Grizzlies poised for success at Idaho Duals

Montana will once again be in action this weekend, traveling to Big Sky Conference foe Idaho for the Idaho Duals. Field events begin Friday at 9 a.m., followed by running events at 12 p.m. The meet will be livestreamed on Pluto TV channel 242, in addition to WatchBigSky.com.

Montana will go head to head against athletes from Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Idaho and Portland State. Scoring is a tradition double duals, including five points for first place, three points for second, two points for third and one point for fourth place; relays are scored with five points for first place and three points for second.

The Grizzlies are coming off of a weekend in Seattle that saw several lifetime bests against some of the world's top athletes, including NCAA qualifiers and Olympians.

"We had a lot of athletes perform well and hit lifetime bests," head coach Brian Schweyen said. "There are a lot of good things happening on this team."

Highlights from the two-day invitational included Montana being the only school to place multiple athletes in the top 12 of the women's high jump. Sophomore Jane Booth placed third out of 42 athletes, while freshman Abby Dodge had a personal best of 5-3, finishing 12^th.

In the men's weight throw, freshman Deszmon Humphries recorded a personal best by nearly six feet, placing fifth out of 28 athletes (60-2.5). On the track, sophomore Carly Smiedala ran a 2:10.56 in the women's 800 meters, the second-best performance by a Big Sky athlete this season. Sophomore Jonathan Eastwood ran a 14:38.80 in the 5,000 meters, the No. 3 time in the Big Sky this season.

Even those who aren't putting up top marks have been impressing their head coach.

"There are some kids who are working through some technical things, who are starting to feel and make big progress, even if the marks don't show it," Schweyen said. "They're starting to gain an understanding of what they need to do, which will pay off down the road."

This weekend, Schweyen once again is looking for gradual improvement from his team, as the Big Sky indoor championship is now just three weeks away. The Grizzlies are poised for success on Friday, too, with several athletes seeded as the highest-ranked competitor in their specific events.

Smiedala holds the top 400 meters and 800 meters times of any athlete competing this weekend, while Jacob Lamb ranks second in the men's 800 meters (1.54.43). Montana also has talent in the 1 mile, with freshman Andrea Baratte (first) and senior Reagan Colyer (second) ranking among the best for their genders.

Matt Quist leads the Big Sky Conference in the high jump and is the favorite among the five teams competing this weekend. Fellow jumping mate Grant Whitcutt has the third-best jump among competitors on Friday. On the women's side, like Quist, Montana's Jane Booth is the top women's high jumper in the Big Sky.

Not just excelling in the high jump, Montana also has the top seed among the five competing teams in the men's weight throw (Humphries), women's weight throw (Kayla Holmes) and women's shot put (Mariah Harvey), and ranks second for the men's shot put (Brent Yeakey), women's triple jump (Arielle Walden), men's pole vault (Charlie Bush), and women's pole vault (Carrie Jacka).

"With all of our redshirts and injuries we have too many holes, but in specific events, we're solid," Schweyen said of his team's talent. "If you go in and you're one of the favorites, you should come out having the best day of all of them. Mindset is everything."

Below is a list of athletes competing for the Grizzlies:

Men's high jump – Morgan Eitel, Matt Quist, Parker Spadt, Grant Whitcutt
Women's high jump – Jane Booth, Hannah Coburn, Abby Dodge, Jansen Ziola
Men's long jump – Charlie Bush, Morgan Eitel, Jacob Price
Women's long jump – Hannah Coburn, Jenna Dukovcic, Jaree Mane, Jansen Ziola
Men's pole vault – Charlie Bush, Grant Whitcutt
Women's pole vault – Carrie Jacka, Chloe Seferos
Men's shot put – Oliver Grajeda, Deszmon Humphries, Nick Jackson, Brent Yeakey
Women's shot put – Kayla Holmes
Men's triple jump – Jacob Price
Women's triple jump – Madison Neufeld, Carla Nicosia, Arielle Walden
Men's weight throw – Oliver Grajeda, Deszmon Humphries, Brent Yeakey
Women's weight throw – Mariah Harvey, Kayla Holmes

Men's 60 meters – Courtlynd Brown, Rhett Streeter
Women's 60 meters – N/A
Men's 60-meter hurdles – Chase Armstrong, Morgan Eitel, Grant Whitcutt
Women's 60-meter hurdles – Hannah Coburn, Jenna Dukovcic, Jaree Mane, Jansen Ziola
Men's 200 meters – Chase Armstrong, Courtlynd Brown, Colton Hess, Rhett Streeter
Women's 200 meters – Jaree Mane, Mijah McLeod
Men's 400 meters – Trevor Henry, Colton Hess
Women's 400 meters – Mijah McLeod
Men's 800 meters –Noah Adams, Andrea Baratte, Jacob Lamb, Karsten Pease
Women's 800 meters – Emily Cheroske, Megan Franz, Madeline Hamilton, Carly Smiedala, Madison Ward
Men's 1 mile – Micah Drew, Dillon May
Women's 1 mile – Jessica Bailey, Samantha Engebretsen, Megan Franz, Madeline Hamilton, Madison Ward
Men's 3,000 meters – Andrea Baratte, Micah Drew, Kyle Kredo, Dillon May, Kyle Peterson, Nathan Wellington
Women's 3,000 meters – Jessica Bailey, Madison Carr, Reagan Colyer, Samantha Engebretsen, Maeve Holman
Men's 4x400 meters – Colton Hess, Trevor Henry, Jacob Lamb, Karsten Pease
Women's 4x400 meters – Carly Smiedala, Jaree Mane, Mijah McLeod, Emily Cheroske

University of Montana Athletics

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