Griz send 15 through to the finals in Pocatello

Scenes from the Montana Open at Dornblaser Field on April 22, 2023.

Photo by: Tanner Ecker

4/28/2023 9:08:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field team advanced a solid number of athletes through the preliminaries and saw some great field performances on the first day of the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello on Friday. The Grizzlies had nine men and six women reach Saturday's finals in the sprint events, highlighted by several PR performances.

"I was really pleased with the athletes that competed well in their prelims and qualified for the finals tomorrow," Fraley said. "We had a good representation in the sprint department so I'm very pleased and am looking forward to what they can do coming back on short rest to compete in the finals of strong fields tomorrow."

The hurdle group for Montana put together its best day of the season on both sides with some incredibly fast times. The most notable among them was a 59.11 time in the 400-meter hurdles by Holly Sudol, who becomes the first Big Sky woman to break 60 seconds this season in the event to take over the conference lead and move into the top 30 in the NCAA West Region.

She wasn't the only one to PR in the event. Brooke Stayner cut nearly two seconds off her previous best time this season, which will move her into seventh place in the Big Sky performance lists. Stayner had a double-up in hurdles, also recording her fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles and advancing to the finals on Saturday with a time of 14.54.

On the men's side, Cutter Thatcher improved by more than a half-second in the 400-meter hurdles and put a top-five time in the Big Sky up with a run of 53.47. It was the third-best time on the day, advancing him to Saturday's finals along with Adam Maxwell and Porter Coffield.

Jaydon Green eased into the finals with a 14.39 time in what Fraley called a smooth race.

"They had a really solid outing," Fraley said of the hurdle group. "We've been waiting for Holly to breakthrough in the 400 hurdles and so that was right on par with what we were thinking she could do. Cutter did a really good job getting a lifetime best after hurting his shoulder real bad last year and missing most of the outdoor season, so that was really good running from him."

Evan Todd built upon a good throw last week at the Montana Open, improving for the second straight week to win the javelin with a throw of 226-7. The season-best throw earned Todd his fifth meet victory of the season, and gave him momentum heading into the postseason.

Matthew Hockett finished third and Everett Fred seventh in the javelin as well.

"Evan Todd was fantastic again today throwing 69 meters and winning," Fraley said. "He's showing that consistency that is so important down the stretch and once you get to the championship season."

The men's javelin throwers weren't the only ones that put on a show in Pocatello. Montana finished with five of the top 11 spots in the women's competition, including a second place finish from Lea Moose. The transfer threw a career best 142-9 to finish second in the event. It is also a top four throw in the Big Sky this year.

Kylie Frohlich moved up in the league's performance list as well with a new PR of 138-6 that put her in fourth place. Autumn Morse (4^th), Tatum McNamara (10^th), and Cyisa Weidman (11^th) all had good performances as well.

"The women's javelin crew was excellent today," Fraley said. "We had PRs from Lea Moose and Kylie Frohlich and season bests from a few others, so that was a very strong showing for them coming around at the right time of the year."

Elsewhere in the field events, Montana got a couple of lifetime best jumps from Jason Upton. He entered the meet ranked fifth in the Big Sky with a jump of 23-11, but had never eclipsed the 24-foot mark in his life.

He did it twice on Friday afternoon, finishing second in the event with a new best mark of 24-3.

"It was really outstanding. It's been a goal of his for a long time to jump over 24 feet and he did it twice today, so that was great. That was a really good job that will move him up toward the top of the conference list."

The women's long jumpers had career days as well. A couple of freshman in Kara Mattson (18-3) and Perry Paffhausen (17-11) both finished inside the top 10.

Noah Ramirez finished third in the hammer throw with a mark of 174-7, while freshman Walker McDonald placed 6^th with a new PR of 171-8.

On the women's side of that competition, Savana Ramirez represented the Grizzlies well with her second PR in as many weeks. She threw 172-9 to finish in fifth place.

There was a scary moment for Montana in the pole vault competition. Attempting his first jump of the day, Carson Weeden snapped a pole and came crashing down onto the pad. He got right back up and shook it off. The uncertainty and fear that can come from that would sideline many competitors. Instead, Weeden let it fuel him.

He got right back on the runway and cleared his first bar. Then he kept going up, making it all the way to 16-3.5. It was the first time he had cleared 16 feet in the event, setting a new PR.

"To be able to snap a pole and stay together mentally to come back and get a big PR was an outstanding job," Fraley said.

Zane Johnson also reached 16-3.5 to tie for second place.

In the sprints, Teagun Holycross became a double finalist in the 100 and 200-meter races. He set a new PR in the longer of the two, running a time of 21.53 to have the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the event.

Taylor Johnson and Ty Ferguson both ran PR times in the 400 to advance to the finals in that event.

The 400 proved a strength on the women's side with three different Grizzlies qualifying for Saturday's final. Mikenna Ells had the top qualifying time of all competitors with a 56.22 while Lily Meskers and Cosley Bruno will both be running that final lap as well.

For both the men and the women, the strong start should hopefully lead to good relay performances. It's an event that Fraley is really looking forward to, along with some other field finals that will take place on Saturday.

"We've got good representation in both men's and women's relays tomorrow, women's pole vault is another area that we can place really highly in, so we've got some really good opportunities going into tomorrow," Fraley said.

The distance runners already had one final on Friday, finishing up the 1,500-meter run. Maxwell Scott led Montana with a seventh place finish on the men's side as Rogelio Mares and Cooper Morris both ran new personal bests.

Jaylyn Hallgrimson had the top women's time of Montana's five competitors.

Overall, there were positive steps forward for Montana on the first day. Now, they will hope that warmer weather and bigger competition will bring out the best that the Grizzlies have to offer.

"It was a really solid first day for us in great weather," Fraley said. "We're looking forward to getting back after it again tomorrow. We've got some strong events that didn't contest today that we're really looking forward to."

Bengal Invitational Finals
Men's 1,500m – Maxwell Scott (3:54.61, 7^th), Truman Cowan (3:54.85, 8^th), Rogelio Mares (3:55.11*, 10^th), Cooper Morris (4:05.92*, 28^th)
Men's long jump – Jason Upton (24-3*, 2^nd), Jethro Thorne (21-9.5, 5^th), Gordon McMillion (21-9.5, 5^th), Patrick Kremer (21-8.25, 7^th), Dylan Zink (20-2.5, 9^th)
Men's pole vault – Zane Johnson (16-3.25, t-2^nd), Carson Weeden (16-3.25*, 4^th), Carson Hegele (14-3.5, 13^th)
Men's hammer – Noah Ramirez (174-07, 3^rd), Walker McDonald (171-8*, 6^th), Wade Rykal (149-3, 16^th)
Men's javelin – Evan Todd (226-07, 1^st), Matthew Hockett (206-11, 3^rd), Everett Fred (187-04, 7^th)

Women's 1,500m – Jaylyn Hallgrimson (4:50.27, 15^th), Mackenzie Morgan (4:52.88, 17^th) Olivia Lackland Henry (4:53.58, 18^th), Kayla Ingraham (4:55.88, 21^st), Iris McKean (4:59.23, 22^nd)
Women's long jump – Kara Mattson (18-3*, 5^th), Perry Paffhausen (17-11*, 10^th), Ailsa Gilbert (17-2.75, 19^th), Whitney Morrison (17-1.5, 20^th), Rileigh McGree (16-5, 28^th)
Women's hammer – Savana Ramirez (172-09*, 5^th)
Women's javelin – Lea Moose (142-9*, 2^nd), Kylie Frohlich (138-6*, 4^th), Autumn Morse (134-0, 5^th), Tatum McNamara (119-8, 10^th), Cyisa Weidman (119-4, 11^th), Morgan Radtke (105-6, 18^th), Ainsley Shipman (75-9, 24^th)

Bengal Invitational Prelims
Men's 100m – Teagun Holycross (10.75Q, 5^th), Xavier Melice (10.92, 9^th)
Men's 200m – Teagun Holycross (21.53*Q, 4^th)
Men's 400m – Taylor Johnson (48.76*Q, 5^th), Ty Ferguson (48.92*Q, 8^th) Jay Beagle (49.56, 11^th)
Men's 110mH – Jaydon Green (14.39Q, 2^nd), Adam Maxwell (15.49*Q, 7^th), Porter Coffield (15.96*, 11^th)
Men's 400mH – Cutter Thatcher (53.47*Q, 3^rd), Adam Maxwell (56.45Q, 7^th), Porter Coffield (57.17Q, 8^th)

Women's 100m – Audrey Smith (12.51, 13^th), Destiny Santiago (13.09, 23^rd)
Women's 200m – Morgan Radtke (26.47, 27^th), Destiny Santiago (26.63, 29^th)
Women's 400m – Mikenna Ells (56.22Q, 1^st), Lily Meskers (56.50Q, 3^rd), Cosley Bruno (58.46Q, 7^th)
Women's 100mH – Brooke Stayner (14.54*Q, 7^th), Ailsa Gilbert (14.60, 9^th), Kara Mattson (15.49*, 18^th), Whitney Morrison (15.50*, 19^th), Ainsley Shipman (15.73, 21^st), Rileigh McGree (16.47, 24^th)
Women's 400mH – Holly Sudol (59.11*Q, 1^st), Brooke Stayner (1:02.67*Q, 6^th)

Q – qualified for Saturday's finals
* - denotes PR