Montana adds four more event wins in Pocatello

Friday, April 28

Pocatello, Idaho

Montana

Bengal Invitational

Scenes from the Montana Open at Dornblazer Track on April 22, 2023.

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

4/29/2023 5:41:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Final Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field team took advantage of the nice weather in Pocatello on Saturday and strung together another run of fantastic performances in what will be the final regular season meet for the bulk of the roster.

After prelims yesterday, head coach Doug Fraley wanted to see how his team would respond on the second straight day of competition in the sprint events. The team didn't let him down. In the finals on Saturday, Montana had four event winners and five more athletes within the top three. Add in Evan Todd's javelin title yesterday, and the Grizzlies claimed five total wins in Pocatello.

"The thing I'm most pleased with is we ended up getting five event wins out of the meet, and going up against good competition to get five event wins for our squad is a great output and a great result for us," Fraley said. "Ultimately when you're getting ready for the conference meet, how kids compete and if they can beat kids from other teams is really the most important factor and I thought we did a good job with that this weekend."

The women contributed to two of the event wins with Holly Sudol and Mikenna Ells both claiming meet titles.

Sudol couldn't quite match her blistering time from the prelims in the 400-meter hurdles, but she again broke the 60 second barrier to win the event with a time of 59.19. It was a nearly three-second victory for Sudol over the next closest D-1 runner.

Ells improved upon her 400 time from Friday, winning the event in 56.08 seconds. The Grizzlies put together a strong effort in the event as Lily Meskers finished second in 56.41 seconds.

The biggest time improvement of the day came from Cutter Thatcher. The Butte native entered the week ranked sixth in the Big Sky with a PR of 54.38 in the 400-meter hurdles. He threw down a career best time yesterday, and then blew that out again on Saturday.

Thatcher finished in second place in a time of 53.15 seconds, shaving more than a full second off his PR entering the week and moving into the top five in the Big Sky Conference.

There was another double PR in the sprints from Teagun Holycross. He began the day with a second-place finish in the 100m before running his fastest time ever in the 200m. His 21.51 second sprint won the Bengal Invitational and rounded out a great weekend of competition that saw him rise from 17^th in the league rankings to a tie for fifth. It's the fastest 200 time by a Grizzly this season.

Holycross also led off the men's 4x100-meter relay team, and put them into a great position at the first handoff. After problems passing the baton last weekend they cleaned it up, winning the event in a time 41.21 despite missing Cooper Hewett, who was resting this week but has the fastest 100 time of the season by a Grizzly.

"I'm really proud of Teagun this weekend," Fraley said. "He ran really well in both rounds of the 100, exceptionally well in both rounds of the 200 to PR both times and win the event. His leadoff leg in the 4x100 relay was just outstanding, so he really ran five great races this weekend and I'm just really proud of him for how he has progressed through the outdoor season so far."

Ty Ferguson set a new personal best time in the 400 by crossing the line in 48.73 seconds. It moved him up from his qualifying spot and led to a second-place finish in the event. His teammate Taylor Johnson was fifth with a time of 49.10 seconds.

There were very strong performances in the 800 on both the men's and women's side. For the men, the duo of Will Dauenhauer and Casey Crouch have often been found running stride for stride with each other to the finish line. That was true again Saturday. Dauenhauer pulled slightly ahead in the end, but both ran their fastest career times en route to fifth and sixth place finishes.

On the women's side, Katie Whitehurst had her best run of the season to finish fourth in 2:15.32 seconds. Mackenzie Morgan and MacKenzie Dean finished in fifth and ninth place, respectively.

"Very pleased with really the sprint, hurdle, middle distance kids. I thought they competed really well and their times were reflective of that," Fraley said. "It's what you want to see two weeks out from a conference meet."

There were also personal bests to be had in the field competitions. Early in the day Montana got a pair of good performances by Alfred Peterson and Patrick Kremer in the high jump. The duo both cleared 6-7, matching a PR for Kremer and setting a new career best for Peterson.

Peterson would finish in fifth and Kremer seventh based on the number of misses.

Ainsley Shipman recorded a PR for the women's jumpers. She set a new best in the triple jump, going for 37-10.75 to tie for third place. The athlete she tied with was her teammate Ailsa Gilbert.

Dylan Zink finished in second place in the men's triple jump with a mark of 42.5.5.

Aly Tekippe was the top women's pole vaulter, reaching new heights with a PR of 12-6.75 to take fifth place in the competition. Ainsley Shipman and Brooke Stayner both had new PR's in the women's shot put competition.

There is just one week now remaining in the regular season, but this meet proved as the finale for much of Montana's roster. They will head to Bozeman next weekend for final tune-ups and auditions to try to get a place on the conference roster.

"For a lot of our kids the hay is in the barn," Fraley said. "Now, it's just final preparation to get ready for the Big Sky Championships so we're looking forward to that week and a half period. For the remainder of the team, they are in go-mode this week to try to earn a spot in Greeley. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds."

Bengal Invitational Results
Men's 100m – Teagun Holycross (10.70, 2^nd)
Men's 200m – Teagun Holycross (21.51*, 1^st)
Men's 400m – Ty Ferguson (48.73*, 2^nd), Taylor Johnson (49.10, 5^th)
Men's 800m – Will Dauenhauer (1:53.90*, 5^th), Casey Crouch (1:54.51*, 6^th)
Men's 5,000m – Rogelio Mares (14:54.50, 4^th), Maxwell Scott (15:16.48, 7^th), Truman Cowan (15:17.97, 8^th)
Men's 110m hurdles – Jaydon Green (14.29, 2^nd), Adam Maxwell (15.37*, 8^th)
Men's 400m hurdles – Cutter Thatcher (53.15*, 2^nd), Adam Maxwell (56.36, 4^th), Porter Coffield (57.20, 5^th)
Men's steeplechase – Cooper Morris (9:28.07, 7^th)
Men's 4x100m relay – Holycross, Green, Melice, Upton (41.21, 1^st)
Men's high jump – Alfred Peterson (6-7*, 5^th), Patrick Kremer (6-7, 7^th)
Men's triple jump – Dylan Zink (42-5.5, 2^nd)
Men's discus – Walker McDonald (151-4, 7^th)
Men's shot put – Noah Ramirez (54-8.75, 3^rd), Wade Rykal (49-4.5, 8^th), Walker McDonald (45-5, 14^th)

Women's 400m – Mikenna Ells (56.08, 1^st), Lily Meskers (56.41, 2^nd), Cosley Bruno (59.03, 7^th)
Women's 800m – Katie Whitehurst (2:15.43*, 4^th), Mackenzie Morgan (2:16.72, 5^th), MacKenzie Dean (2:19.41, 9^th)
Women's 100m hurdles – Brooke Stayner (14.32*, 7^th)
Women's 400m hurdles – Holly Sudol (59.19, 1^st), Brooke Stayner (1:04.61, 8^th)
Women's steeplechase – Iris McKean (12:17.43, 14^th)
Women's 4x100m relay – DNF
Women's high jump – Erin Wilde (5-7, 5^th), Whitney Morrison (4-11, 18^th)
Women's pole vault – Aly Tekippe (12-6.75, 5^th), Emma Zimmerman (12-0.75, 6^th), Molly Chambers (12-0.75, 7^th), Ani Smith (11-1, 11^th),
Women's triple jump – Ainsley Shipman (37-10.75*, t-3^rd), Ailsa Gilbert (37-10.75, t-3^rd)
Women's discus – Madi Arneson (135-6, 6^th), Molly O'Dell (115-11, 17^th)
Women's shot put – Ainsley Shipman (30-11.25*, 23^rd), Brooke Stayner (29-5.25*, 24^th)