Track and field begins outdoor season by hosting Al Manuel Invitational

Saturday, March 25

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Al Manuel Invitational

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Track and field begins outdoor season by hosting Al Manuel Invitational

3/22/2023 5:30:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Schedule of Events Meet Information

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field team will kick off its outdoor season on Friday at home, hosting the Al Manuel Invitational on March 24-25. It will be the first home meet for first-year head coach Doug Fraley and his staff, who are looking to get their team in front of the home fans and resume live action after a month off following the indoor season.

Friday will feature the hammer throw and javelin competitions starting at 1:00 p.m. The rest of the field events, along with all track races, will be held Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m. Attendance will be free for all fans.

"I'm looking forward to getting the outdoor season started," Fraley said. "The training volume in March is going to be what carries you through April and May. After initially getting some rest after the indoor conference meet, we've been building up our training volume and have been able to get outside. Kids have looked great and everybody is excited about competing at home."

The Grizzlies have used the warmer weather in Missoula over the last week to get outdoors. The track has finally been cleared of snow to get additional reps in all event areas.

For Fraley, a big aspect of the first meet is to help the athletes adjust to being back in the flow of outdoor track. Instead of the confined spaces of the domes Montana competed in over the winter, with walls to your side and roofs to enclose the space, all of a sudden have to deal with the long straightaways and open space the come with being outdoors.

"It's a small meet which is good, it's low key. It will give the athletes a chance to get integrated into outdoor track because it's a different perception," Fraley said. "When you're inside all winter and you're going to competitions inside buildings and smaller tracks, to all of a sudden go outside and you've got this big 400-meter track. The athletes perceive distance differently and just space. Kind of your wiring has to change when you go from indoor to outdoor."

More than just being outside, the excitement for Fraley comes from getting all of his athletes back competing. Montana was tabbed eighth in the league on both sides, matching where they finished during the indoor season.

There are several events where Fraley feels his team is at its best that aren't contested during indoor. In fact, there are multiple athletes that he is yet to see compete in a live situation. It gives this first event of the spring another level of anticipation.

The javelin is an event that he's particularly looking forward to as it should be a strength of the Montana team. They return defending Big Sky champion Evan Todd. Matthew Hockett also returns after a fifth-place finish in the league and an appearance at the NCAA West Regional.

There are also plenty of returners on the women's side, feeding into one of the strongest groups of the team.

"That is such a strength both on the men's and women's side. That should be a highly ranked group by the time it's all said and done this season on both sides," Fraley said. "We haven't had a chance to see the javelin throwers in action yet. They've been throwing into a net all winter. It's been exciting out at practice for the last week to see them out there tossing the javelin around."

There are several standout performances from the indoor season that individual athletes will look to build upon as they move outdoor. Jaydon Green finished third in the 60-meter hurdles at the Big Sky Championship meet, while Morgan Radtke (pentathlon) and Holly Sudol (400-meter) both reached the podium in their respective events.

There were plenty of other point scorers for Montana, and some that will switch events for the outdoor schedule. Fraley said he is excited for the 400-meter hurdles along with the 4x100-meter relay, a couple of track events where he sees great opportunities. Add in a couple of other events that aren't contested indoors in the hammer throw and the discus, and Montana feels good about its potential in 2023.

Fraley isn't expecting many surprises for most of his athletes during the first meet, which he said will be used as a tune-up of sorts for the rest of the year.

"Everybody else you kind of have a good idea of what they've done and where they are at in their training because they can actually do their discipline," Fraley said. "But in the javelin, the hammer, and the discus, those are events that they simply haven't been able to do their actual event. Everything has been simulations into a net."

It's the first of three home events this season for Montana in a six-week regular season. Grizzly fans will have plenty of chances to see these athletes competing at Dornblaser Field, as Montana will also host the Griz-Cat Dual on April 1 and the Montana Open on April 22.

"It's the way we wanted to set it up, to get a mixture of home meets and travel. One, the kids really get up to compete at home," Fraley said. "They're excited about competing in front of their family and the fans that come out to watch. They get a lot of stimulus from that.

"The other thing is being able to sleep in their own beds, being able to go to class all week, being able to just stay in their routine. It's really good when you can do that," Fraley continued. "College athletes are so much better when they're in their routine and home contests definitely help that. I think for this outdoor season we've got a good mixture of home meets and travel meets."

The biggest thing for Fraley is the excitement that his team has for the upcoming season. They are coming together, getting healthier, and ready to tackle the next two months.

"I'm just really excited to start a new season," Fraley said. "I feel like we got some things accomplished indoors but definitely fell short of where we thought we should be as a team in the conference standings. We've got a motivated group of kids and we're looking forward to starting a new season outdoors and making that nice, consistent push toward the Big Sky Outdoor Championships."

MONTANA NOTES

The Grizzlies are hosting a spring social and fundraiser on Friday, March 31 from 6-8 p.m. in the Adams Center Sky Club. The event will be ticketed and all proceeds will go directly to the track and field and cross country programs. Tickets can be purchased here.
Xavier Melice will run at Dornblaser Field for the first time in two years after tearing his Achilles during the 2022 Indoor season. For a full feature on Melice's return, click here.
The Grizzlies had six individual point scorers on both the women's and men's side at the Big Sky Indoor Championships. The men also found the podium in the 4x400-meter relay, an event that should be an outdoor strength as the Grizzlies continue to get healthy.
Montana return two NCAA Regional competitors from last year on the men's side, and both are javelin throwers. Evan Todd placed 25^th at regionals last year while Matthew Hockett was 41^st at the meet. Todd is the defending Big Sky Champion in the javelin.
The men and women were both picked to finish eighth in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Monday. Last season, the Grizzly men finished sixth while the women came in ninth.
Paul Johnstone reached the podium last year at the Big Sky Championships with a time of 47.15 in the 400-meter.
Montana's men return six point scorers from last year's outdoor Big Sky meet while the women return three point scorers.