Underclassmen impress at Big Sky Tuner

Friday, February 21

Bozeman, Mont.

Montana

Big Sky Tuner

Photo by: Casey Parrott

2/21/2020 7:31:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana closed its regular-season indoor track & field schedule on Friday with the Big Sky Tuner. The Grizzlies competed against athletes from Carroll College, Idaho State, Montana State, Montana Western and Southern Idaho.

In a mixed group of competitors – some underclassmen who were aiming for experience, or potentially a roster spot for next week's Big Sky Championships, in addition to a handful of athletes who are locks to compete next week and were looking for a little more practice or repetition – the Grizzlies earned six event wins.

Perhaps even bigger than the event wins, though, were Montana's 19 personal bests, including several by underclassmen.

"To come out and have a meet at this point of the season, and be better than you've been all year, that's what you want out of your young athletes," head coach Brian Schweyen said. "Today was a great opportunity for some of our younger kids to compete and step up, and I thought they really took advantage of that."

Sophomore Emma Normand, who won the 60 meters with a time of 7.71, had a PR to beat out a handful of runners in a tight race. Overall, the top five spots were decided by 11-hundredths of a second, led by Normand. Fellow sophomore Hayle Sundquist finished seventh in the 60 meters (7.96) and fifth in the 200 meters (26.84), both of which were lifetime-best times.

"It was awesome to see Emma and Hayle step up and do what they did today," Schweyen said. "It was fun to watch them race and have some success."

Mattison McAnally ran PRs in both of her events – the 200 and 400 – while freshman Holly Sudol had a busy day with three events. She came away with PRs in two of them, including by nearly a foot in the long jump (17-0).

"That was a nice breakout meet for Holly, and will be big for her moving forward," Schweyen said. "I think for our freshmen, you kind of hope at this point in the year you'll see some lifetime bests, and then when that happens it's really encouraging, and I think can build a lot of momentum moving forward."

Montana's other wins on the women's side came from Beatrix Frissell in the 3,000 meters (10:21.52) and Jane Booth in the high jump (5-6). The wins were the first of Frissell and Normand's careers, while Booth – a perennial scorer at the Big Sky Championships – won the high jump for the fourth time this season.

Frissell's time wasn't a career best, but Schweyen felt as if it may have been her best performance of the season.

"Bea ran that thing by herself from the gun to the finish," Schweyen said. "That's so challenging to do, to not have someone running with you, but she kept pushing and pushing, and in those situations you're having to push yourself because no one else is doing it around you."

Frissell won the race by more than 20 seconds.

On the men's side, the Grizzlies saw the most success in the throws, with Brent Yeakey winning the shot put (57-3) and Shawn Humphries placing first in the weight throw (56-2.25).

The Grizzlies' top running event came in the men's 800 meters, where four Montana athletes finished in the top eight out of 21 runners in the event, led by Quincy Fast's first career victory (1:54.78). Four of the six Grizzlies running in the event earned lifetime-best times.

Montana also saw PRs from Lawrence Moore and Zane Johnson in the pole vault, in addition to Angel Moreno in the 60 meters.

"To get up at 4 in the morning, get on a bus and then get off and have to compete, those aren't always the meets you're used to, and those are tough meets to get personal bests at," Schweyen said. "I was encouraged by some of our performances."

The Grizzlies will now have a short turnaround before traveling to Pocatello, Idaho, for the Big Sky Championships, which begin Thursday. Montana has several athletes who are in line to score, including a handful of favorites to win events.

Women's 60 meters – Emma Normand (7.77, 1^st/10); Hayle Sundquist (7.96, 7^th)
Women's 200 meters – Hayle Sundquist (26.84, 5^th/9); Abby Harmon (27.13, 7^th); Mattison McAnally (27.15, 8^th)
Women's 400 meters – Abby Harmon (1:01.04, 3^rd/5); Mattison McAnally (1:01.58, 4^th)
Women's 800 meters – Carly Dahms (2:21.58, 7^th/19); Erica Simison (2:24.83, 10^th); Hannah Wylie (2:25.10, 11^th)
Women's 1 mile – Sabrina Herritt (5:33.42, 11^th/17)
Women's 3,000 meters – Beatrix Frissell (10:21.52, 1^st/15); Rachel Torrey (11:01.60, 5^th)
Women's 60-meter hurdles – Ailsa Gilbert (9.27, 5^th/11); Hannah Coburn (9.31, 5^th); Holly Sudol (9.47, 8^th)
Women's high jump – Jane Booth (5-6, 1^st/12); Morgan Radtke (5-5, 2^nd); Abby Dodge (5-2.25, 5^th); Emilie Hinrichs (4-8.25, 10^th); Holly Sudol (4-8.25, 11^th)
Women's pole vault – Aly Tekippe (11-6.25, 8^th/12); Grace Slevin (11-0.25, 9^th); Kahsiah Benson (11-0.25, 11^th)
Women's long jump – Hannah Coburn (17-2.75, 3^rd/14); Holly Sudol (17-0, 4^th)
Women's triple jump – Ailsa Gilbert (36-3.5, 3^rd/8)
Women's shot put – Mariah Harvey (43-1, 5^th/12); Holly Houston (40-7, 8^th)
Women's weight throw – Mariah Harvey (54-1, 2^nd/8)

Men's 60 meters – Angel Moreno (7.06, 4^th/11)
Men's 200 meters – Angel Moreno (22.73, 2^nd/12); Chase Armstrong (22.89, 3^rd); KC Robinson IV (23.32, 6^th); Benjamin White (23.69, 7^th)
Men's 400 meters – KC Robinson IV (52.70, 6^th/8)
Men's 800 meters – Quincy Fast (1:54.78, 1^st/21); Andrea Baratte (1:55.97, 3^rd); Noah Kells (1:58.12, 7^th); Colton Hess (1:56.62, 8^th); Hunter May (2:01.08, 13^th); Trevor Henry (2:01.48, 14^th)
Men's 1 mile – Hunter May (4:25.95, 8^th/20); Will Dauenhauer (4:31.64, 12^th); Andrea Baratte (4:35.76, 14^th)
Men's 3,000 meters – Kyle Peterson (9:03.65, 4^th/13); Ben Cikutovich (9:13.13, 7^th); Ellis McKean (9:39.22, 12^th)
Men's 60-meter hurdles – Benjamin White (8.74, 10^th/14)
Men's 4x400-meter relay – Colton Hess, Josh Wilcox, Chase Armstrong, Trevor Henry (3:18.11, 3^rd/5)
Men's high jump – Jordan Stow (6-0.5, 4^th/7)
Men's pole vault – Lawrence Moore (15-1, 3^rd/10); Zane Johnson (14-1.25, 7^th)
Men's long jump – Jordan Stow (22-5, 3^rd/11)
Men's triple jump – Zane Johnson (43-5.25, 3^rd/5)
Men's shot put – Brent Yeakey (56-3, 1^st/10); Noah Ramirez (51-1, 4^th)
Men's weight throw – Shawn Humphries (57-2.25, 1^st/5)