Griz disperse for trio of meets

The Montana track & field team will be all over the western United States this week, traveling to three separate meets ranging from California to Washington.

While the majority of Grizzlies will be in Spokane, at the Whitworth Twilight Invite (Thursday), a handful of additional top athletes will fly to California.

Distance runners Joel Mendez (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Quincy Fast (800 meters) will compete at the renowned Bryan Clay Invitational, hosted by Azusa Pacific. The meet, which features steep entry times to get into, will run throughout the week, but Mendez (Wednesday, 8:45 p.m. MT) and Fast (Thursday, 5:10 p.m.) will compete early in the week.

Mendez currently ranks fifth in the Big Sky with a top steeplechase time of 8:51.02. Fast ranks seventh in the 800 meters, running a 1:51.26 in Eugene, Oregon, earlier this month.

The fact that the duo will compete early in the Bryan Clay Invitational will allow them compete again later in the week, at the Beach Invitational, hosted by Long Beach. Both Fast and Mendez will run the men's 1,500 meters at the Beach Invitational on Saturday at 1 p.m. (MT). Both athletes have run sub-4-minute races before.

Joining those two in Long Beach will be a trio of men's throwers.

Matt Ward, who is coming off of a double-win last week in Bozeman, will throw the hammer at 10 a.m. on Friday. Later that afternoon, beginning at 4:45 p.m., Matthew Hockett and Evan Todd will throw the javelin.

Ward currently ranks sixth in the Big Sky in the hammer (202-1), while also ranking in the top eight in the discus. Todd (first, 229-2) and Hockett (sixth, 205-5), are two of the top javelin throwers in the league.

On the women's side, five Grizzlies will be represented at the Bryan Clay Invitational, beginning with Jaree Mane and Morgan Radtke in the women's heptathlon, which starts Wednesday at 9 a.m. (MT) and continues on Thursday.

The heptathlon has been a big point-scoring event for Montana throughout history at the Big Sky Championship meet, and this week will provide crucial training opportunities for the Grizzlies' multi athletes, as one of the only meets this spring that offers the event. Mane (fourth) and Radtke (sixth) both scored at last year's conference meet.

Additionally, Mane will also compete in the standalone javelin on Friday (2 p.m.) while Radtke will participate in the javelin (Friday, 2 p.m.) and high jump (Friday, 5 p.m.).

Also at the Bryan Clay Invitational will be Ailsa Gilbert, Holly Sudol and Jansen Ziola.

As one of Montana's top jumpers, Gilbert will partake in the long jump (Friday, 11 a.m.), triple jump (Friday, 4 p.m.) and 100-meter hurdles (Friday, 11:35 a.m.). She currently ranks in the top 12 in the Big Sky for all three events, including fourth in the triple jump (39-3.75). Ziola can do a little bit of everything, as well, and is scheduled to compete in four events, all on Friday: 200 meters (Friday, 3:50 p.m.), 100-meter hurdles (Friday, 11:35 a.m.), 400-meter hurdles (Friday, 2:35 p.m.), and long jump (Friday, 11 a.m.). She currently ranks third in the Big Sky in the 100-meter hurdles (14.12) and in the top 10 in the long jump.

Sudol will run the women's 400 meters at 12:35 p.m. on Friday, an event that she currently ranks third in the Big Sky for (1:01.92). She is also registered for the 200 meters, 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles at the Beach Invitational.

Tanessa Morris, the league's top women's hammer thrower, – and last year's champion – is slotted to compete in the event at the Beach Invitational, alongside several of her teammates who made the trip to California.

While some of Montana's top athletes will be in California, the majority of the team will be at the Whitworth Twilight Invite, which takes place on Thursday, beginning at 2:50 p.m. (MT) and running into the night. Entries won't be finalized until Wednesday, but currently nearly 60 Grizzlies are scheduled to compete.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Quincy Fast

Ailsa Gilbert

Matthew Hockett

Jaree Mane

Joel Mendez

Tanessa Morris

Morgan Radtke

Holly Sudol

Evan Todd

Matt Ward

Jansen Ziola

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