Photo by: Torrey Vail
Radtke finishes third at Big Sky Indoor Championship
2/23/2023 5:43:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
Montana senior Morgan Radtke set a new career-best score and finished in third place in the pentathlon at the Big Sky Indoor Championships on Thursday afternoon in Moscow, Idaho. Radtke strung together quite the impressive list of results, setting new PRs in three of the five events while recording a season-best in all five events.
Radtke scored 3,618 points to come up just a single point behind Idaho State's Kylee Dimick in second and 57 behind the Big Sky champion Eliana Coburn from Sacramento State. The Drummond native finished in the top five in four of the events on the day, showing a consistent effort throughout the competition.
"She's one of our fifth-year leaders and is such a great young lady who has so many great things going on in her life getting ready to go off to veterinary school and things like that," head coach Doug Fraley said. "For her to stay an extra year and get rewarded with a podium finish and a big PR at the conference meet, it's just a fantastic thing."
The Grizzlies also got points from freshman Brooke Stayner, who finished in eighth place with a score of 3,409. Whitney Morrison finished in ninth and Ainsley Shipman in 13th to round out the day for Montana.
Stayner began the competition with perhaps her strongest event, and put together a season-best time in it. She won her section of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.92, good for 927 points. It was the second-best time of the competition.
Shipman had a good run as well, placing fifth with a time of 9.24. It was close to a PR for another Grizzly freshman. Morrison and Radtke closed the first event in ninth and 10th overall. It may have been a 10th place finish for Radtke, but it was still a sign of what was to become the theme of the day for her. She set a new PR with a time of 9.35, cutting over a tenth of a second of her previous best and earning 34 more points than she did at the WSU Open.
As Montana advanced to the high jump, Radtke really started to prove herself as a title contender. It didn't come without a scare. She nearly went out at 5-4, but got a timely jump when she needed it. Radtke proceeded to clear 5-5.75. It earned her 818 points as she finished third place in the individual event and once again improved upon her season-best mark from early February.
The jump brought her up into fifth place in the overall standings. Stayner, meanwhile, slid slightly off the pace into ninth after a jump of 5-4.5 placed her 11th overall in the high jump.
In the shot put, it looked like Radtke's podium hopes may have come crashing down. After two throws, she sat near the bottom of the standings at 29-2, a throw more than five feet short of her personal best. But once again, when she needed to step up she did.
On the final throw Radtke improved nearly six full feet. It improved her score in the event by more than 100 points, leaping up the standings to fifth with a throw of 35-0.25. The toss was a career-best for Radtke, and again kept her pace ahead of her previous best pentathlon this season.
"She had two of those moments. She had a third attempt clearance in the high jump to keep things going. That was huge," Fraley said. "Then in the shot put she had two throws that were sub-par for her and then comes back with a lifetime best on the third. Again, that's a testament to a fifth-year athlete. Somebody that is really mature and focused."
Morrison was the Montana standout in the event, placing third with a toss of 37-3. It was her second-best throw of the season for the Missoula native in what has been her strongest event. Shipman cleared the 30-foot mark while Stayner recorded a throw of 28-9.
Radtke kept her momentum going in the long jump, stringing together her third straight top five finish. Once again, she performed to her season-best with a jump of 17-2 to take fourth place in the event. After starting in 10th after one event, the long jump result brought her all the way back up into fourth overall and within 100 points of the leader Coburn.
It set her up for a pressure-filled 800-meter race. Starting in a separate group of leaders, Radtke quickly jumped into the lead and set her pace. She hung around with the leaders the entire race, never falling out of the top five. She made her move with about 300 meters to go, passing multiple athletes to get into second.
She fell to third in the event down the stretch but did enough to move up another position and claim her spot on the podium. It was a performance that truly impressed by way of the balance. She set new season highs in every event, building points gradually through hard work.
"She has been so focused on working on the little things that make a difference in practice," Fraley said. "She's so mature and has been able to take those things at the pace that they are coming and progress. To see it all come to fruition at the championship meet, it's just a testament to her focus and dedication as a fifth-year athlete."
"What impressed me was that Brooke got started with a great hurdle PR and then the next three events were rough for her. As a freshman, it would have been really easy for her to become dejected and not finish strong," Fraley said. "To see her run that section of the 800 in second place and jump all the way up to eighth place, I'm really proud of her for that effort."
Fraley hoped that the Grizzlies could have multiple point-scorers in the pentathlon and his athletes delivered. The meet will resume on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. as the rest of the Grizzly squad will look to build on the momentum.
"That's a good jump start for the team to get a podium finish and have two people score," Fraley said. "Onward and upward."
Radtke scored 3,618 points to come up just a single point behind Idaho State's Kylee Dimick in second and 57 behind the Big Sky champion Eliana Coburn from Sacramento State. The Drummond native finished in the top five in four of the events on the day, showing a consistent effort throughout the competition.
"She's one of our fifth-year leaders and is such a great young lady who has so many great things going on in her life getting ready to go off to veterinary school and things like that," head coach Doug Fraley said. "For her to stay an extra year and get rewarded with a podium finish and a big PR at the conference meet, it's just a fantastic thing."
The Grizzlies also got points from freshman Brooke Stayner, who finished in eighth place with a score of 3,409. Whitney Morrison finished in ninth and Ainsley Shipman in 13th to round out the day for Montana.
Stayner began the competition with perhaps her strongest event, and put together a season-best time in it. She won her section of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.92, good for 927 points. It was the second-best time of the competition.
Fantastic start to Big Sky pentathlon from Brooke Stayner! She wins her heat with a PR of 8.92 and is in second place after one event.
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 23, 2023
Morgan Radtke, who has the second-best overall score in the field this year, also starts with a PR of 9.35.#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/mrgU6Rp4Nw
Shipman had a good run as well, placing fifth with a time of 9.24. It was close to a PR for another Grizzly freshman. Morrison and Radtke closed the first event in ninth and 10th overall. It may have been a 10th place finish for Radtke, but it was still a sign of what was to become the theme of the day for her. She set a new PR with a time of 9.35, cutting over a tenth of a second of her previous best and earning 34 more points than she did at the WSU Open.
As Montana advanced to the high jump, Radtke really started to prove herself as a title contender. It didn't come without a scare. She nearly went out at 5-4, but got a timely jump when she needed it. Radtke proceeded to clear 5-5.75. It earned her 818 points as she finished third place in the individual event and once again improved upon her season-best mark from early February.
Morgan Radtke clears 5-5.75 in the high jump! She finishes third in the event with a new season-best and moves up to fifth in the pentathlon standings.#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/91VNmdfjT3
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 23, 2023
The jump brought her up into fifth place in the overall standings. Stayner, meanwhile, slid slightly off the pace into ninth after a jump of 5-4.5 placed her 11th overall in the high jump.
In the shot put, it looked like Radtke's podium hopes may have come crashing down. After two throws, she sat near the bottom of the standings at 29-2, a throw more than five feet short of her personal best. But once again, when she needed to step up she did.
On the final throw Radtke improved nearly six full feet. It improved her score in the event by more than 100 points, leaping up the standings to fifth with a throw of 35-0.25. The toss was a career-best for Radtke, and again kept her pace ahead of her previous best pentathlon this season.
"She had two of those moments. She had a third attempt clearance in the high jump to keep things going. That was huge," Fraley said. "Then in the shot put she had two throws that were sub-par for her and then comes back with a lifetime best on the third. Again, that's a testament to a fifth-year athlete. Somebody that is really mature and focused."
Morrison was the Montana standout in the event, placing third with a toss of 37-3. It was her second-best throw of the season for the Missoula native in what has been her strongest event. Shipman cleared the 30-foot mark while Stayner recorded a throw of 28-9.
Third place for Whitney Morrison in the shot put with this toss of 37-3!#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/IeEaiqoTLh
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 23, 2023
Radtke kept her momentum going in the long jump, stringing together her third straight top five finish. Once again, she performed to her season-best with a jump of 17-2 to take fourth place in the event. After starting in 10th after one event, the long jump result brought her all the way back up into fourth overall and within 100 points of the leader Coburn.
It set her up for a pressure-filled 800-meter race. Starting in a separate group of leaders, Radtke quickly jumped into the lead and set her pace. She hung around with the leaders the entire race, never falling out of the top five. She made her move with about 300 meters to go, passing multiple athletes to get into second.
She fell to third in the event down the stretch but did enough to move up another position and claim her spot on the podium. It was a performance that truly impressed by way of the balance. She set new season highs in every event, building points gradually through hard work.
"She has been so focused on working on the little things that make a difference in practice," Fraley said. "She's so mature and has been able to take those things at the pace that they are coming and progress. To see it all come to fruition at the championship meet, it's just a testament to her focus and dedication as a fifth-year athlete."
Stayner closed strong in the 800 with a second-place finish that moved her into eighth place overall. The freshman came up short of the score she posted earlier this season, but the determination in how she closed the final race caught the attention of her coach.A great run in the 800 secures a podium finish for Morgan Radtke in the women's pentathlon! She set three new career-bests and had a season-best mark in 𝐴𝐿𝐿 𝐹𝐼𝑉𝐸 events today.#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/IrCERboOGk
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 24, 2023
"What impressed me was that Brooke got started with a great hurdle PR and then the next three events were rough for her. As a freshman, it would have been really easy for her to become dejected and not finish strong," Fraley said. "To see her run that section of the 800 in second place and jump all the way up to eighth place, I'm really proud of her for that effort."
Fraley hoped that the Grizzlies could have multiple point-scorers in the pentathlon and his athletes delivered. The meet will resume on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. as the rest of the Grizzly squad will look to build on the momentum.
"That's a good jump start for the team to get a podium finish and have two people score," Fraley said. "Onward and upward."
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-events/Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-events
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