Green's school record highlights strong Montana Open performance

Saturday, April 22

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Montana Open

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

Green's school record highlights strong Montana Open performance

4/22/2023 8:25:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field team closed out the home portion of the schedule on Saturday with the Montana Open, celebrating 18 seniors and putting together a great day of performances for a packed Dornblaser Field crowd.

After difficult weather conditions in the first two home meets, the Grizzlies were finally treated to a day with no rain or snow and took advantage of it.

"It was great. We had a good weather day and a great crowd," head coach Doug Fraley said. "The bleachers were full and I thought our announcers did a good job of keeping people abreast of what was happening in the track meet, so I thought it was a really good environment. I was really happy to be able to finish our home season with a really good track meet."

The highlight of the day came in the men's 110-meter hurdles. Jaydon Green ran a wind-aided 14.20 last weekend in California that would have been a school record if not for the conditions. On a day when the wind finally died down, Green made the most of his last run on the Dornblaser track.

Green got out clean from the start and ran an incredibly smooth race en route to a time of 14.23. He is now officially the school record holder for Montana, backing up his record in the indoor 60-meter to leave his mark as one of the fastest men in program history. The crowd, and the moment, made it all the more sweet.

"It's cool just to do it at home in general, but on Senior Day it makes it even better," Green said. "I've been here for so long it seems like and it's finally all coming to an end, so it's bittersweet but a good way to put a cap on it."

The exciting thing for Green is the though of how low his time can go.

"Even today, I wasn't trying to go for it as much as I usually do because I wanted to have a clean race," he said. "It was more just trying to get the rhythm down which I thought I did today. It's all about adding little pieces on and hopefully a sub-14 is coming soon."

The level of competition will continue to grow for Green as the season continues. He is currently just outside the top 50 in the NCAA West Region with his qualifying time, and is fourth place in the Big Sky. As the competition around him continues to get better, and Green continues to improve, the times should get better and better.

"It's another piece of the puzzle that he's putting together, and when you add the competition to that is when you really break through so I expect him to hit some really good times as we progress through the rest of the season," head coach Doug Fraley said.

The Grizzlies had plenty of other event wins and PRs on the day. All told, the Grizzlies won 16 events and had 38 new PRs. It led to a lot of cheers from the packed crowd.

It started on Friday with a great group of throwing events for Montana. There were three PRs in the hammer throw by Noah Ramirez, Wade Rykal and Savana Ramirez. Then in the javelin, Kylie Frohlich set a new PR of 135-7 that moves her into eighth place in the Big Sky Conference.

But Montana saved the best for last on Friday evening, as the men's javelin squad had a massive day. Matthew Hockett set a new PR by a wide distance with a throw of 217-8 that had him leading the event entering the final throws. The mark should also qualify him for the NCAA West Regionals as it is currently the 23^rd best in the west. The top 48 marks all advance to regionals.

His victory was snatched away on the final throw of his teammate Evan Todd. On his sixth throw, Todd got the crowd behind him and uncorked a new career best throw of 226-2. It is the 14^th best throw in the West, and the 35^th best in the entire country this season.

"What a luxury to have a couple of athletes the caliber where they are in mid-April and have pretty much locked up their first round qualifying marks," Fraley said. "And to be able to do that at home after sleet, and snow, and rain, and everything else, the javelin gods were with us and parted the skies so they were actually throwing in the sunshine and they took advantage of that."

The top 48 marks from the season advance to regionals, but once there only 12 will move on the NCAA Championships. A big throw that comes out of nowhere can help get you to regionals, but it's the consistency that will make or break your chances at nationals. Todd seems to have found that these past two weeks.

"For Evan, having that 65, 66 meter throw in his back pocket that he can depend on whether he is having a great day or an average day is huge," Fraley said. "And for Matt to break through like that by three meters and punch his ticket is outstanding."

Holly Sudol, another Grizzly senior, had a good day on the track. Sudol was a double event winner, taking home the crown in the 200m and the 400m. She ran a new career best time in the 200 with a 25.14, and also closed out the 4x100 meter relay with the final leg of a 46.40.

She said that she fed off the energy of the crowd, which was among the biggest she has seen in her career at Montana.

"I think it's really rewarding because looking at where I started and seeing that I ended my last home meet with two wins is really exciting, and a PR in a relay I just started last week was also very exciting," Sudol said.

The women's runners had a great meet overall. In addition to Sudol's two wins, Montana also had victories from Audrey Smith in the 100m and Kayla Ingraham in the 5,000m. Mackenzie Morgan ran a big PR in the 800 as well, and Iris McKean put together a very good time in her first career steeplechase to round out a good overall day.

The men's runners got wins from Cooper Hewett with a new PR of 21.54 in the 200 and Casey Crouch who also had a PR in the 800 at 1:54.89. In the distance races, Rogelio Mares celebrated Senior Day with a win at the 5,000 with a new PR of 14:50.00.

Green won the short hurdles, and Adam Maxwell set a new PR in the 400m hurdles and won the race in 55.06 seconds.

It was in the field events where Montana's men had their strength, winning four events and finishing in a runner-up position four times as well. Noah Ramirez contributed to both of those totals, taking home the title in the final event of the meet with a shot put throw measuring 55-5. He also finished second in the hammer throw on Friday.

Patrick Kremer complete a clean sweep of the high jump events in Missoula, winning for the third time with a mark of 6-4. Zane Johnson picked up his second win of the season in the pole vault, this time against a highly competitive field that featured five of the top six vaulters in the Big Sky Conference.

Jethro Thorne, competing for the first time this outdoor season, finished as the runner-up in the long jump with a distance of 22-11.75.

The women's field events got a win in the high jump from freshman Erin Wilde, who had a PR for the second straight event and has now won twice at home. Her mark of 5-8 is now the second best in the Big Sky and tied for 41^st in the West Region, putting her right in the bubble for qualifying for the NCAA First Round.

"That was fantastic. For her to be able to go out and PR in California last week and then come out today and hit another PR that puts her probably one bar away," Fraley said. "The next bar probably gets you to the regional meets, and one of her attempts at it was really good. The way she is progressing as a freshman and starting to mature as a college athlete is very impressive right now."

Shealyne McGee had a PR in the pole vault to tie for third in what was again a very strong field featuring Eastern Washington and Montana State athletes. McGee is now 71^st in the West Region, and with improvements over the final two meets is not out of the regional conversation.

It was a strong day overall for the vaulters, as Emma Zimmerman and Molly Chambers both recorded new PRs as well.

Early in the competition there was a break in the action as Montana honored its 18 seniors. There were nine men and nine women recognized that competed in their final home event on Saturday. They would go on to put up good numbers on the day, including several new PRs in the last home event.

"For those kids, it is very emotional getting ready to do their last jumps or last race here at Dornblaser. They've spent a lot of time here in the last four or five years, so to see those seniors finish with good performances like that is really special," Fraley said. "It's something that them and their parents, their family, will take away from this place with performances like that on senior day."

The Grizzlies are now entering the final turn of the season and getting ready to head down the home stretch. They will hit the road to Pocatello next weekend before concluding the regular season in Bozeman on the first weekend of May.

After that, the Big Sky Championships await.

"I thought it was a good, solid effort from all event areas again. We had a really solid backing from our fans and team members that made it a very enjoyable day at Dornblaser," Fraley said. "It's been good for me as a first-year coach to go through three home meets and kind of see what things need to be tweaked and what is good, but I thought we finished on a high note today."

Montana Open Results
Men's 100m – Teagun Holycross (10.95, 3^rd/8)
Men's 200m – Cooper Hewett (21.54*, 1^st/18), Jay Beagle (22.34*, 3^rd), Taylor Johnson (22.49, 5^th), Cutter Thatcher (22.53*, 6^th), Ty Ferguson (23.05, 9^th)
Men's 400m – Ty Ferguson (48.94*, 2^nd/12), Cutter Thatcher (48.95*, 3^rd), Xavier Melice (49.12, 4^th), Jay Beagle (49.43, 5^th)
Men's 800m – Casey Crouch (1:54.89*, 1^st/14), Will Dauenhauer (1:57.48, 5^th)
Men's 1,500m – Truman Cowan (3:59.52, 2^nd/8)
Men's 5,000m – Rogelio Mares (14:50.00*, 1^st/14), Nathan Carter (14:54.79, 3^rd)
Men's 110m hurdles – Jaydon Green (14.23, 1^st/5), Adam Maxwell (15.91, 4^th), Porter Coffield (16.18, 5^th)
Men's 400m hurdles – Adam Maxwell (55.06*, 1^st/3), Porter Coffield (56.56*, 2^nd)
Men's steeplechase – Cooper Morris (9:32.54*, 2^nd/10)
Men's 4x100m relay – Holycross, Green, Melice, Hewett (41.19, 1^st), Thatcher, Ferguson, Beagle, Johnson (42.26, 2^nd)
Men's 4x400m relay – Crouch, Beagle, Dauenhauer, Ferguson (3:20.31, 2^nd/4)
Men's high jump – Patrick Kremer (6-4, 1^st/7), Adam Maxwell (6-2, 2^nd)
Men's pole vault – Zane Johnson (16-4, 1^st/19), Carson Weeden (15-10, 3^rd), Carson Hegele (14-4.5*, 7^th), Carter Petersen (13-10.5, 10^th)
Men's long jump – Jethro Thorne (22-11.75, 2^nd), Patrick Kremer (21-10.75*, 3^rd), Gordon McMillion (21-8.25*, 4^th), Dylan Zink (20-3.75, 8^th)
Men's triple jump – Dylan Zink (43-7.75, 3^rd/7)
Men's shot put – Noah Ramirez (55-5, 1^st/24), Wade Rykal (48-0.75, 7^th), Walker McDonald (44-6*, 15^th)
Men's discus – Walker McDonald (150-2, 4^th/16)
Men's hammer – Noah Ramirez (183-2*, 2^nd/21), Wade Rykal (160-2*, 6^th)
Men's javelin – Evan Todd (226-2*, 1^st/10), Matthew Hockett (217-8*, 2^nd), Everett Fred (190-4, 4^th)

Women's 100m – Audrey Smith (12.16*, 1^st), Mikenna Ells (12.30, 3^rd), Lily Meskers (12.48, 5^th), Rileigh McGree (12.79, 8^th), Cosley Bruno (12.88, 9^th)
Women's 200m – Holly Sudol (25.14*, 1^st/22), Mikenna Ells (25.37, 2^nd), Lily Meskers (25.65, 4^th), Audrey Smith (26.00, 6^th), Cosley Bruno (26.56, 9^th), Katie Whitehurst (26.75, 11^th), Ainsley Shipman (26.84*, 12^th), Morgan Radtke (26.97, 14^th), Destiny Santiago (27.61, 18^th), Whitney Morrison (27.95, 19^th)
Women's 400m – Holly Sudol (55.21, 1^st/13), Katie Whitehurst (59.79*, 5^th)
Women's 800m – Mackenzie Morgan (2:15.74*, 2^nd/19), MacKenzie Dean (2:17.67*, 5^th), Brooke Stayner (2:31.73, 15^th)
Women's 1,500m – Jaylyn Hallgrimson (4:45.63*, 5^th/17)
Women's 5,000m – Kayla Ingraham (17:57.14*, 1^st/11), Beatrix Frissell (18:19.94, 2^nd), Leah Gath (20:42.01, 10^th)
Women's 100m hurdles – Brooke Stayner (14.57*, 2^nd/11), Ailsa Gilbert (14.74, 3^rd), Ainsley Shipman (15.19*, 5^th), Morgan Radtke (15.41*, 6^th), Rileigh McGree (15.73*, 8^th), Kara Mattson (16.12, 9^th)
Women's steeplechase – Iris McKean (12:08.79, 2^nd/9)
Women's 4x100m relay – Meskers, Ells, Smith, Sudol (46.40, 2^nd), McGree, Mattson, Bruno, Santiago (48.79, 4^th)
Women's 4x400m relay – Morgan, Whitehurst, Dean, Bruno (4:00.16, 1^st/2)
Women's high jump – Erin Wilde (5-8*, 1^st/16), Morgan Radtke (5-5.75, 2^nd), Ainsley Shipman (4-7.75, 12^th)
Women's pole vault – Shealyne McGee (12-8.25*, t-3^rd/16), Emma Zimmerman (12-2.5*, 5^th), Aly Tekippe (11-8.5, 6^th), Molly Chambers (11-8.5*, 7^th), Ani Smith (11-2.5, 10^th)
Women's long jump – Ailsa Gilbert (17-11.75, 4^th/23), Perry Paffhausen (17-9.75*, 5^th), Kara Mattson (17-9*, 6^th), Ainsley Shipman (17-0.5, 9^th), Brooke Stayner (16-7.25, 13^th), Whitney Morrison (16-7.25, 13^th)
Women's triple jump – Ailsa Gilbert (36-9.75, 5^th/13)
Women's shot put – Morgan Radtke (33-5.25*, 12^th/17)
Women's discus – Madi Arneson (134-10, 3^rd/18), Molly O'Dell (116-9*, 10^th)
Women's hammer – Kaitlyn Gallo (172-6, 3^rd/13), Savana Ramirez (169-7*, 4^th), Molly O'Dell (128-4, 8^th),
Women's javelin – Kylie Frohlich (135-7*, 3^rd/21), Autumn Morse (130-3, 4^th), Lea Moose (129-0, 5^th), Cyisa Weidman (118-3, 9^th), Whitney Morrison (109-1, 12^th), Tatum McNamara (106-9, 15^th), Ainsley Shipman (80-3, 19^th), Brooke Stayner (70-9, 21^st)