Montana closes California trip strong

Friday, April 14

Long Beach, Calif.

Montana

Beach Invitational

Scenes from the Griz-Cat Dual at Dornblaser Track on April 1, 2023.

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

4/15/2023 8:50:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The last 48 hours for the Montana track and field team have been a whirlwind with athletes competing all around the Los Angeles area in a trio of meets that put them to the test against the best competition they have faced in the 2023 season.

The goal entering this week for head coach Doug Fraley was to replicate a conference meet, where making the finals means you have to run on consecutive days with little rest. He had plenty of athletes doing that on Saturday at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, California, and the results were positive for the first-year coach.

"Even though some of them weren't feeling at their very best because of the big output on Thursday, they still came back and had some really good times, heights, and distances," Fraley said of his athletes. "I was quite pleased with the competitive aspect of things because that's tough to do."

Despite all performing either Thursday or Friday, the Griz still turned in eight PR performances on Saturday.

The highlight of the day came from the 110-meter hurdle race, where one of Montana's brightest stars was on display. Jaydon Green already held the Montana record in the indoor 60m hurdles, and came within one-hundredth of a second of the outdoor record on Thursday.

He improved on his time Saturday, running a 14.20 time for a new personal record. The time was better than the school record, originally set by Roy Robinson in 1970 and matched by Tim Fox in 1980. However, because of the wind present in California, the time won't officially enter the Grizzly record books.

Still, it shows the potential for Green, who seems poised to claim the record sooner than later.

"He ran a cleaner race today than he did on Thursday, and yet there is still plenty of room for improvement," Fraley said. "It showed great consistency and really just good promise as to what he's going to do as he continues to tweak things and clean them up in his race. It's fantastic."

The duo of Mikenna Ells and Lily Meskers had another good day. After getting double PR's in the 100 and 200 on Thursday, the pair shifted events to the 400 on Saturday. It didn't slow them down, as both runners again set personal bests and placed within the top 11 out of a 56-person field.

It made for a three-PR weekend for both. Their performance was a great sign for Fraley that his team not only has the conditioning required to handle a busy weekend, but also the drive to want to perform their best.

"(Meskers) and (Ells) in the 400 had two PR's on Thursday and they came back today and had PR's," Fraley said. "There were a lot of really exciting things like that that showed these kids are fit and competitive."

The men on the track got their start with a big-time performance in the 4x100-meter relay. The Grizzlies cut nearly a full second off their previous best mark of the season to finish in 41.00 seconds. It won their heat, which included Wisconsin, and also moved Montana from seventh to third in the Big Sky performance list.

It was just part of a good day from Teagun Holycross, who ran a 10.63 in the 100 for another PR. He narrowly missed his best-ever time in the 200, closing in 22.17 seconds for a 32^nd place finish.

Montana had another runner PR. After spending the previous two days at the Bryan Clay multi, Brooke Stayner arrived at the Beach and ran a 14.57 time in the 100m hurdles for a new best time.

In the field, Montana had another good day in a season full of them for the pole vaulters. On the women's side, Aly Tekippe set a new personal-best mark with a vault of 12-4.5, which will move her into the top six in the Big Sky. She tied in the event with Shealyne McGee, who is currently top three in the league in the season long lists with a best mark of 12-7.5.

For the men, it was Carson Weeden who reached new heights. After setting a PR Thursday with a mark of 15-11.25, Weeden one-upped himself Saturday. He vaulted 15-11.75, maintaining a top five mark in the Big Sky.

Audrey Smith also had a good day, narrowly missing a PR in the 100 but setting one in the 200 with a time of 25.61.

The Grizzlies may have saved their best for last. In the 4x400-meter relays to wrap up the day, both Montana teams had season-best marks. The women kicked things off with a 3:46.90, winning their heat by running the fastest time by a Big Sky team this season.

The men used that energy and turned it into a fantastic race as well. The Grizzlies would finish with the best time in the entire event, running 3:13.06. It is also the best time that has been run by a Big Sky team this season, putting Montana in a good position with three weeks to go in the regular season.

"The relays were really good. The 4x100s and particularly the 4x400s. It was great to get an event win on the men's side with that. (Melice) turned a 47.5 split and (Johnstone) turned a 47.4 split. Those guys are starting to round into shape, and I feel like our team is trending in the right direction right now with consistency and PR's both in their specialties and some side events. That all should bode well as we move forward with the season.

Late on Friday night for Montana, Maxwell Scott competed in the Bryan Clay Invitational, running a time of 14:24.98 to narrowly miss a PR and finish 15^th in his flight of the prestigious distance event.

At Long Beach, Fraley was inspired not only by his team but also by the support shown to the Grizzlies. He said that fans and parents traveled from all across the country to watch Montana compete, and the PA announcer in the stadium noted the raucous support for the Grizzlies.

They will hope to have that support again this week as they return home for senior day at the Montana Open. The Grizzlies will host their final event of the season starting Friday, April 21.

Beach Invitational Results
Women's 100m – Audrey Smith (12.29, 38^th/63)
Women's 200m – Audrey Smith (25.61*, 33^rd/71)
Women's 400m – Mikenna Ells (55.98*, 8^th/56), Lily Meskers (56.39*, 11^th)
Women's 800m – Katie Whitehurst (2:16.85, 11^th/45)
Women's 100m hurdles – Brooke Stayner (14.57*, 39^th/64), Ailsa Gilbert (14.90, 44^th)
Women's 400m hurdles – Holly Sudol (1:00.89*, 12^th), Brooke Stayner (1:04.50, 34^th)
Women's 4x100m relay – Montana A (46.85, 10^th/17)
Women's 4x400m relay – Ells, Meskers, Whitehurst, Sudol (3:46.90, 5^th/13)
Women's high jump – Erin Wilde (5-5.25, 12^th/26), Morgan Radtke (5-3.25, 14^th)
Women's long jump – Ailsa Gilbert (16-7.75, 37^th/48), Whitney Morrison (15-2, 44^th)
Women's pole vault – Aly Tekippe (12-4.5*, t-20^th/30), Shealyne McGee (12-4.5, t-20^th)

Men's 100m – Cooper Hewett (10.57, 16^th/69), Teagun Holycross (10.63*, 22^nd)
Men's 200m – Teagun Holycross (22.17, 32^nd/56)
Men's 400m – Paul Johnstone (48.82, 10^th/50), Xavier Melice (49.34, 17^th), Taylor Johnson (49.39, 19^th)
Men's 110m hurdles – Jaydon Green (14.20*, 6^th/33)
Men's 400m hurdles – Cutter Thatcher (54.92, 15^th/27)
Men's 4x100m relay – Montana A (41.00, 4^th/12)
Men's 4x400m relay – Thatcher, Johnson, Melice, Johnstone (3:13.06, 1^st/7)
Men's long jump – Jason Upton (22-5.25, 26^th/44)
Men's pole vault – Carson Weeden (15-11.75*, 20^th/36)
Men's shot put – Noah Ramirez (54-6.5, 23^rd/62)

Bryan Clay Invitational Results
Men's 5,000m – Maxwell Scott (14:24.98, 15^th/31)