualified in the javelin.

Four qualified this year, with Jones, who threw a career-best 215-8 at Sacramento State to win the Big Sky title two weeks ago, having the best standing of 31st.

Coffman, who went 205-5 at the Griz-Cat Dual last month, is ranked 42nd. Morris, second to Jones at the Big Sky championships with a season-best throw of 202-3, ranks 46th.

"We've been fortunate to get some very good, very hard-working athletes in that area," said Schweyen. "It's a strong, close-knit group. It's a tribute to those individuals who have come in and are doing what the older athletes have shown and taught them."

Cheroske, Smiedala and Bailey will all be racing at the regional level for the first time.

Cheroske will be running in the fifth of six eight-athlete heats in the 800 meters, with Smiedala following in heat six. The top three from each heat make region finals, plus the next six fastest times. Friday's 800 will knock that group from 24 down to the 12 who will travel to Eugene.

Cheroske's season-best time of 2:08.76, from the Montana Open, has her ranked 46th on the start list. Smiedala's season-best time of 2:08.89, set while finishing third at the Big Sky championships, allowed her to grab the event's final spot.

The steeplechase is a final, with Bailey racing in heat three of three, with 16 athletes in each. The top three finishers in each heat advance to nationals, as do the next three fastest times.

Eleven of the 48 athletes have a time this season of faster than 10:10, four in Bailey's heat. Bailey's PR of 10:24.09 came two weeks ago at the Big Sky championships.

With Quist and Booth qualifying, Montana now has 11 times had someone advance to regionals in the high jump under Schweyen.

Three -- Gwenn Abbott, Austin Emry and Lee Hardt -- qualified in 2013, but it has also been one of the most fickle events for the Grizzlies at regionals. Of those nine previous qualifiers under Schweyen, there were six no-heights, including Quist last spring at Lawrence in his first trip to regionals.

Quist, who has a PR of 7-1, cleared a season-best 6-11 at the Montana Open. He went 6-9.75 at conference two weeks ago to finish second. He'll enter regionals tied for 39th.

Booth, who finished third at conference, is tied for 33rd with the 5-9.25 she cleared at the Montana Open.

"Matt is as good mentally as I've ever seen him. He's carrying great speed to the bar and is capable of hitting a jump that could get him to nationals," said Schweyen. "He's not far off.

"Same with Jane. I watched her almost make five-ten and a half, and if she makes that this week, she's probably going to nationals."

While the athletes who advance to regionals each year change, Austin, a frequent host of the event, doesn't. At least the weather doesn't.

Expected: mostly sunny, mid-90s for highs, overnight lows in the mid-70s. Thunderstorms, the type that can delay a regional meet, are rampaging through the area on Tuesday but shouldn't be back until early next week.

"With that facility and that type of meet environment, plus some warm weather, I think it's a perfect recipe for everyone to really do some great things," said Schweyen, who will be trying to bring athletes to nationals in two weeks for the first time since 2015 and for the fifth time as head coach.

"The main thing is everybody should be going down there looking to come away with a lifetime best. That's the No. 1 goal."