Grizzlies overcome cold, snow for big weekend at home

Saturday, March 25

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Al Manuel Invitational

Grizzlies overcome cold, snow for big weekend at home

3/25/2023 6:56:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The cold weather, wind and snow didn't hold down the Montana track and field team this weekend as they competed at the Al Manuel Invitational, outlasting the weather for plenty of good performances in a dominant meet for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies had 19 event winners on the weekend, competing against a less than full field after Montana State were unable to travel due to the road conditions in Bozeman. Still, Montana had plenty of personal records and standout performances despite the cold weather.

"I don't want to single out just a few people because we had really good performances in all the areas," first-year head coach Doug Fraley said. "I was just really happy to see our kids come out in less than ideal conditions and for us as a team to get as much out of it as we did.

"It shows me a couple of things. Kids that are from this region, which is the majority of our kids, they are tough. They've gone through that, they have a lot of high school meets like that and they showed that today," Fraley continued. "A lot of them were unfazed by the fact that it was in the low 30s and they competed really well."

Gallery: (3-25-2023) TF: Al Manuel Invitational (3.25.23)

The event started on Friday afternoon with the hammer throw and javelin. The Bobcat throwing group was able to make it over for those events, providing some great competition for a couple of the Big Sky's best throwing groups.

Evan Todd and Kylie Frohlich took home the titles in the javelin competition. It's a great start to the season for Todd, the defending Big Sky champion. He begins the year with a 213-09 mark, already putting him into school record range despite the sideways snow while throwing.

For Frohlich, it's the first event win and a new PR. The former Lady Griz basketball player threw 134-05 for the win.

Noah Ramirez also recorded a new PR on Friday, finishing second in the hammer throw with a mark of 177-07. Kaitlyn Gallo also finished in second on the women's side with a toss of 170-10.

The Grizzlies started winning early, and kept it up often, throughout the meet on Saturday. Freshman Erin Wilde won the high jump in her first collegiate meet, clearing 5-3.25 in the cold conditions.

"It was really fun. I feel like I'm used to it from high school," Wilde said of the weather. "I'm super excited for the season. It's definitely weird as a freshman because track is a lot different in college but it's super fun."

The Grizzlies also got a high jump win on the men's side as Patrick Kremer cleared 6-5. In fact, it was a freshman sweep for Montana as Kremer was also competing in his first outdoor collegiate meet. Alfred Peterson was right behind him with a jump of 6-4.

"Any time you win in college it is great," Fraley said of the performance. "The competition may not have been as good as it is going to be but for freshmen to come in during cold conditions and jump well, that's just a testament to them being focused and tough."

The Grizzlies had plenty more success in the field events. On the women's side, Ailsa Gilbert had a great day jumping and Madi Arneson nearly swept her two throwing events. Gilbert won the long jump (17-7.5) and the triple jump (36-6.75), building off a great close to the indoor season. Arneson took the title in the discus with a throw of 138-2 and finished just a few feet short in the shot put with a mark of 40-2.25.

Another field event that has become a strength of Montana's is the pole vault, where they completed the sweep on both sides. Shealyne McGee set a new PR with a jump of 12-7.5 to win, followed closely behind by her teammate Aly Tekippe with a vault of 12-1.5.

There was also a PR on the men's side, where Zane Johnson cleared a new meter mark with a jump of 16-4. It's also five meters, a significant moment for any vaulter. It was particularly impressive as Johnson he moved up a pole size and was using it for the first time ever as he cleared his mark.

"Zane, any time you break a new barrier in the pole vault is a big deal," Fraley said. "Indoors he broke the 16-foot barrier and now outdoors he breaks the five-meter barrier. It's 30-some degrees out here so to be able to perform like that was great."

It's part of a progression for Johnson that began during the indoor season. Under the guidance of Erica Fraley and Doug Fraley, two nationally acclaimed pole vaulters, he has continued to reach for new heights.

"We've been putting in a lot of work these last few weeks moving outdoor," Johnson said. "I was ready to come outdoor for sure. All that work indoor kind of paid off and I'm glad, but we're going to go higher."

Montana also had a good day on the track, particularly in the sprint groups. Audrey Smith won the women's 100-meter race with a time 12.21, leading an all-Grizzly podium. In the 200, it was the freshman Lily Meskers that won for Montana in a time of 25.35 to back up her third place finish in the 100. The top three remained the same for both, as Mikenna Ells finished runner-up in both events.

On the men's side, Cooper Hewett had a big PR in the 100 meter to win with a time of 10.63 seconds. The Grizzlies again went 1-2-3, as Teagun Holycross and Xavier Melice both finished in under 11 seconds as well.

"He was injured most of indoor season after a bad fall in our first meet, so for him to come out and have a big PR in the 100-meter was very legitimate," Fraley said of Hewett's time.

In the men's 200 it was Melice who nearly stole the show, leading Montana's runners but finishing one hundredth of a second behind an unattached runner. It was a fantastic moment for Melice, who is returning from a torn Achilles tendon from last indoor season. He said that he's starting to feel closer to 100 percent.

"It's back, we just have to get some nice weather and I think the team will start to roll," Melice said. "We have some good 100 guys and good 200 guys, so we're excited for next week. It will be big."

Katie Whitehurst won the 800-meter for Montana and was followed closely behind by a couple of teammates who set new PRs. Mackenzie Morgan (2:19.32) and MacKenzie Dean (2:22.54) both gave a good challenge to Whitehurst as the trio all finished together.

The men completed another 1-2-3 sweep in the 400m. Ty Ferguson got the event win with a time of 49.35, the first time that he has run a sub-50 time. Cutter Thatcher came in second and Jay Beagle in third with a new PR.

"It was great," Ferguson said of his PR. "Today I woke up a little groggy, a little tired, but as soon as I started warming up and getting going I knew I had to lock in and make this first one a good meet."

Montana's lone distance win came from Rogelio Mares in the 1,500-meter with a time of 3:59.74.

There was plenty thrown at Montana as they kicked off the outdoor season, from the cold to the last-minute changes with Montana State's travel falling through. For a first year head coach, Fraley said he was thankful for a good turnout from fans and great effort from the staff to make the event run smoothly.

"It was really good to get through this first one. It gives us an idea to see what things in our meet management are good and what we can do better as far as putting meets on," Fraley said. "We had a great crew of officials and volunteers that kept the show rolling."

Perhaps the most important thing for Fraley was that his team made it through the meet healthy. This is the first of six weekends of regular season competition for Montana, and a building block for the rest of the season.

"The group came through healthy which is always a good deal this time of year," Fraley said. "We've gone into hard training in March to put hay in the barn, so you're always kind of at risk when you're training hard and then you're asking kids to compete, but everybody made it through real well."

Next up for Montana is the Griz-Cat dual on Saturday, April 1. It's the first taste of the rivalry for Fraley, and he's excited to see how his team rises to the challenge.

"I'm really looking forward to that. I came up in an era where dual meets and scored meets were real common. In track, a lot of that has gone by the wayside for bigger invitationals but I'm really excited to have Montana State come in," Fraley said. "They've become a perennial top three conference team on both sides, so it's going to be fun next week to have them come in and see how our kids stack up when the competition level goes way up."

Montana will be hosting a social and fundraiser on Friday night before the meet. Fans can purchase tickets or donate here.

Montana's Al Manuel Invitational Results

Women's 100m – Audrey Smith (12.21*, 1^st), Mikenna Ells (12.25, 2^nd), Lily Meskers (12.32, 3^rd), Cosley Bruno (12.55, 4^th), Rileigh McGree (12.59, 5^th), Destiny Santiago (13.02*, 6^th)
Women's 200m – Lily Meskers (25.35, 1^st), Mikenna Ells (25.39, 2^nd), Audrey Smith (25.58*, 3^rd), Cosley Bruno (25.83, 4^th), Destiny Santiago (27.41, 6^th), Whitney Morrison (32.03, 7^th)
Women's 800m – Katie Whitehurst (2:19.02, 1^st), Mackenzie Morgan (2:19.32*, 2^nd), MacKenzie Dean (2:22.54*, 3^rd)
Women's 1,500m – Jaylyn Hallgrimson (4:53.16, 2^nd), Kayla Ingraham (4:56.62*, 3^rd), Iris McKean (5:00.27, 5^th)
Women's 5,000m – Beatrix Frissell (19:35.93, 5^th), Leah Gath (21:35.58, 8^th)
Women's 4x100m – Smith, Santiago, Bruno, Mattson (47.88, 1^st)
Women's 4x400m – Ells, Whitehurst, Bruno, Morgan (4:01.72, 1^st)
Women's high jump – Erin Wilde (5-3.25, 1^st), Brooke Stayner (4-11, 2^nd), Whitney Morrison (4-11, 4^th), Ainsley Shipman (4-7, 7^th)
Women's long jump – Ailsa Gilbert (17-7.5, 1^st), Morgan Radtke (17-7.5*, 2^nd), Rileigh McGree (17-2, 5^th), Perry Paffhausen (17-1.5, 6^th)
Women's triple jump – Ailsa Gilbert (36-6.75, 1^st), Kara Mattson (34-11.75, 2^nd)
Women's pole vault – Shealyne McGee (12-7.50*, 1^st), Aly Tekippe (12-1.50, 2^nd), Ani Smith (11-7.75, 3^rd), Molly Chambers (11-7.75*, 4^th), Emma Zimmerman (11-1.75, 5^th)
Women's discus – Madi Arneson (138-02, 1^st), Molly O'Dell (108-09, 8^th)
Women's hammer throw – Kaitlyn Gallo (170-10, 2^nd), Savana Ramirez (167-08*, 3^rd), Molly O'Dell (119-06, 11^th)
Women's javelin – Kylie Frohlich (134-05*, 1^st), Lea Moose (127-04, 5^th), Autumn Morse (126-00, 6^th), Cyisa Weidman (120-01, 8^th), Tatum McNamara (112-06, 9^th), Whitney Morrison (111-01, 10^th), Morgan Radtke (91-10, 13^th), Ainsley Shipman (72-09, 20^th)
Women's shot put – Madi Arneson (40-2.25, 2^nd), Brooke Stayner (27-3.25, 12^th)

Men's 100m – Cooper Hewett (10.63*, 1^st), Teagun Holycross (10.76*, 2^nd), Xavier Melice (10.98*, 3^rd), Taylor Johnson (11.12, 4^th)
Men's 200m – Xavier Melice (22.17, 2^nd), Taylor Johnson (22.20, 3^rd), Ty Ferguson (22.46*, 4^th), Jay Beagle (22.59*, 5^th), Cade Johnstone (22.63, 6^th)
Men's 400m – Ty Ferguson (49.35*, 1^st), Cutter Thatcher (49.59, 2^nd), Jay Beagle (49.88*, 3^rd), Adam Maxwell (53.13, 9^th), Porter Coffield (53.32, 10^th)
Men's 800m – Casey Crouch (1:58.27, 2^nd), Will Dauenhauer (1:59.85, 3^rd), Maxwell Scott (2:02.07, 5^th)
Men's 1,500m – Rogelio Mares (3:59.74, 1^st), Maxwell Scott (4:02.67, 3^rd), Truman Cowan (4:03.29, 4^th), Lane Cole (4:04.63, 5^th), Nathan Carter (4:05.67, 6^th), Cooper Morris (4:10.58, 8^th), Brady Woods (4:15.91, 11^th)
Men's 4x100m – Holycross, Melice, Johnson, Hewett (41.67, 1^st)
Men's high jump – Patrick Kremer (6-5, 1^st), Alfred Peterson (6-4, 3^rd), Adam Maxwell (6-2, 4^th)
Men's long jump – Alfred Peterson (21-11.75*, 2^nd), Patrick Kremer (21-10.25, 3^rd), Dylan Zink (20-07, 5^th)
Men's triple jump – Dylan Zink (44-0.5, 2^nd)
Men's pole vault – Zane Johnson (16-4.75*, 1^st), Carson Weeden (15-3, 2^nd)
Men's discus – Walker McDonald (148-03, 5^th)
Men's hammer throw – Noah Ramirez (177-07*, 2^nd), Walker McDonald (149-09, 7^th), Wade Rykal (130-11, 11^th)
Men's javelin – Evan Todd (213-09, 1^st), Matthew Hockett (194-02, 4^th), Everett Fred (192-11, 5^th)
Men's shot put – Noah Ramirez (53-0.75, 2^nd), Wade Rykal (49-5.5, 5^th), Walker McDonald (42-8.75, 11^th)

*denotes PR while at Montana. Freshmen PR's not listed