Six Grizzlies score on day two of Big Sky Indoor Championships

Shealyne McGee at Spokane Indoor Challenge (1.14.23)

Photo by: Torrey Vail

Six Grizzlies score on day two of Big Sky Indoor Championships

2/24/2023 9:51:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field team wrapped up the opening day of the full meet at the Big Sky Indoor Championships on Friday with a mixed bag of exceptional results along with frustrating finishes. The men's team had at least one athlete score in all five finals during the day, while the women's side had a pair of point scorers on their own.

On a day filled mostly with preliminary races for Saturday's finals, the Grizzlies came up agonizingly short in several events. Montana had five athletes in total miss out on the finals, and an automatic point, by one or two positions. In a couple of events, it came down to just hundredths of a second to determine the final groupings.

"We had a couple of close misses on really good performances, but that's part of it. It's part of the learning process for our team is realizing what a hundredth of a second here and there means," head coach Doug Fraley said. "There were a lot of frustratingly good performances because they missed by one spot, but that's part of it. I was proud of those kids for the way they fought, and we had a lot to be happy about today."

Jaydon Green kicked things off for the Griz on Friday in the men's 60-meter hurdles. He nearly won in the second heat and easily qualified for the finals with the third-best overall time at 7.95. He has been under eight seconds in every event this season.

Our guy Jaydon Green gets things started by qualifying for tomorrow's 60-meter hurdle final!#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/RnkXI8WBRF
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 24, 2023

He's up against a very difficult opponent in Northern Colorado's Jerome Campbell, who qualified with a top-five time in the country at 7.63. Green is up for the challenge, and has been Montana's most consistent performer this season.

"He had a very workmanlike time. He took care of his business and advanced to tomorrow's final just like good athletes do at the conference meet," Fraley said. "It was business as usual for him."

The first points of the day for Montana came in the women's long jump. Ailsa Gilbert had a season-best jump of 17-8.25 in her first attempt of the day, becoming the only athlete from the first flight to qualify for the finals. She finished in seventh place to earn two points for her team.

This jump of 17-8.25 qualified Ailsa Gilbert for finals in the long jump, which are happening now!

Catch it live on ESPN+ (https://t.co/5YdJyIV4qx)#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/uXuI2hMPzY
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 25, 2023

In the same event freshman Kara Mattson just missed out on the finals, finishing in 10^th place with a jump of 17-5.5.

On the men's side later on in the evening, the Grizzlies again had an athlete advance out of the first flight. Jason Upton went all-in on his first attempt in the long jump with a massive PR of 23-8. He fouled on his next two, but that initial jump was enough to win the first flight and qualify him for the finals.

"(Gilbert and Upton) were both coming out of the lower-seeded flight and both ended up coming out of that and making the final, that was awesome. Jason got a big lifetime best and was not seeded to score. He popped a big one and got sixth place."

Shealyne McGee provided Montana with five additional points in the pole vault, nearly matching her career-best with a vault of 12-10.25 for fourth. On her final attempt at the 13-2.25 mark it looked like the height was there, but a slight bump going over knocked over the bar. It was still a fantastic finish for the sophomore, and Fraley noted how impressive a fourth-place finish was in one of the deepest events in the entire meet.

On the men's side, Patrick Kremer scored in the high jump with a new career best mark. The freshman improved by two inches on his previous best, jumping 6-6 to take fifth place in the event and score four points for the Grizzlies. He entered the event in 11^th in the Big Sky performance lists, making a drastic leap up the leaderboard for some unexpected Grizzly points. Adam Maxwell came up just a few inches short of scoring but also set a new PR with a jump of 6-4.

There were more personal bests and points to be had as the night concluded. In the final field event, Noah Ramirez maintained his incredible trajectory this season. The senior set a new career-best with a throw of 56-6, beating his previous high from last meet by over a foot.

It qualified him for the finals, where he was able to finish fifth and add four points to Montana's total score.

"Noah had a huge PR in the shot and got fifth," Fraley said. "Patrick got a big PR in the high jump and got fifth. For a freshman coming in and jumping a two-inch PR in the conference meet when he wasn't even slated to score, that was really awesome."

Maxwell Scott continued a terrific indoor season with a great end to the night for the Grizzlies. The sophomore from Portland ran a time of 14:25.47 in the 5,000-meter race to get a point for Montana. It was a personal best by more than 12 seconds for Scott. Similar to Kremer in the high jump, Scott started the event in 11^th in the season-long performance list and was able to move up in the standings.

The top consisted of four Northern Arizona runners, three Montana State runners, and Scott.

"This is, behind the Pac-12, arguably the second strongest distance running conference in the country," Fraley said. "If you look at the guys in the 5K it was Northern Arizona who won the national championship in cross country and Montana State who qualified for the national championships in cross country.

"The only other team that scored was Montana with Max. That was a spectacular run for him against some of the very best distance runners in the country. Scoring a point in an open distance race in this conference is brutally tough, and he did an unbelievably good job running a lifetime best and scoring a point for us."

There was some heartbreak for the Grizzlies in the men's 400-meter run. Paul Johnstone ran what would have been a qualifying time for the finals, but was disqualified for a lane violation. Taylor Johnson entered the event with one of the eight best times this season but came up 0.17 seconds short of qualifying for the finals and finished in ninth place.

It wasn't the only performance that came up agonizingly short. In the men's 60-meter race Cooper Hewett set a new PR with a time of 6.92 but missed out on the finals by .01 seconds. The same is true of Katie Whitehurst in the women's 800. She had a fantastic finish to her race, tracking down the leaders in her heat at the finish line after trailing by 10-20 meters down the stretch.

Again, it was just one-hundredth of a second that made the distance for her, as she finished in third and missed out on an automatic qualification spot.

A pair of freshmen in Lily Meskers and Brooke Stayner both ran personal best times in the 400 and the 60-meter hurdles to finish in the top 1 but just miss out on a final's appearance.

The Grizzlies added to the men's team score again in the final event of the night. Rogelio Mares, Ty Ferguson, Lane Cole and Truman Cowan combined in the distance medley relay for a sixth-place finish.

"The men's DMR did a good job. They got sixth place, and that's about what we expected in that race so they did their job and got a season-best time. It was a real good effort on those guys' part."

After five of the 17 events have been scored, the Grizzly men currently sit in seventh place overall with 12 points. On the women's side, they have an additional event scored. Montana are currently in eighth place with 14 overall points. There will be several more chances to score on both sides as they wrap things up on Saturday.

But regardless of where they may have ended up in the standings, Fraley is most proud of the way his team came together.

"I think the thing that I'm the most proud of was the team spirit that our kids displayed from start to finish. They were unflappable in their support of each other," Fraley said. "They are really beginning to grow as a team. They are beginning to really care about each other and support each other. And I think, even given all the great performances we had today, that's the thing I'm the most proud of is I'm starting to see a culture of family, focus, and determination."

What a kick and finish from Holly Sudol! She runs a new PR of 55.42 to qualify for tomorrow's 400 final in the third position.#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/tXwMtMHMK5
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 25, 2023

Big Sky Indoor Championship Results

Finals
Women's Long Jump – Ailsa Gilbert (17-8.25, 7^th), Kara Mattson (17-5.5, 10^th)
Women's Pole Vault – Shealyne McGee (12-10.25, 4^th), Molly Chambers (12-0.5*, 10^th), Emma Zimmerman (12-0.5, 10^th), Aly Tekippe (11-6.5, 12^th), Ani Smith (11-6.5, 13^th)
Women's Weight Throw – Ariel Clark (51-11, 14^th), Savana Ramirez (48-6, 22^nd)
Women's Distance Medley Relay – Boyle, Meskers, Whitehurst, Hallgrimson (12:22.15, 9^th)

Men's 5,000m – Maxwell Scott (14:25.47*, 8^th)
Men's Long Jump – Jason Upton (23-8*, 6^th), Gordon McMillion (21-10, 15^th)
Men's High Jump – Patrick Kremer (6-6*, 5^th), Adam Maxwell (6-4*, 9^th),
Men's Shot Put – Noah Ramirez (56-6*, 5^th)
Men's Distance Medley Relay – Mares, Ferguson, Cole, Cowan (10:10.52, 6^th)

Prelims
Women's 60m Hurdles Prelim – Brooke Stayner (9.01*, 10^th), Kara Mattson (9.12*, 12^th), Ailsa Gilbert (9.16, 13^th), Ainsley Shipman (9.25, 14^th)
Women's 60m Prelim – Audrey Smith (7.98, 15^th)
Women's 200m Prelim – Holly Sudol (24.91, 12^th), Audrey Smith (26.24, 19^th)
Women's 400m Prelim – Holly Sudol (55.42*, 3^rd Q), Lily Meskers (56.54*, 10^th), Mikenna Ells (56.73*, 11^th)
Women's 800m Prelim – Katie Whitehurst (2:13.99, 11^th)

Men's 60m Hurdles Prelim - Jaydon Green (7.95, 3^rd Q), Porter Coffield (8.66, 15^th)
Men's 60m Prelim – Cooper Hewett (6.92*, 9^th), Jason Upton (6.94*, 13^th), Teagun Holycross (7.07, 21^st)
Men's 200m Prelim – Teagun Holycross (22.40*, 18^th), Cooper Hewett (22.82, 20^th)
Men's 400m Prelim – Taylor Johnson (48.69, 9^th), Jay Beagle (50.09, 16^th), Xavier Melice (50.82, 18^th), Paul Johnstone (DQ), Cade Johnstone (DNF)
Men's 800m Prelim – Casey Crouch (1:54.15*, 14^th), Will Dauenhauer (1:57.74, 22^nd)

Current Women's Team Standings

1 – Montana State (46)
2 – Weber State (39)
3 – Northern Arizona (35)
4 – Idaho State (30)
5 – Eastern Washington (21)
T6 – Idaho (17)
T6 – Sacramento State (17)
8 – Montana (14)
9 – Portland State (8)
10 – Northern Colorado (7)

Current Men's Team Standings

1 – Northern Arizona (52.5)
2 – Idaho (45)
3 – Idaho State (31.5)
4 – Weber State (31)
5 – Montana State (29)
6 – Eastern Washington (21)
7 – Montana (15)
8 – Sacramento State (6)
9 – Northern Colorado (2)