Montana exceeds expectations on final day of Championships, highlighted by individual titles, school record

Thursday, February 27

Pocatello, Idaho

Montana

Big Sky Indoor Championships

Montana exceeds expectations on final day of Championships, highlighted by individual titles, school record

2/29/2020 8:42:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Final Results

By: Montana Sports Information

POCATELLO, Idaho – Montana finished with a flurry on Saturday, the final day of the 2020 Big Sky Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Montana's men placed fifth, its highest finish since 2014. The women placed sixth. Both finishes were ahead of where the coaches picked Montana in the preseason poll, and were even more impressive considering the points the Grizzlies left at home through injured or redshirting athletes. At full strength, it wouldn't be a stretch to say the Grizzlies could have finished in the top three on both sides.

On Saturday, two Grizzlies and a relay team were crowned conference champions, while another athlete set a school record – not to mention additional All-Big Sky performances and PRs.

"As a team, we were down a little bit coming in because of injuries, but they out-performed in so many ways," head coach Brian Schweyen said. "We were hitting across the board and had a ton of kids, from all different areas, step up and perform above where we anticipated them being. I thought these athletes did an incredible job."

Sophomore Jacob Lamb made his Championships debut last spring by competing in the 800 meters. The experience was good, but the freshman didn't advance to the finals. On Friday, Lamb ran a time good enough to qualify him for the finals and score points, but what he did on Saturday was eye opening.

The Glendora, California, native finished fourth during Friday's preliminary race, putting him in a solid spot to score a chunk of points for the Grizzlies. Very few expected him to do what he did on Saturday, though, when Lamb won the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.71. Lamb edged out Idaho's Dean Ellenwood by one-hundredth of a second.

"Jacob went off," Schweyen said. "He was battling a sickness after his prelim last night and wasn't sure what he could bring back. It was an absolute fight to the end, and he was spectacular."

It marked Montana's first men's individual champion in three years.

Lamb wasn't done, however, also running the second leg of Montana's conference-champion 4x400-meter relay team. The Grizzlies – made up of Callum Macnab, Lamb, Paul Johnstone and Xavier Melice – ran a time of 3:15.50, a victory by nearly 3 full seconds.

The women were highlighted by June Eastwood's title in the 1 mile. The Belgrade, Montana, native entered the meet as the favorite, and she didn't disappoint. Eastwood ran her second-fastest time of the season – an improvement of more than 15 seconds from her first meet just over a month ago – and won Saturday's event by more than 3.5 seconds.

"She took care of business today, and I'm so happy for her and excited for her accomplishments," Schweyen said.

What he was most impressed with about Eastwood, however, was how well she performed after helping the Grizzlies place second in the distance medley relay on Friday. When she got the baton, Montana was in ninth. When she crossed the finish line, the team finished second – and was closing in on first.

Montana continued to show its prowess in the throwing events, elevating its abilities under first-year head coach Paul Barrett. All three of Montana's throwers in the men's shot put placed in the top nine, led by Brent Yeakey's school record (59-0.75). The record throw surpassed Paul Pallas' 1992 mark of 57-8.5, breaking a 28-year-old record, and doing so by nearly a foot and a half.

"He was over-the-top excited," Schweyen said. "He was so good and has continued to progress throughout the season and throughout his career."

Shoutout to Brent Yeakey, who broke a 28-year-old school record today!

59-0.75 in the shot put!#GrizTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/HVoNUlCKAL
— Montana Griz T&F (@MontanaGrizTF) March 1, 2020

What Schweyen was most shocked by, however, was that the distance didn't place higher than fourth, noting how stiff the competition was, particularly in that event.

"I don't know that I've ever seen the competition that stiff," he said. "That distance would win a lot of conference championships across the country."

In 2019, Yeakey's mark would have finished second in the Big Sky. Two years ago, it would have won the event.

Teammate Noah Ramirez also scored in the shot put (53-1.75, eighth), while Shawn Humphries – who set Montana's school record in the weight throw earlier this season – placed ninth (52-5.25).

The Grizzlies were far from done, however.

Johnstone scored in three events on the day. In addition to his title in the 4x400 relay, he also placed second in the 400 meters – dropping nearly a half-second from Friday's preliminary race – and seventh in the 200 meters. The decorated athlete, who is just a sophomore, shined bright on the biggest stage.

The Grizzlies' other All-Big Sky performance came from Emily Pittis, who placed third in the 3,000 meters. The senior worked her way back from an injury that kept her away from the sport for nearly two years, and ran one of the top races of her career on Saturday. Schweyen praised the entire women's distance crew, with the trio, including Eastwood and Beatrix Frissell, all scoring points on the weekend.

Senior Olivia Ellis moved up two spots and two-tenths of a second in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles to finish fourth (8.65), while on the men's side, Jaydon Green also moved up a spot, to seventh, with a time of 8.09.

Again, Schweyen was floored that Green's time, which was five-hundredths of a second off the Grizzlies' school record set in 1981, didn't place him higher.

"This conference has a lot of talent, in some areas more than it ever has," Schweyen said, noting Northern Arizona's men's team's No. 1 national ranking. "But regardless of what people were doing around us, we put ourselves in the best position to succeed. We saw that with Jaydon, who sprained his ankle about a month ago and missed so much training, and then comes out here and nearly breaks a school record."

In addition to Lamb's win in the 800 meters, teammate Noah Adams also scored in the event, moving up a spot to fifth (1:55.57). Macnab, who was part of Montana's winning relay team, was fifth in the 200 meters (25.09). Jordan Stow, who on Friday placed sixth in the long jump, finished eighth in the high jump (6-4.25).

First-time scorers Rachel Lewis placed fifth in the triple jump (PR 39-1.25), while Aly Tekippe finished eighth in the pole vault (11-6.25).

"Top to bottom, we had athletes recording lifetime bests left and right," Schweyen said. "Rachel Lewis, for example, sets a season best by 2 feet in the biggest meet of her career.

"I think everyone, across the board, performed great."

Men's 60-meter hurdles (finals) – Jaydon Green (8.09, 7^th)
Men's 200 meters (finals) – Callum Macnab (25.09, 5^th); Paul Johnstone (25.59, 7^th)
Men's 400 meters (finals) – Paul Johnstone (47.88, 2^nd)
Men's 800 meters (finals) – Jacob Lamb (1:53.71, 1^st); Noah Adams (1:55.57, 5^th)
Men's 1 mile – Andrea Baratte (4:19.34, 12^th)
Men's 3,000 meters – Hunter May (8:47.65, 26^th); Will Dauenhauer (8:49.43, 27^th); Andrea Baratte (DNF)
Men's high jump – Jordan Stow (6-4.25, 8^th); Josh Riley (NH)
Men's shot put – Brent Yeakey (59-0.75, 4^th); Noah Ramirez (53-1.75, 8^th); Shawn Humphries (52-5.25, 9^th)
Men's triple jump – Zane Johnson (14-8, 13^th)

Women's 60-meter hurdles (finals) – Olivia Ellis (8.65, 4^th)
Women's 1 mile – June Eastwood (4:50.28, 1^st)
Women's 3,000 meters – Emily Pittis (9:48.98, 3^rd); Beatrix Frissell (10:01.12, 9^th); June Eastwood (10:14.04, 15^th); Samantha Engebretsen (10:21.85, 19^th)
Women's pole vault – Aly Tekippe (11-6.25, 8^th); Grace Slevin (11-5, 13^th); Kahsiah Benson (NH)
Women's triple jump – Rachel Lewis (39-1.25, 5^th); Ailsa Gilbert (foul)
Women's weight throw – Mariah Harvey (52-10.75, 15^th)

Montana's Point-Scorers (Men)
10, Jacob Lamb, 1^st, 800 meters
8, Paul Johnstone, 2^nd, 400 meters
5, Peterson Bohannon, 4^th, long jump
5, Brent Yeakey, 4^th, shot put
4, Noah Adams, 5^th, 800 meters
4, Callum Macnab, 5^th, 200 meters
3, Jordan Stow, 6^th, long jump
2.5, Paul Johnstone, 1^st, 4x400-meter relay
2.5, Jacob Lamb, 1^st, 4x400-meter relay
2.5, Callum Macnab, 1^st, 4x400-meter relay
2.5, Xavier Melice, 1^st, 4x400-meter relay
2, Jaydon Green, 7^th, 60-meter hurdles
2, Paul Johnstone, 7^th, 200 meters
1, Aidan Diggs, 8^th, long jump
1, Noah Ramirez, 8^th, shot put
1, Jordan Stow, 8^th, high jump
1, Andrea Baratte, 5^th, distance medley relay
1, Colton Hess, 5^th, distance medley relay
1, Jacob Lamb, 5^th, distance medley relay
1, Hunter May, 5^th, distance medley relay

Montana's Point-Scorers (Women)
10, June Eastwood, 1^st, 1 mile
8, Jane Booth, 2^nd, high jump
6, Emily Pittis, 3^rd, 3,000 meters
5, Olivia Ellis, 4^th, 60-meter hurdles
4, Beatrix Frissell, 5^th, 5,000 meters
4, Rachel Lewis, 5^th, triple jump
4, Morgan Radtke, 5^th, high jump
3, Jaree Mane, 6^th, pentathlon
3, Emily Pittis, 6^th, 3,000 meters
2, Samantha Engebretsen, 2^nd, distance medley relay
2, Jaree Mane, 2^nd, distance medley relay
2, Carly Dahms, 2^nd, distance medley relay
2, June Eastwood, 2^nd, distance medley relay
1, Aly Tekippe, 8^th, pole vault

Men's Team Standings
1. Northern Arizona, 141.5
2. Idaho State, 89.5
3. Montana State, 77
4. Idaho, 68
5. Montana, 60
6. Eastern Washington, 58
7. Weber State, 55
8. Southern Utah, 44.5
9. Northern Colorado, 31
10. Sacramento State, 28
11. Portland State, 8.5

Women's Team Standings
1. Northern Arizona, 103
2. Sacramento State, 100.5
3. Idaho State, 79
4. Weber State, 77.5
5. Idaho, 71
6. Montana, 55
7. Southern Utah, 53
8. Montana State, 53
9. Eastern Washington, 39
10. Northern Colorado, 25
11. Portland State, 5