Track & field season resumes Friday in Spokane

Friday, January 14

Spokane, Wash.

Montana

Cougar Classic Open

Photo by: Dean Hendrickson

1/12/2022 2:29:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Meet Schedule Live Stream Friday Results Saturday Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Griz track & field athletes got a small taste of competition last month in an early-season meet in Bozeman, but this weekend, they will see their indoor track & field season fully ramp up.

Beginning Friday in Spokane, Washington, Montana will compete on five consecutive weekends, before traveling back to Bozeman for the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the end of February.

This weekend, in addition to the five multi-event runners who will compete in Bozeman, Montana will send 69 athletes to Spokane for the Cougar Classic Open and Cougar Classic Invitational meets. It will be the Grizzlies' biggest weekend of the season, by numbers, with nearly every healthy athlete competing.

"We're so very, very excited for this weekend," head coach Clint May said. "Not only to get back to competing but also to do so in a new environment."

The new environment May referenced is Spokane's brand-new, state-of-the-art track & field facility. The Podium – which features a 200-meter banked track in addition to sprint lanes, warm-up lanes and ample area for the long/triple jump, pole vault, high jump, weight throw and shot put – opened this fall to rave reviews.

The Griz will get their first opportunity to compete inside the venue this weekend.

"We have the blessing of competing in one of the finest venues in the United States, and I really think it has some really positive implications for indoor track & field at the University of Montana," May said. "It adds a dimension that wasn't there before."

Part of that dimension is another indoor facility located a bus ride away, with May noting previously one of Montana's only options was to drive to Montana State's campus. That has served Montana well – and will continue to – but there are aspects that The Podium will bring that Montana State cannot.

One of those is a banked track, something that at times will serve the Grizzlies well if the conference meet is on a similar-style track. Another is more variety of competition.

"This weekend, we'll see athletes from California, Oregon and Washington," May said. "You just don't see that in Bozeman. But now we have two viable facilities, one to the west and one to the east, that are 3 hours away from us."

The Cougar Classic Open will take place on Friday, featuring 39 Griz athletes.

The meet begins with the men's high jump and women's weight throw at 10 a.m. (MT), followed by running events at noon. Also on Friday will be the start of the Cougar Classic Invitational, featuring the men's high jump, women's weight throw and the women's and men's 5,000 meters, and women's and men's distance medley relays.

The majority of the Cougar Classic Invitational – which requires time and mark standards and, in general, will feature a higher level of competition – will be held Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.

Montana's indoor season officially got underway in December with the Bobcat Preview in Bozeman. That night, 50 Griz athletes competed, including 22 who were making their collegiate debuts and a total of 32 who had never competed in an indoor meet before, after the 2021 indoor season was canceled due to COVID-19 precautions.

Having a meet before an extended holiday break is both a blessing and a curse.

On one side, it gave athletes a feel for a meet structure – many for the first time at the collegiate level – and gave the athletes something to work toward after months and months of training. On the other side, though, after the first meet, the Grizzlies had to wait six weeks before their next competition.

"Those events that are highly technical are really difficult (to train on your own), because every athlete and every location has different resources," May said. "What we try to focus on is that everyone can maintain their strength and general fitness – treadmills, stair climbers, hallways – and then our strength staff sends out workouts that everyone can do.

The fitness and strength should not be compromised, but your technical sharpness might be, and that could be exposed at this first meet. That's OK; it's part of getting back into the rhythm."

The hope, though, is that what was done in December will carry over to January and beyond.

"I think we're prepared to have some great performances this weekend," May said. "A lot of our younger runners, in spite of them having Christmas break off, we had such a good fall training – and it looks like they did their work over the break – that we should have some lifetime bests this weekend.

Regardless of where someone ends up this weekend, though, this is just a meet in the process that we're using to try and get ready for February."

Cougar Classic Open Entries
Men's 60 meters – Cooper Hewett, Teagan Holycross, Gordon McMillion, Jason Upton
Women's 60 meters – Grace Denman, Camryn Dezember, Destiny Santiago, Audrey Smith
Men's 200 meters – Cooper Hewett, Teagan Holycross, Brandon Jones, Jason Upton
Women's 200 meters – Grace Denman, Camryn Dezember, Destiny Santiago, Audrey Smith
Men's 400 meters – Ty Ferguson, Brandon Jones
Women's 400 meters – Katie Whitehurst
Men's 800 meters – Casey Crouch
Women's 800 meters – Molly Sherman, Abby Sherwood, Katie Whitehurst
Men's 1 mile – Truman Cowan, Josh Haynes, Rogelio Mares, Ellis McKean, Brady Woods
Women's 1 mile – Carly Dahms, Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Mackenzie Morgan
Men's 3,000 meters – Nathan Carter, Jordan Hansen, Simon Hill, Ellis McKean, Maxwell Scott
Women's 3,000 meters – Kayla Ingraham, Jocelyn Stansberry
Men's high jump – Alfred Peterson
Men's pole vault – Zane Johnson, Carson Weeden
Women's pole vault – Jadyn Campbell, Molly Chambers, Shealyne McGee, Emma Zimmerman
Men's long jump – Cooper Hewett, Gordon McMillion, Alfred Peterson, Jason Upton
Women's long jump – Kolby Gibbs
Women's triple jump – Kolby Gibbs
Men's shot put – Colton Root
Men's weight throw – Colton Root
Women's weight throw – Emilie Hinrichs, Erin Murphy

Cougar Classic Invitational Entries
Men's 60 meters – Kip Krebsbach
Women's 60 meters – Catie Buck, Emma Normand, Holly Sudol
Men's 200 meters – Jaydon Green, Cade Johnstone, Paul Johnstone, Kip Krebsbach, Cutter Thatcher
Women's 200 meters – Catie Buck, Emma Normand, Holly Sudol
Men's 400 meters – Jay Beagle, Cade Johnstone, Paul Johnstone, Cutter Thatcher
Women's 400 meters – Abby Harmon, Holly Sudol
Men's 800 meters – Will Dauenhauer, Quincy Fast
Women's 800 meters – Mikenna Ells, McKinlee Mihelish
Men's 1 mile – Quincy Fast, Joel Mendez
Women's 1 mile – Bridget Boyle
Men's 3,000 meters – AJ Eckmann, Hunter May, Joel Mendez, Ben Vanderbosch
Women's 3,000 meters – Beatrix Frissell, Olivia Lackland Henry
Men's 5,000 meters – AJ Eckmann, Joel Mendez
Women's 5,000 meters – Olivia Lackland Henry
Men's 60-meter hurdles – Jaydon Green
Men's high jump – Alfred Peterson
Men's shot put – Noah Ramirez, Brent Yeakey
Women's shot put – Ariel Clark, Savana Ramirez
Men's weight throw – Noah Ramirez, Matt Ward
Women's weight throw – Ariel Clark, Kaitlyn Gallo, Emilie Hinrichs, Tanessa Morris, Savana Ramirez