Green breaks school record, Griz get two event wins in Moscow

Friday, January 20

Moscow, Idaho

Montana

Lauren McCluskey Memorial

Katie Whitehurst at Spokane Indoor Challenge (1.14.23)

Photo by: Torrey Vail

Green breaks school record, Griz get two event wins in Moscow

1/21/2023 11:31:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results (PDF)

By: Montana Sports Information

There were event winners, school records, and plenty of individual bests for the Montana track and field team this weekend at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open in Moscow, Idaho. The Grizzlies performed well in reaching the midway point of the indoor season.

Jaydon Green has already cemented himself as perhaps the premier sprint-hurdler in Montana history, but he added another piece to his legacy on Saturday. Green ran a 7.86 in the final of the 60-meter hurdles, breaking his own school record of 7.97 from last year. It put him onto the podium in the event, trailing only Northern Colorado's Jerome Campbell and an unattached runner.

"I think the highlight of the meet for our team was Jaydon Green breaking the school record in the 60-meter hurdles," head coach Doug Fraley said. "Outstanding performance for this young man who leads our team both in performance and character. I'm really happy for him."

We've got a 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙎𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙇 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿! Jaydon Green breaks his own record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.86!#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/d4FgFHvEye
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) January 21, 2023

The Grizzlies also had some dominant performances in the middle distances on the women's side. Holly Sudol, participating in her first meet of the season and running the 400 meters at an indoor meet for the first time, ran a 56.45 to win the event. It backed up an impressive performance in the 200 meter for Sudol as well, as she led all of Montana's runners with a fifth-place finish there.

In the 800-meter race, Katie Whitehurst cut more than two seconds off of her time from last week, which was already a PR for the sophomore out of Whitehall. She finished in 2:14.50 on Saturday, winning her heat and the overall event by almost a full second.

"Any time you go up against good competition like that and get a couple of event wins with big PR's for those ladies, it's outstanding," Fraley said. "I'm really proud of them."

Montana's women have 𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 the middle distances today! Holly Sudol wins the 400. Katie Whitehurst wins the 800. Both set new PR's. Way to go, Griz!#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/KnbqNDAUx7
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) January 21, 2023

Freshman Erin Wilde improved on her season-opening mark in the high jump and very nearly made it a third event win for Montana. She cleared 5-4.5 to finish in a tie for second with Washington State's Suzy Pace.

Ariel Clark made the podium of the women's weight throw, hitting 53-0 for a big improvement from last week to place third in the event. Savana Ramirez also increased her distance from the Spokane Indoor Challenge, throwing 50-5 to take sixth place.

The throwing group had improvement on the men's side as well. Noah Ramirez increased his mark by nearly four feet from the season opener. He narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth in the weight throw. He had another improvement in shot put, throwing 51-4.5. This time, it was enough for a podium finish in third place.

Friday night saw a lot of excitement for Montana in the men's pole vault, where Zane Johnson set a new PR and also finished in second-place with a vault of 16-0.75. Johnson led a strong performance from Montana in the category, as Carson Weeden finished fourth and Carter Petersen seventh.

"The highlight of Friday was Zane Johnson breaking the 16-foot barrier. That moves him way up on the conference list and any time you break a new foot barrier in the pole vault is a reason for celebration," Fraley said. "I was really proud of him to be able to do that."

The women's vaulters had a great day as well with Montana claiming four of the top eight spots in the competition. Aly Tekippe made her way onto the podium with a vault of 12-4, breaking 12 feet for the first time in her indoor career to finish in third place.

Emma Zimmerman went 11-10 to finish fifth, while Shealyne McGee and Molly Chambers both went 11-4.25 to finish sixth and eighth.

Somewhat frustratingly and yet also very promising, Montana had several podium near-misses on both sides. Ainsley Shipman jumped 36-8.5 in the triple jump and Morgan Radtke high jumped 5-2.5 for fourth place for both athletes. Kara Mattson finished fifth in the long jump with a mark of 17-6.75.

The same could be said on the men's side. Taylor Johnson ran a 48.58 400-meter race for a fourth place finish. Patrick Kremer ended in fourth in the high jump clearing 6-4, one of three Grizzlies to finish in the top 10 in that event.

Casey Crouch in the 800, Maxwell Scott in the 5,000 and Jason Upton in the triple jump all recorded fifth place finishes as well.

In the women's mile, junior Jaylyn Hallgrimson led Montana and finished 10^th overall thanks to the best run of her career. She finished in 5:11.18, over 23 second faster than her previous PR to win her heat. Montana had four other runners finish in the top 20 in the event.

"As a team, we had a really well-balanced effort. We had a lot of season bests, indoor best and lifetime bests in distance, sprints, hurdles, throws and jumps," Fraley said. "As a coach, that's what you want to see. You want to see your team developing in each of the event areas, and we were able to do that this weekend and make some great strides."

Montana now have a week off as they've reached the midway point of the indoor season. They will return to action next at the WSU Open in Spokane on Feb. 2 before closing the regular season with the Bobcat Performance Meet on Feb. 10.

The rest will be nice for a team that is really coming into its own on and off the track.

"A really solid competition," Fraley said. "We're looking forward to having a weekend off to get two weeks to train before our next competition, but I'm happy with the progress our team is making and happy with the direction that we're going in culture."

Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open Results
Women's 60 meters – Audrey Smith (8.14, 9^th)
Women's 200 meters – Holly Sudol (25.57, 5^th), Lily Meskers (25.83, 6^th), Audrey Smith (26.32*, 11^th)
Women's 400 meters – Holly Sudol (56.45*, 1^st), Lily Meskers (58.57*, 6^th), Mikenna Ells (1:00.34, 12^th)
Women's 800 meters – Katie Whitehurst (2:14.50*, 1^st), Bridget Boyle (2:21.12, 17^th), Iris McKean (2:22.97, 21^st), Morgan Radtke (2:24.50*, 23^rd)
Women's Mile – Jaylyn Hallgrimson (5:11.18*, 10^th), Beatrix Frissell (5:11.86, 12^th), Kayla Ingraham (5:13.63, 14^th), Bridget Boyle (5:17.81, 16^th), Iris McKean (5:20.42, 19^th)
Women's 3000 meters – Kayla Ingraham (10:13.53*, 12^th), Beatrix Frissell (10:15.57, 13^th), Jaylyn Hallgrimson (10:35.27*, 17^th)
Women's 60-meter hurdles – Brooke Stayner (9.28, 9^th), Kara Mattson (9.47, 12^th)
Women's 4x400 meter relay – Whitehurst, Meskers, Morrison, Sudol (3:56.60, 4^th)
Women's High Jump – Erin Wilde (5-4.5, 2^nd), Morgan Radtke (5-2.5, 4^th)
Women's Pole Vault – Aly Tekippe (12-4, 3^rd), Emma Zimmerman (11-10, 5^th), Shealyne McGee (11-4.25, 6^th), Molly Chambers (11-4.25, 8^th)
Women's Long Jump –Kara Mattson (17-6.75, 5^th), Morgan Radtke (17-1.75, 8^th), Aly Tekippe (16-9.75, 10^th)
Women's Triple Jump – Ainsley Shipman (36-8.5, 4^th), Kara Mattson (35-1, 9^th)
Women's Shot Put – Madi Arneson (41-0.5, 8^th), Ariel Clark (40-6.25, 11^th), Morgan Radtke (33-4*, 21^st)
Women's Weight Throw – Ariel Clark (53-0, 3^rd), Savana Ramirez (50-5, 6^th)

Men's 60 meters – Teagun Holycross (7.14, 12^th), Jason Upton (7.15, 13^th)
Men's 200 meters – Taylor Johnson (22.27, 7^th), Xavier Melice (22.75, 10^th), Teagun Holycross (22.80, 12^th), Cutter Thatcher (22.84, 17^th), Jay Beagle (22.89, 18^th), Ty Ferguson (22.93, 19^th)
Men's 400 meters –Taylor Johnson (48.58, 4^th), Ty Ferguson (50.01, 8^th), Jay Beagle (50.07*, 9^th)
Men's 800 meters – Casey Crouch (1:55.12, 5^th), Will Dauenhauer (1:58.37, 12^th), Lane Cole (1:58.68, 13^th)
Men's Mile – Rogelio Mares (4:22.64*, 15^th), Lane Cole (4:23.66, 16^th)
Men's 3000 meters – Maxwell Scott (8:38.48, , Rogelio Mares (8:52.60*, 18^th)
Men's 5000 meters – Maxwell Scott (15:13.97, 5^th)
Men's 60-meter hurdles – Jaydon Green (7.86!, 3^rd) Porter Coffield (8.61, 6^th)
Men's 4x400 meter relay – Beatle, Crouch, Dauenhauer, Ferguson (3:23.79, 5^th)
Men's High Jump – Patrick Kremer (6-4, 4^th), Adam Maxwell (6-2, 8^th), Alfred Peterson (6-2, 10^th)
Men's Pole Vault – Zane Johnson (16-0.75*, 2^nd), Carson Weeden (15-1, 4^th), Carter Petersen (14-7.25, 7^th)
Men's Long Jump – Gordon McMillion (21-11.5*, 6^th) Jason Upton (21-8, 8^th)
Men's Triple Jump – Jason Upton (44-3.25, 5^th)
Men's Shot Put – Noah Ramirez (51-4.5, 3^rd)
Men's Weight Throw – Noah Ramirez (51-8, 4^th)

(*indicates new PR)