Friday, March 22
Missoula, Mont.
Montana
vs
Al Manuel Invitational
Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino
Montana to host Al Manuel Invitational on Friday
3/20/2024 9:46:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
The Montana track and field team returns to Missoula this week for the first home meet of the season. The Al Manuel Invitational, originally scheduled for two days, has been moved to Friday only with the first field event of the day being held at 10:00 a.m. The track events will begin at 1:30 p.m. with the women's steeplechase.
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The Grizzlies will host fellow Big Sky member Montana State along with several NAIA programs from across Montana. It will be a much smaller event compared to last week's Hornet Invitational in Sacramento, but that presents a perfect opportunity for head coach Doug Fraley to get plenty of his athletes in action.
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"I think it's going to be a pretty low-key meet, so it will be really good for our squad, especially a lot of the kids that didn't get to go out to Sacramento that have been training for a month since indoor season finished," Fraley said. "It's always a good opportunity at home meets to get your entire roster involved and see which of the underclassmen are going to break out and make a run at travel rosters. There's a lot that we can accomplish with not only the newcomers, but the veterans, placing them in specific events that fit their needs at this time."
Â
The Grizzlies took limited squads to Sacramento, but will have 40-plus athletes available for both the men and the women this week. The Grizzlies had several breakout performances from freshmen and sophomores during indoor season, and Fraley is excited for a large portion of his roster to see their first outdoor experience this weekend.
Â
One area in particular that Fraley will be playing close attention to is the women's throws. Montana will have five athletes competing in the shot put, three in the discus, four in the javelin and seven in the hammer throw.
Â
There is a lot of youth in areas like the discus and hammer throw, which is an exciting prospect for Fraley.
Â
"We've got a talented group of freshmen, female throwers that specialize in the hammer and the discus that didn't fully get to showcase their talents indoors because they don't have those events," Fraley said. "It's an excellent area and we're looking forward to seeing how those young ladies do because they're a talented group."
Â
The distance group will also be getting its first action of the season as a large number of runners will participate in the 1,500 and 5,000-meters. It's another group that features a large number of freshmen and sophomore runners with plenty of potential.
Â
The Grizzlies will also have a deep field competing in the sprints with several athletes getting their first action of the outdoor season.
Â
"We've got a good group of young distance runners that will be running the 1,500 on Saturday. It will be really good to see them all get into action at that distance," Fraley said. "We've also got a couple of young sprinters that didn't get much action indoors but have been looking real good in practice. For us, it's looking at kids that we haven't seen a lot in competition thus far is what I'm most excited about for this home meet."
Â
The meet will be a good early check-in as to where the team stands. The fields will be limited with just four other schools competing, but that doesn't mean that this weekend won't be valuable to Fraley and his staff.
Â
As they progress through the outdoor season, meets like this will help them determine travel rosters and solidify which athletes will be competing at the Big Sky Championships come May.
Â
"In a lot of the events, I think it's really going to come down to being in intra-squad competition, which is fine. Athletes tend to get a good stimulus competing against one another as well as people from other teams," Fraley said. "In some respects, it's good, because you really get to see where your lineup is top to bottom. It really helps you formalize the depth chart in certain events."
Â
The meet will be shortened to just a single day as the weather forecast for Saturday looks to be cold with chances of snow. "When I first moved here somebody told me that if you want some snow, schedule an outdoor track meet," Fraley said.
Â
It will mean condensed action, and the good news is that Friday's forecast still calls for temperatures in the high 50s. The Grizzlies and Bobcats will be joined by athletes from Carroll College, Montana Tech, and Montana Western.
Â
"It will be a small affair and in some regards that's good to just kind of get things going at home where kids feel relaxed," Fraley said. "We can work on things and use it as a stimulated practice session to get an eye on a true depth chart in some events where we don't know where kids are at so I think that's the value in it."
Â
Montana Women's Entries
100m- Audrey Smith, Lily Meskers, Tara Ohlwiler, Mikenna Ells, Claire Hutchison, Rileigh McGree, Destiny Santiago
200m- Lily Meskers, Mikenna Ells, Tara Ohlwiler, Claire Hutchison, Audrey Smith, Jayel Dovichak, Brooke Stayner, Rileigh McGree, Ainsley Shipman, Destiny Santiago, Whitney Morrison
400m- Jayel Dovichak, Cosley Bruno, Katie Whitehurst
800m- Katie Whitehurst, MacKenzie Dean
1,500m- Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Mackenzie Morgan, Iris McKean, Jade Hallgrimson, Layne Lathrop, Ella Rubel
5,000m- Kayla Ingraham, Jade Hallgrimson, Layne Lathrop, Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Abby Sherwood, Iris McKean
100mH- Ailsa Gilbert, Ainsley Shipman
400mH- Brooke Stayner
4x100m- Two squads
4x400m- Two squads
High Jump- Erin Wilde, Whitney Morrison, Claire Hutchison
Pole Vault- Emma Zimmerman, Molly Chambers, Chesnee Lawrence, Hannah Moses
Long Jump- Ailsa Gilbert, Ainsley Shipman, Perry Paffhausen, Brooke Stayner, Rileigh McGree
Shot Put- Cathlene Van Zyl, Morgan Thomas, Whitney Morrison, Scout Nadeau, Brooke Stayner
Discus- Morgan Thomas, Cathlene Van Zyl, Mary Mickelson
Hammer- Ariel Clark, Savana Ramirez, Mary Mickelson, Molly O'Dell, Scout Nadeau, Morgan Thomas, Cathlene Van Zyl
Javelin- Lea Moose, Ashley Carroll, Tatum McNamara, Brooke Stayner
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Montana Men's Entries
100m- Teagun Holycross, Karsen Beitz, Jason Upton, Jaydon Green
200m- Cooper Hewett, Karsen Beitz, Xavier Melice, Paul Johnstone, Taylor Johnson, Cody Lease, Gordon McMillion, Adam Maxwell
400m- Ty Ferguson, Jay Beagle, Adam Maxwell
800m- Casey Crouch, Garrett Dahlke, Michael Jump, Cutter Thatcher
1,500m- Truman Cowan, Henry Ballinger, Truman Thompson, Lane Cole, Carson Steckelberg, Brady Woods
5,000m- Maxwell Scott, Carson Steckelberg
4x100m- Two squads
4x400m- Two squads
High Jump- Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis, Porter Coffield
Pole Vault- Zane Johnson, Kevin Swindler, Carson Hegele, Jackson Merrill, Carter Petersen
Long Jump- Jason Upton, Jethro Thorne, Gordon McMillion, Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis
Triple Jump- Zane Johnson, Dylan Zink
Shot Put- Wade Rykal, Alex Shields, Porter Coffield, Memphis Black
Discus- Walker McDonald
Hammer- Walker McDonald, Wade Rykal, Memphis Black, Alex Shields
Javelin- Evan Todd, Everett Fred, Porter Coffield
Â
The Grizzlies will host fellow Big Sky member Montana State along with several NAIA programs from across Montana. It will be a much smaller event compared to last week's Hornet Invitational in Sacramento, but that presents a perfect opportunity for head coach Doug Fraley to get plenty of his athletes in action.
Â
"I think it's going to be a pretty low-key meet, so it will be really good for our squad, especially a lot of the kids that didn't get to go out to Sacramento that have been training for a month since indoor season finished," Fraley said. "It's always a good opportunity at home meets to get your entire roster involved and see which of the underclassmen are going to break out and make a run at travel rosters. There's a lot that we can accomplish with not only the newcomers, but the veterans, placing them in specific events that fit their needs at this time."
Â
The Grizzlies took limited squads to Sacramento, but will have 40-plus athletes available for both the men and the women this week. The Grizzlies had several breakout performances from freshmen and sophomores during indoor season, and Fraley is excited for a large portion of his roster to see their first outdoor experience this weekend.
Â
One area in particular that Fraley will be playing close attention to is the women's throws. Montana will have five athletes competing in the shot put, three in the discus, four in the javelin and seven in the hammer throw.
Â
There is a lot of youth in areas like the discus and hammer throw, which is an exciting prospect for Fraley.
Â
"We've got a talented group of freshmen, female throwers that specialize in the hammer and the discus that didn't fully get to showcase their talents indoors because they don't have those events," Fraley said. "It's an excellent area and we're looking forward to seeing how those young ladies do because they're a talented group."
Â
The distance group will also be getting its first action of the season as a large number of runners will participate in the 1,500 and 5,000-meters. It's another group that features a large number of freshmen and sophomore runners with plenty of potential.
Â
The Grizzlies will also have a deep field competing in the sprints with several athletes getting their first action of the outdoor season.
Â
"We've got a good group of young distance runners that will be running the 1,500 on Saturday. It will be really good to see them all get into action at that distance," Fraley said. "We've also got a couple of young sprinters that didn't get much action indoors but have been looking real good in practice. For us, it's looking at kids that we haven't seen a lot in competition thus far is what I'm most excited about for this home meet."
Â
The meet will be a good early check-in as to where the team stands. The fields will be limited with just four other schools competing, but that doesn't mean that this weekend won't be valuable to Fraley and his staff.
Â
As they progress through the outdoor season, meets like this will help them determine travel rosters and solidify which athletes will be competing at the Big Sky Championships come May.
Â
"In a lot of the events, I think it's really going to come down to being in intra-squad competition, which is fine. Athletes tend to get a good stimulus competing against one another as well as people from other teams," Fraley said. "In some respects, it's good, because you really get to see where your lineup is top to bottom. It really helps you formalize the depth chart in certain events."
Â
The meet will be shortened to just a single day as the weather forecast for Saturday looks to be cold with chances of snow. "When I first moved here somebody told me that if you want some snow, schedule an outdoor track meet," Fraley said.
Â
It will mean condensed action, and the good news is that Friday's forecast still calls for temperatures in the high 50s. The Grizzlies and Bobcats will be joined by athletes from Carroll College, Montana Tech, and Montana Western.
Â
"It will be a small affair and in some regards that's good to just kind of get things going at home where kids feel relaxed," Fraley said. "We can work on things and use it as a stimulated practice session to get an eye on a true depth chart in some events where we don't know where kids are at so I think that's the value in it."
Â
Montana Women's Entries
100m- Audrey Smith, Lily Meskers, Tara Ohlwiler, Mikenna Ells, Claire Hutchison, Rileigh McGree, Destiny Santiago
200m- Lily Meskers, Mikenna Ells, Tara Ohlwiler, Claire Hutchison, Audrey Smith, Jayel Dovichak, Brooke Stayner, Rileigh McGree, Ainsley Shipman, Destiny Santiago, Whitney Morrison
400m- Jayel Dovichak, Cosley Bruno, Katie Whitehurst
800m- Katie Whitehurst, MacKenzie Dean
1,500m- Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Mackenzie Morgan, Iris McKean, Jade Hallgrimson, Layne Lathrop, Ella Rubel
5,000m- Kayla Ingraham, Jade Hallgrimson, Layne Lathrop, Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Abby Sherwood, Iris McKean
100mH- Ailsa Gilbert, Ainsley Shipman
400mH- Brooke Stayner
4x100m- Two squads
4x400m- Two squads
High Jump- Erin Wilde, Whitney Morrison, Claire Hutchison
Pole Vault- Emma Zimmerman, Molly Chambers, Chesnee Lawrence, Hannah Moses
Long Jump- Ailsa Gilbert, Ainsley Shipman, Perry Paffhausen, Brooke Stayner, Rileigh McGree
Shot Put- Cathlene Van Zyl, Morgan Thomas, Whitney Morrison, Scout Nadeau, Brooke Stayner
Discus- Morgan Thomas, Cathlene Van Zyl, Mary Mickelson
Hammer- Ariel Clark, Savana Ramirez, Mary Mickelson, Molly O'Dell, Scout Nadeau, Morgan Thomas, Cathlene Van Zyl
Javelin- Lea Moose, Ashley Carroll, Tatum McNamara, Brooke Stayner
Â
Montana Men's Entries
100m- Teagun Holycross, Karsen Beitz, Jason Upton, Jaydon Green
200m- Cooper Hewett, Karsen Beitz, Xavier Melice, Paul Johnstone, Taylor Johnson, Cody Lease, Gordon McMillion, Adam Maxwell
400m- Ty Ferguson, Jay Beagle, Adam Maxwell
800m- Casey Crouch, Garrett Dahlke, Michael Jump, Cutter Thatcher
1,500m- Truman Cowan, Henry Ballinger, Truman Thompson, Lane Cole, Carson Steckelberg, Brady Woods
5,000m- Maxwell Scott, Carson Steckelberg
4x100m- Two squads
4x400m- Two squads
High Jump- Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis, Porter Coffield
Pole Vault- Zane Johnson, Kevin Swindler, Carson Hegele, Jackson Merrill, Carter Petersen
Long Jump- Jason Upton, Jethro Thorne, Gordon McMillion, Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis
Triple Jump- Zane Johnson, Dylan Zink
Shot Put- Wade Rykal, Alex Shields, Porter Coffield, Memphis Black
Discus- Walker McDonald
Hammer- Walker McDonald, Wade Rykal, Memphis Black, Alex Shields
Javelin- Evan Todd, Everett Fred, Porter Coffield
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Sprints
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