Griz exceed expectations Friday at Big Sky Championships

Griz exceed expectations Friday at Big Sky Championships

5/12/2023 9:51:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The rain may have gone away but the wind provided ample challenges for the Montana track and field team Friday at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in Greeley. The Grizzlies had a good day on the track with preliminary qualifying and picked up an All-Conference honor in the women's javelin on a successful day one of the full meet.

"It was a challenging day. It was good the rain stopped but the wind was disruptive in a lot of events," head coach Doug Fraley said. "I thought our kids did a really good job staying focused and locked in. A majority of our people that needed to get through, got through, and that's all you can ask on day one in the prelims. Then to have the great finals that we had today in long jump, javelin, men's high jump, those events were huge today."

The Grizzly women are currently in fifth place with 22 points. The men are in eighth with 8.5 points, but plenty of scoring opportunities ahead of them in tomorrow's finals.

Gallery: (5-12-2023) TF: BSC Championship Day Three (5.12.23)

Women's javelin
The event produced an All-Conference performance for Montana on Friday. The wind blew directly into the face of the competitors, providing incredibly difficult conditions. The conditions pulled the best out of Autumn Morse.

The first throw of the competition proved to be enough for Morse. She fired one through the wind for a mark of 142-10. The throw was the best of the season for Morse, and held onto second place until the final throw of the competition. She still hung on for an All-Conference spot after entering as the 10^th seed.

The two best throws of Morse's career have both come at a Big Sky Championship as she took seventh at the 2021 meet. The feeling is sweet for the Seeley Lake native.

"It feels so good. I think probably the intensity that everybody is here and ready to compete feels good," Morse said. "There is definitely a certain vibe in the air. I just kept my arm back, kept it by my face and it just worked."

Her throws coach John Kolb told Fraley before the start of the competition that he had a good feeling about Morse because of her typical trajectory. It proved to be the ticket to managing the wind and making a big jump up the standings.

"That's really outstanding, her making the podium. She was 10^th seeded going in and hit that big throw in tough conditions," Fraley said. "It's so awesome that she was able to go take advantage of tough conditions to throw a season best and get on the podium."

Montana picked up more points in the competition from senior Kylie Frohlich. Her throw of 132-7 was good for eighth place and a Grizzly point.

Men's and women's long jump
The Grizzlies had a pair of scorers in the men's long jump to exceed pre-meet expectations. The wind in this event was a helpful one, and Jason Upton and Jethro Thorne took advantage to the tune of six Montana points.

Upton had his best mark on the final jump of the prelims, going 24-8.5 to improve more than five inches upon his PR. He narrowly missed All-Conference honors, finishing in fourth place out of 17 jumpers.

Thorne, who entered the meet seeded 10^th, improved upon his PR as well with a new personal best of 23-4.5.

"The long jump was huge for us on both sides. For Jason to get multiple PR's today and potentially get himself on the regional bubble was fantastic. He had a great day. He was consistent and dialed in and it was the best meet of his life for long jump.

"Jethro not expected to score, but something we've always talked about is having those fringe kids to make a move and get inside that top eight. He was in flight one but snuck in and had two improvements in the finals to move into eighth and score."

The final field event of the day for the women saw a breakthrough performance from freshman Kara Mattson. She entered the event with a PR of 18-3 and seeded 12^th in the Big Sky. She moved up significantly in the standings, leaping for a personal best of 18-8.5 and a seventh-place finish.

"Kara was seeded 12^th coming in and hits a lifetime best to reach the final and get seventh place. Those are the types of things that when they happen on day one it gives a team momentum. Unexpected results like that where kids move up, I thought that was really clutch with the long jumpers today."

Men's high jump
The first final of the day was the men's high jump, and Montana started strong with a pair of point scorers. Alfred Peterson had a big jump, clearing 6-7.5 for a new PR and a seventh-place finish in the event.

"It felt great. Especially with the weather not being what we were hoping," Peterson said. "I was happy to do what I could. Honestly, I didn't expect it, I knew the conditions weren't going to be great but at that point you might as well just go for it and give it everything you've got, and it worked out."

Freshman Patrick Kremer tied for eighth place with a jump of 6-5.5.

The Prelims
Friday consisted mostly of prelims with athletes looking to make the top eight and clinch a spot in Saturday's final. Montana put seven men through and a pair of women qualified.

The highlight of the prelims came from Jaydon Green in the men's 110-meter hurdles. Already the school record holder in the event, Green reached another level on Friday. He had a personal best time by nearly a half-second, crossing the line in 13.84. The time won't count as a school record because it was wind-aided.

A lifelong hurdler, Green has long held the dream of finishing in under 14 seconds. He did that and more on Friday, and is looking forward to taking the momentum into Saturday's finals. He goes into the final race as the third seed.

"I can't even put it into words. I've been chasing that since I was like 13 years old," Green said. "Yeah it was a little windy, but I still ran it and I did it in well under 14. I'm proud of myself. It made the hard days all worth it. Just keep improving, milestone after milestone."

Holly Sudol had an all-business performance in the 400-meter hurdle prelim. The Big Sky's leader in the event ran a smooth 1:01.29 to qualify as the top time in the event.

Brooke Stayner will also be a finalist for Montana in the 100-meter hurdles. The freshman followed up a great performance in the heptathlon with a new PR of 14.10 to advance to Saturday as the seventh seed in her event.

Rogelio Mares represented the Grizzly distance runners well in the 1,500m. The event advances 12 to the finals, and Mares found himself safely in that qualification zone. His time of 4:01.19 was the 10^th best time on the day.

"I was pretty excited," Mares said of reaching the finals. "Going into it I was pretty nervous because some of those guys are toward the top in the nation, but I just trusted my training and fitness and just believed in myself and got it done which was pretty cool. I was happy with the race and hopefully can score because I should be pretty close."

The duo of Cooper Hewett and Teagun Holycross both advanced in the men's 100m with new personal best times. Hewett finished fifth with a time of 10.43 and Holycross eighth at 10.52. Holycross also had a double qualification, reaching the final in the 200m as well. His PR of 21.33 seeds him seventh in the final.

The 400-meter hurdles late in the day also saw a pair of Grizzlies through to the finals. It was a big run from Cutter Thatcher, who entered as the fifth seed overall but will head to the finals after the second-best time in the event at 53.78.

His teammate Adam Maxwell also moved up the seed sheet with a time of 56.13. He heads to the finals with the seventh-best time.

The downside of the day came in the injury department. Montana had a trio of sprinters unable to finish races because of injury. Cooper Hewett was one of them, pulling out of the 200-meter prelims with a hamstring injury that will also take him out of Saturday's 100-meter final.

The lows hurt, but there were still plenty of high to celebrate for Montana on Friday. The Grizzlies will now look to build upon today and make a run at some finals on Saturday.

"The big goal today in races that had prelims is to get through. For the people that were expected to get through, we had a really good day," Fraley said. "I thought we did a good job to give ourselves some good scoring opportunities tomorrow. We held serve well on our positions in the majority of the events that we did prelims on today."

Big Sky Outdoor Championships Day Three Results
Men's 100m prelim – Cooper Hewett (10.43*Q, 5^th), Teagun Holycross (10.52*Q, 8^th)
Men's 200m prelim – Teagun Holycross (21.33*Q, 7^th), Xavier Melice (DNF), Cooper Hewett (DNF)
Men's 400m prelim – Taylor Johnson (48.55*, 9^th), Ty Ferguson (49.63, 9^th), Jay Beagle (49.76, 12^th), Paul Johnstone (DNF)
Men's 800m prelim – Will Dauenhauer (1:55.97, 12^th), Casey Crouch (1:56.84, 13^th)
Men's 1,500m prelim – Rogelio Mares (4:01.19Q, 10^th), Truman Cowan (4:07.90, 15^th)
Men's 10,000m – Maxwell Scott (32:44.78, 14^th)
Men's 110m hurdles prelim – Jaydon Green (13.84*Q, 3^rd)
Men's 400m hurdles prelim – Cutter Thatcher (53.78Q, 2^nd), Adam Maxwell (56.13Q, 7^th)
Men's steeplechase prelim – Cooper Morris (9:40.77, 10^th)
Men's high jump – Alfred Peterson (6-7.5*, 7^th), Patrick Kremer (6-5.5, t-8^th)
Men's long jump – Jason Upton (24-8.5*, 4^th), Jethro Thorne (23-4.5*, 8^th), Gordon McMillion (22-0.75, 17^th)
Men's hammer – Walker McDonald (167-6, 9^th), Noah Ramirez (158-2, 13^th)
Men's discus – Walker McDonald (138-1, 19^th)

Women's 100m prelim – Audrey Smith (12.05*, 13^th)
Women's 400m prelim – Lily Meskers (56.74, 9^th), Mikenna Ells (56.85, 10^th), Cosley Bruno (59.27, 15^th)
Women's 800m prelim – Mackenzie Morgan (2:16.17, 9^th), Katie Whitehurst (2:19.97, 16^th)
Women's 10,000m – Olivia Lackland-Henry (38:43.75, 10^th), Kayla Ingraham (39:15.23, 15^th)
Women's 100m hurdles prelim – Brooke Stayner (14.10*Q, 7^th), Ailsa Gilbert (14.47, 9^th), Ainsley Shipman (14.75*, 11^th), Kara Mattson (14.88*, 13^th)
Women's 400m hurdles prelim – Holly Sudol (1:01.29Q, 1^st), Brooke Stayner (1:06.18, 10^th)
Women's long jump – Kara Mattson (18-8.5*, 7^th), Ailsa Gilbert (18-2.5, 11^th), Perry Paffhausen (17-9.75, 15^th)
Women's javelin – Autumn Morse (142-10, 3^rd), Kylie Frohlich (132-7, 8^th), Lea Moose (127-9, 9^th), Tatum McNamara (121-10, 13^th)