Montana puts three athletes in top six of heptathlon

Montana began the Lauren McClusky Memorial Open in Moscow, Idaho on Friday with some impressive results from the women's heptathletes competing. The Grizzlies entered three athletes, a pair of freshmen in Brooke Stayner and Ainsley Shipman along with a veteran Whitney Morrison.

Stayner reached the podium in second place while Morrison missed by just five points, coming in fourth place. Shipman rounded out an impressive day from the Griz multi-athletes with a sixth-place finish in her first collegiate multi-event.

"Brooke Stayner did a great job in the multi today. That was really good to see a young lady who is a freshman come in and handle her first collegiate multi well like that," head coach Doug Fraley said. "She's got tons of potential and a lot to improve on but just seeing her demeanor throughout that competition today, she was very even keel and very mature."

Stayner got off to a blistering start in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with the second-best time at 9.06 to earn 897 points. She improved slightly on her time from last week in Spokane, and set the tone for the day early.

Morrison and Shipman hung in the top 10 after the first event, running a 9.49 and 9.54 in the same heat.

As they moved to high jump, Stayner took the overall lead thanks to a jump of 5-3. She tied for second in the individual event but earned 736 points to overtake Washington State's Renick Meyer for the top spot in the competition. Morrison cleared 4-11.5 to tie for seventh in the high jump, while Shipman went 4-9. For Stayner, the hot start was crucial as they headed toward the shot put.

"It was great for her to run a very consistent hurdle race. She ran about the same time as she did in her two races last week," Fraley said. "Then to come in and get a lifetime best in the high jump is such a boost. To be able to get momentum like that is really big. Then you go into an event like the shot put that she's just learning this fall, it gives you some confidence to move through the rest of the multi."

The Grizzlies really seized control following the shot put. Morrison cleared the rest of the field by a wide margin in the event with a throw of 37-9.25. It was over four feet further than second place, and earned her 629 points.

And in perhaps her weakest event of the five, Stayner was still able to hold her own with a toss of 29-1.25. Stayner maintained the overall lead, while Morrison jumped all the way into second with the big throw at 2,071 total points.

They next moved to the long jump, where Shipman put together her best performance of the day. The freshman from Dillon jumped 17-2 for a second-place finish in the event. It put her into the top 10 in the pentathlon standings entering the 800-meter race.

Stayner had another standout performance in the long jump, going 16-8.75 for a fourth-place finish in the event. Morrison kept the pace, jumping 16-7. After the event it was Stayner in second with 2,676 points, Morrison in third with 2,644.

Overall, Montana had five different top-three finishes across the events. The balance of strengths, and the chemistry between the teammates, helps all of them to greater success.

"Whitney is a great thrower and hit a really good throw in the shot put today. Ainsley is a good long jumper and led in that event," Fraley said. "That's the fun thing about having three or four multis like that is each of them have different strengths that kind of pull together to improve. It just kind of cycles through the group, and that's how you have success."

The duo both trailed entering the 800-meter race with a chance to make up for it. They ran together in the final heat, and Stayner got off to a great start. She fell into place in second behind Utah's Rachel Whipple. She kept her distance entering the back half of the race, then made her move late. Stayner ended up winning the final heat by over a full second.

As she crossed the line it appeared close. When the points were finally tallied, it was Meyer – who finished third in the heat – that had held on by just seven overall points. The Missoula native Stayner, participating in her first collegiate multi-event, finished in a very close second place, just tenths of a second away from a victory.

Morrison had the seventh best time in the 800, but missed out on the podium by an even narrower margin. There were just five points separating her and Whipple out of Utah. Shipman moved up as well, climbing to sixth place in the final standings. At the end of the event, Montana took up three of the top six spots. There were two Pac-12 athletes and a fellow Big Sky competitor that rounded out the top six.

The meet is just the start for Stayner. The multi-events are coached by Lindsey Hall, a legendary Griz athlete who won four Big Sky multi-event championships in her career. Fraley knows that the potential of Montana's athletes combined with the guidance of Hall is a successful receipe.

"Brooke brings a lot to the table as an athlete and she's going through the real training for all these different events," Fraley said. "It's sort of like a crash course in technique in a lot of different areas, and she's handling it with the maturity of an upperclassmen while going through the growing pains that are required in a multi-event athlete. She still has tons of room for development, but our multis are in great hands with Lindsey."

The rest of the athletes began competition on Friday evening with a majority of the events coming on Saturday. A full meet recap will be available at the conclusion of the events.

University of Montana Athletics

Montana puts three athletes in top six of heptathlon

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Whitney Morrison

Ainsley Shipman

Brooke Stayner

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