Thursday, February 23
Moscow, Idaho
Montana
vs
Big Sky Indoor Championships
Green, Sudol reach podium at Big Sky Indoor Championships
2/25/2023 6:05:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
The Montana Grizzlies' indoor track and field season came to an end Saturday in Moscow, Idaho at the Big Sky Indoor Championships. The Griz had a couple of athletes earn all-conference honors to highlight the final day of the event, as Jaydon Green and Holly Sudol both found the podium.
They join Morgan Radtke, who was third in the pentathlon on Thursday, on the Big Sky all-conference team. The trio led Montana to an eighth-place finish in the both the men's and the women's competition.
"Obviously we are not satisfied at all with our team score in that meet, but having said that we had so many great performances. PRs, podium finishes, that I really feel like the direction of things is turning," head coach Doug Fraley said. "I've said this several times, but I feel the culture shifting to a team that takes care of each other and competes hard for each other. A lof of times that gets lost in track and field, but I'm starting to see that develop."
Green had a good run in Friday's prelims to qualify for the finals as the No. 3 seed. He lived up the expectations, running another clean race early on Saturday at 7.95 seconds to reach the podium. It was an impressive competition, featuring three of the eight fastest runners in the NCAA Mountain Region. Jerome Campbell won with a top 10 time in the country this year.
The Grizzly speedster has been under eight seconds every race this indoor season, but needed an extra kick on Saturday.
"It wasn't your common third place for Jaydon because he got his worst start of the entire season. Through about three hurdles he was in fourth or fifth place, and he kicked it into turbo in those last two hurdles and got back up to third," Fraley said. "I told him I was really proud of him for that because a lot of people in that same situation, in the blink of an eye at that speed, would just say it's not my day. He did not give in."
Holly Sudol also backed up an impressive day on Friday. She continued a trend that has been true all season, taking her time on Friday and improving it dramatically. In the first of two heats, Sudol again started back in the pack before making a fantastic kick to the finish line. She won her heat with a time of 54.74 seconds, the first time in her career she has had a sub-55 second time.
Sudol's time came within six-tenths of a second from the Montana school record set by Kourtney Danreuther in 2012. It showed remarkable growth and progression through the short indoor season for Sudol as well, who ran a 56.45 in her first meet this season in late January. At the time, it was a lifetime-best for her. Now she's nearly two seconds better.
"It's been fun watching her figure out that she is a really good athlete, and watching her confidence grow," Fraley said. "Her ability, her strength in the last 100 is better than anyone else in the conference. She showed that yesterday to make the finals and she showed it again today in the final. As a staff, we're just really proud of that young lady's development."
The Grizzlies had their best overall event of the day in the women's high jump where two athletes were able to score. Morgan Radtke continued her outstanding meet, following up on a third-place finish in the pentathlon Thursday with a sixth-place finish in this event. She had her best jump of the season, clearing 5-5.75 to tie for sixth and score 2.5 points.
Freshman Erin Wilde also ended in scoring position by clearing 5-3.75. She earned a half-point by finishing tied for eighth.
In one of the most hotly contested events at the meet, Zane Johnson was able to rise up to the pressure of the championship meet in men's pole vault. The junior out of Dillon set a new career-best with a vault of 16-2.75. He edged out Montana State's Bob Hartley with fewer misses to finish in fourth place and earn five points for his team.
"That was a really good men's field and it was really tight. There always gets to be a bar that's a separator with eight or nine guys jumping at it, and he was able to go in there and make a new PR and jump up a place into fourth," Fraley said. "If you can jump a seed while PR'ing at the conference meet, that's a big deal and we're real proud of him."
The most exciting event in almost any meet proved to be the highlight of the day for the Montana men's team. They ran the best team of the season by over three seconds and got a couple of incredible performances on their way to a second-place finish.
The Grizzlies started with Jay Beagle who kept up with the pack to hand off to Paul Johnstone. The veteran brought Montana back into the thick of it with a great leg, but on the handoff with Xavier Melice the two stumbled slightly and Montana began the leg in fifth.
The distance was quickly closed down by Melice, who used his speed to race back into second overall. He started to run out of steam down the stretch, but had the Grizzlies right among the top three when he passed to Taylor Johnson.
Yesterday in the 400-meter prelims, Johnson finished in ninth place, missing out on Saturday's final by just 0.17 seconds. The freshman didn't get discouraged. Instead, he rallied for an incredible run to overtake Northern Colorado and push Montana in the silver. It was a bit of a redemption story for the entire team.
"That relay was so special to me as a coach. Paul has been hurt so often in the last couple of years, Xavier has been hurt and blew his achilles," Fraley said. "Those guys hadn't really had any race background for quite a while. Those guys, to have the carries that they had, was just fantastic. That is a testament for how much those guys want to compete for the Griz. I was really proud of that.
"Taylor told me yesterday after he missed the final, he said 'don't you worry, I'm making up for this tomorrow coach,' and he sure did."
The Grizzly women entered the final event of the meet tied with Northern Colorado for eighth, needing a good time in the relay in order to move ahead of the Bears. UNC ran in the first heat, winning that with a time of 3:48.20. Montana's best time on the year entering the second heat: 3:49.24.
Montana knew the time they needed, but didn't have the Bears on the track with them to keep pace. Lily Meskers started it for the Grizzlies and then passed to Mikenna Ells. Both runners had PRs in the individual event yesterday, and again put together good runs to get Montana started.
Katie Whitehurst responded after missing out on the 800m final by just one-hundredth of a second Friday and handled the third leg, getting a great split to set up the all-conference runner Holly Sudol.
The big weekend for Sudol came to its dramatic conclusion, as once again she appeared to turn on the after-burners in the final 100 meters and brought the Grizzlies across the line in a season-best 3:46.58. It was enough to hold off Northern Colorado and move past them in the final team standings.
Every athlete in the relay for Montana had participated in multiple events. By Saturday evening, the gas tanks were running low but they found a way to overcome that for the fourth-place finish.
"You get to that point in the meet and those ladies are worn out. But they dug in deep and absolutely gave everything they had to get fourth with a three-second PR," Fraley said. "Again, it goes back to the Griz spirit. You don't give up until the last event's over."
Throughout both relays, and really for the entirety of the meet, Montana supported each other with raucous cheering and support. To those watching through a screen it stood out, and all in attendance certainly felt the pride of the Grizzlies.
"I had other coaches come up to me and say you know what, I have not seen Montana teams like that before. That's an example of what I mean by just creating team spirit and team culture. We have a lot of improvements to make but I couldn't be more proud of this group that we brought and the way that they fought in every event."
In what became a heartbreaking trend for the Grizzlies at the championship meet continued on Saturday. They had a pair of near-misses in the men's triple jump and weight throw.
It started in the weight throw, where Noah Ramirez qualified for the finals with the ninth-best mark of the qualifiers. He aimed to build upon a fifth-place finish in the shot put, but came up just shy of scoring range in the finals. His throw of 55-9 was good for ninth place in the Big Sky.
Jason Upton experienced similar pain in the triple jump. Again, the Grizzly was able to qualify for the nine-athlete final with a new personal-best jump of 44-10.25. Once there, he was able to get a couple more jumps past 44-0 but couldn't make up the ground needed to get into that top eight. Upton finished sixth in the long jump Friday, and while both men may leave Moscow slightly disappointed there was plenty to be proud of for their performance.
There were some more great performances by Montana athletes, notably in the mile on both sides. Jaylyn Hallgrimson and Mackenzie Morgan both set new PRs for the women, while all three Grizzly men (Lane Cole, Rogelio Mares, Truman Cowan) that competed had the best time of their indoor career. Cole led with a 4:17.11 mile good for 18th place in one of the best distance running conferences in the country.
Big Sky Indoor Championships Day Three Results
Women's 400m – Holly Sudol (54.74*, 3rd)
Women's Mile – Jaylyn Hallgrimson (5:06.66*, 14th), Iris McKean (5:16.28, 23rd), Bridget Boyle (5:16.41, 24th), Mackenzie Morgan (5:20.86*, 25th)
Women's High Jump – Morgan Radtke (5-5.75, 6th), Erin Wilde (5-3.75, 8th)
Women's Triple Jump – Ainsley Shipman (36-2.25, 17th), Ailsa Gilbert (35-11.5, 18th), Kara Mattson (35-8.75, 19th)
Women's Shot Put – Madi Arneson (42-0.5, 12th), Ariel Clark (40-11.5, 17th), Whitney Morrison (35-8, 23rd)
Women's 4x400m Relay – Meskers, Ells, Whitehurst, Sudol (3:46.58*, 4th)
Men's 60m Hurdles – Jaydon Green (7.95, 3rd)
Men's Mile – Lane Cole (4:17.11*, 18th), Rogelio Mares (4:17.46*, 20th), Truman Cowan (4:19.46*, 21st)
Men's Triple Jump – Jason Upton (44-10.25*, 9th)
Men's Pole Vault – Zane Johnson (16-2.75*, 4th), Carson Weeden (15-5*, 12th), Carter Petersen (NH)
Men's Weight Throw – Noah Ramirez (55-9, 9th)
Big Sky Women's Team Scores
1) Northern Arizona 200.5
2) Montana State 125
3) Idaho 70.5
4) Sacramento St. 60.5
5) Weber State 55
6) Idaho State 53.5
7) Eastern Washington 34
8) Montana 28
9) Northern Colorado 27
10) Portland State 8
Montana's point scorers
6, Morgan Radtke – pentathlon
6, Holly Sudol – 400m
5, Shealyne McGee – pole vault
5, 4x400m relay
2.5, Morgan Radtke – high jump
2, Ailsa Gilbert – long jump
1, Brooke Stayner - pentathlon
0.5 – Erin Wilde, high jump
Big Sky Men's Team Scores
1) Northern Arizona 182.5
2) Idaho 113
3) Montana State 97
4) Eastern Washington 70
5) Weber State 56.5
6) Northern Colorado 55
7) Idaho State 41
8) Montana 34
9) Sacramento St. 11
Montana's point scorers
8, 4x400m relay
6, Jaydon Green – 60m hurdles
5, Zane Johnson – pole vault
4, Noah Ramirez – shot put
4, Patrick Kremer – high jump
3, Jason Upton – long jump
3, Distance medley relay
1, Maxwell Scott – 5,000m
They join Morgan Radtke, who was third in the pentathlon on Thursday, on the Big Sky all-conference team. The trio led Montana to an eighth-place finish in the both the men's and the women's competition.
"Obviously we are not satisfied at all with our team score in that meet, but having said that we had so many great performances. PRs, podium finishes, that I really feel like the direction of things is turning," head coach Doug Fraley said. "I've said this several times, but I feel the culture shifting to a team that takes care of each other and competes hard for each other. A lof of times that gets lost in track and field, but I'm starting to see that develop."
Green had a good run in Friday's prelims to qualify for the finals as the No. 3 seed. He lived up the expectations, running another clean race early on Saturday at 7.95 seconds to reach the podium. It was an impressive competition, featuring three of the eight fastest runners in the NCAA Mountain Region. Jerome Campbell won with a top 10 time in the country this year.
The Grizzly speedster has been under eight seconds every race this indoor season, but needed an extra kick on Saturday.
"It wasn't your common third place for Jaydon because he got his worst start of the entire season. Through about three hurdles he was in fourth or fifth place, and he kicked it into turbo in those last two hurdles and got back up to third," Fraley said. "I told him I was really proud of him for that because a lot of people in that same situation, in the blink of an eye at that speed, would just say it's not my day. He did not give in."
Jaydon Green. 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘.#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/QsN23FrQVR
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 25, 2023
Holly Sudol also backed up an impressive day on Friday. She continued a trend that has been true all season, taking her time on Friday and improving it dramatically. In the first of two heats, Sudol again started back in the pack before making a fantastic kick to the finish line. She won her heat with a time of 54.74 seconds, the first time in her career she has had a sub-55 second time.
Sudol's time came within six-tenths of a second from the Montana school record set by Kourtney Danreuther in 2012. It showed remarkable growth and progression through the short indoor season for Sudol as well, who ran a 56.45 in her first meet this season in late January. At the time, it was a lifetime-best for her. Now she's nearly two seconds better.
"It's been fun watching her figure out that she is a really good athlete, and watching her confidence grow," Fraley said. "Her ability, her strength in the last 100 is better than anyone else in the conference. She showed that yesterday to make the finals and she showed it again today in the final. As a staff, we're just really proud of that young lady's development."
Check out the 𝟝𝟜.𝟟𝟜 seconds that earned Holly Sudol 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 in the womens 400.
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 25, 2023
She wins her heat and places third overall with a lifetime best time!#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/yJvrv40x7y
The Grizzlies had their best overall event of the day in the women's high jump where two athletes were able to score. Morgan Radtke continued her outstanding meet, following up on a third-place finish in the pentathlon Thursday with a sixth-place finish in this event. She had her best jump of the season, clearing 5-5.75 to tie for sixth and score 2.5 points.
Freshman Erin Wilde also ended in scoring position by clearing 5-3.75. She earned a half-point by finishing tied for eighth.
In one of the most hotly contested events at the meet, Zane Johnson was able to rise up to the pressure of the championship meet in men's pole vault. The junior out of Dillon set a new career-best with a vault of 16-2.75. He edged out Montana State's Bob Hartley with fewer misses to finish in fourth place and earn five points for his team.
"That was a really good men's field and it was really tight. There always gets to be a bar that's a separator with eight or nine guys jumping at it, and he was able to go in there and make a new PR and jump up a place into fourth," Fraley said. "If you can jump a seed while PR'ing at the conference meet, that's a big deal and we're real proud of him."
Zane Johnson takes 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 in Moscow! Mark it at 16-2.75, a new PR and good for a fourth-place finish in the Big Sky!#GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/vSOFq2zUEu
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 25, 2023
The most exciting event in almost any meet proved to be the highlight of the day for the Montana men's team. They ran the best team of the season by over three seconds and got a couple of incredible performances on their way to a second-place finish.
The Grizzlies started with Jay Beagle who kept up with the pack to hand off to Paul Johnstone. The veteran brought Montana back into the thick of it with a great leg, but on the handoff with Xavier Melice the two stumbled slightly and Montana began the leg in fifth.
The distance was quickly closed down by Melice, who used his speed to race back into second overall. He started to run out of steam down the stretch, but had the Grizzlies right among the top three when he passed to Taylor Johnson.
Yesterday in the 400-meter prelims, Johnson finished in ninth place, missing out on Saturday's final by just 0.17 seconds. The freshman didn't get discouraged. Instead, he rallied for an incredible run to overtake Northern Colorado and push Montana in the silver. It was a bit of a redemption story for the entire team.
"That relay was so special to me as a coach. Paul has been hurt so often in the last couple of years, Xavier has been hurt and blew his achilles," Fraley said. "Those guys hadn't really had any race background for quite a while. Those guys, to have the carries that they had, was just fantastic. That is a testament for how much those guys want to compete for the Griz. I was really proud of that.
"Taylor told me yesterday after he missed the final, he said 'don't you worry, I'm making up for this tomorrow coach,' and he sure did."
A 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 final leg from the freshman Taylor Johnson wins Montana the silver. And how about that incredible Grizzly support in the far corner to help him along? #GrizTF #BigSkyTF #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/7AmAjmqKaS
— Montana Griz Track & Field (@MontanaGrizTF) February 26, 2023
The Grizzly women entered the final event of the meet tied with Northern Colorado for eighth, needing a good time in the relay in order to move ahead of the Bears. UNC ran in the first heat, winning that with a time of 3:48.20. Montana's best time on the year entering the second heat: 3:49.24.
Montana knew the time they needed, but didn't have the Bears on the track with them to keep pace. Lily Meskers started it for the Grizzlies and then passed to Mikenna Ells. Both runners had PRs in the individual event yesterday, and again put together good runs to get Montana started.
Katie Whitehurst responded after missing out on the 800m final by just one-hundredth of a second Friday and handled the third leg, getting a great split to set up the all-conference runner Holly Sudol.
The big weekend for Sudol came to its dramatic conclusion, as once again she appeared to turn on the after-burners in the final 100 meters and brought the Grizzlies across the line in a season-best 3:46.58. It was enough to hold off Northern Colorado and move past them in the final team standings.
Every athlete in the relay for Montana had participated in multiple events. By Saturday evening, the gas tanks were running low but they found a way to overcome that for the fourth-place finish.
"You get to that point in the meet and those ladies are worn out. But they dug in deep and absolutely gave everything they had to get fourth with a three-second PR," Fraley said. "Again, it goes back to the Griz spirit. You don't give up until the last event's over."
Throughout both relays, and really for the entirety of the meet, Montana supported each other with raucous cheering and support. To those watching through a screen it stood out, and all in attendance certainly felt the pride of the Grizzlies.
"I had other coaches come up to me and say you know what, I have not seen Montana teams like that before. That's an example of what I mean by just creating team spirit and team culture. We have a lot of improvements to make but I couldn't be more proud of this group that we brought and the way that they fought in every event."
In what became a heartbreaking trend for the Grizzlies at the championship meet continued on Saturday. They had a pair of near-misses in the men's triple jump and weight throw.
It started in the weight throw, where Noah Ramirez qualified for the finals with the ninth-best mark of the qualifiers. He aimed to build upon a fifth-place finish in the shot put, but came up just shy of scoring range in the finals. His throw of 55-9 was good for ninth place in the Big Sky.
Jason Upton experienced similar pain in the triple jump. Again, the Grizzly was able to qualify for the nine-athlete final with a new personal-best jump of 44-10.25. Once there, he was able to get a couple more jumps past 44-0 but couldn't make up the ground needed to get into that top eight. Upton finished sixth in the long jump Friday, and while both men may leave Moscow slightly disappointed there was plenty to be proud of for their performance.
There were some more great performances by Montana athletes, notably in the mile on both sides. Jaylyn Hallgrimson and Mackenzie Morgan both set new PRs for the women, while all three Grizzly men (Lane Cole, Rogelio Mares, Truman Cowan) that competed had the best time of their indoor career. Cole led with a 4:17.11 mile good for 18th place in one of the best distance running conferences in the country.
Big Sky Indoor Championships Day Three Results
Women's 400m – Holly Sudol (54.74*, 3rd)
Women's Mile – Jaylyn Hallgrimson (5:06.66*, 14th), Iris McKean (5:16.28, 23rd), Bridget Boyle (5:16.41, 24th), Mackenzie Morgan (5:20.86*, 25th)
Women's High Jump – Morgan Radtke (5-5.75, 6th), Erin Wilde (5-3.75, 8th)
Women's Triple Jump – Ainsley Shipman (36-2.25, 17th), Ailsa Gilbert (35-11.5, 18th), Kara Mattson (35-8.75, 19th)
Women's Shot Put – Madi Arneson (42-0.5, 12th), Ariel Clark (40-11.5, 17th), Whitney Morrison (35-8, 23rd)
Women's 4x400m Relay – Meskers, Ells, Whitehurst, Sudol (3:46.58*, 4th)
Men's 60m Hurdles – Jaydon Green (7.95, 3rd)
Men's Mile – Lane Cole (4:17.11*, 18th), Rogelio Mares (4:17.46*, 20th), Truman Cowan (4:19.46*, 21st)
Men's Triple Jump – Jason Upton (44-10.25*, 9th)
Men's Pole Vault – Zane Johnson (16-2.75*, 4th), Carson Weeden (15-5*, 12th), Carter Petersen (NH)
Men's Weight Throw – Noah Ramirez (55-9, 9th)
Big Sky Women's Team Scores
1) Northern Arizona 200.5
2) Montana State 125
3) Idaho 70.5
4) Sacramento St. 60.5
5) Weber State 55
6) Idaho State 53.5
7) Eastern Washington 34
8) Montana 28
9) Northern Colorado 27
10) Portland State 8
Montana's point scorers
6, Morgan Radtke – pentathlon
6, Holly Sudol – 400m
5, Shealyne McGee – pole vault
5, 4x400m relay
2.5, Morgan Radtke – high jump
2, Ailsa Gilbert – long jump
1, Brooke Stayner - pentathlon
0.5 – Erin Wilde, high jump
Big Sky Men's Team Scores
1) Northern Arizona 182.5
2) Idaho 113
3) Montana State 97
4) Eastern Washington 70
5) Weber State 56.5
6) Northern Colorado 55
7) Idaho State 41
8) Montana 34
9) Sacramento St. 11
Montana's point scorers
8, 4x400m relay
6, Jaydon Green – 60m hurdles
5, Zane Johnson – pole vault
4, Noah Ramirez – shot put
4, Patrick Kremer – high jump
3, Jason Upton – long jump
3, Distance medley relay
1, Maxwell Scott – 5,000m
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps/Hurdles
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-events
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Multi-events/Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-events
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-events
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-events
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and FieldUM vs UND Highlights
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