Clark, Johnson performances highlight day one in California

Thursday, April 11

Long Beach, Calif.

Montana

Pacific Coast Invitational

Scenes from the Al Manuel Invitational on March 22, 2024 at Dornblaser Track in Missoula, Montana.

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

Clark, Johnson performances highlight day one in California

4/11/2024 9:18:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana opened up its week in California on Thursday with the Pacific Coast Invitational and the opening day of the Bryan Clay multis. The Grizzlies had a few bright spots on a day when the energy didn't quite rise to the occasion.

The good news for Montana is that they will have plenty more opportunities over the next two days. They remain in Long Beach for the Beach Invitational with many of the athletes getting Friday off to recover.

"It's one of those days where it was just kind of squad-wide and we felt like the performances were a little bit flat," head coach Doug Fraley said. "For a lot of the athletes, they will have tomorrow off and will be able to get themselves right both physically and mentally and we're looking for much better performances both tomorrow and Saturday."

Ariel Clark delivered the performance of the day on the women's side with another big-time performance in the hammer. Clark has been good all spring, winning both events in which she competed in Montana with a new PR in each.

On Thursday, she upped her mark yet again with a throw of 189-7. She won the first of three flights to qualify for the finals in the event, and ended up placing 8^th overall. She improved upon her previous best by over a meter.

Clark's throw is currently a top 40 mark in the NCAA West Region and gives her a good standard as she looks to qualify for the NCAA First Round in May. The top 48 marks will qualify for the meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

"Ariel is closing in on a potential regional berth and had another big PR," Fraley said. "She made the finals out of flight one which is just really hard to do. I thought that was stellar."

Zane Johnson had a standout day on the men's side with a good performance in the pole vault. Johnson has been consistent this year in clearing about 16-and-a-half feet, but has been hoping to up that into the 17-foot range.

He did just that on Thursday, clearing 16-11 on his first attempt. It's a new season-best for Johnson, who qualified for the NCAA Regional last year with a mark of 17-0.75. He should be right back in that conversation after Thursday.

"Zane made a bar that gives him a probable chance of getting into a regional meet," Fraley said. "That was a great performance by him."

At the Bryan Clay, Whitney Morrison and Brooke Stayner were able to get out to great starts through the first four events of the heptathlon, and both are in great position to record personal best scores in the multi.

Morrison had new personal best marks in two events, running a 14.60 time in the 100-meter hurdles and a 25.77 time in the 200m. She is currently in fourth place in the 13-athlete group with 2,990 points, and trails last year's Big Sky runner-up Eliana Coburn of Sacramento State by just three points.

Stayner performed solid across the board, matching a career-best in the high jump with a clearance of 5-2.5. She has 2,884 points through the first four events with a few of her stronger disciplines coming up on Friday.

"It was really encouraging with the first days that Whitney and Brooke had over at Azusa," Fraley said. "They both had really solid days and put themselves in great position to have a good score at the end of tomorrow if they can finish it off the way you would think they can."

The duo will compete in the long jump, javelin, and 800-meter on Friday to close out the event.

Montana's full roster will have more chances to compete over the weekend. Katie Whitehurst will run the women's 800 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday, and Lane Cole and Henry Ballinger will each participate in the men's 800 as well. The two men will be tuning up for the 1,500m on Saturday.

There will be a smaller number of events at Long Beach on Friday, but one big contest with Evan Todd competing against some of the best in the Big Sky in the men's javelin. He's currently 5^th in the Big Sky and 14^th in the West Region with a mark of 227-7.

Thursday may have been disappointing for Fraley and the Grizzlies, but they are anxious to get back to work and make the most of the opportunities still ahead of them in California.

"It's why we set this trip up this way, just to get multiple opportunities in different events," Fraley said. "I think a majority of the kids today walk away feeling like it was not a real good day and they will be fired up to come out and improve on that on Saturday."

Pacific Coast Invitational Results
Women's 200m- Jayel Dovichak (25.61, 50^th/109), Claire Hutchison (25.62, 51^st)
Women's 400m- Lily Meskers (56.64, 17^th/62), Mikenna Ells (56.84, 19^th)
Women's 100mH- Ailsa Gilbert (14.50, 30^th/82)
Women's 4x100- Montana (46.98, 12^th/23)
Women's High Jump- Erin Wilde (5-7.24, 8^th/46), Claire Hutchison (5-3.25, 19^th)
Women's Pole Vault- Emma Zimmerman (12-4*189, 8^th)
Women's Hammer- Ariel Clark (189-7*, 8^th/36), Savana Ramirez (168-7, 30^th)
Women's Discus- Morgan Thomas (135-8, 43^rd/54)
Women's Shot Put- Cathlene Van Zyl (41-8, 39^th/52), Morgan Thomas (41-0.25, 43^rd)
Women's Javelin- Lea Moose (123-4, 12^th/29)

Men's 200m- Karsen Beitz (22.07, 35^th/98)
Men's 400m- Xavier Melice (48.66, 17^th/66), Taylor Johnson (48.96, 22^nd), Jay Beagle (48.98, 23^rd)
Men's 110mH- Jaydon Green (14.24, 14^th/45)
Men's High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-3.25, 19^th/30), Zachary Travis (6-3.25, 19^th)
Men's Pole Vault- Zane Johnson (16-11, 8^th/48)
Men's Long Jump- Jason Upton (23-8.75, 13^th/70), Jethro Thorne (23-4, 19^th), Gordon McMillion (22-0.25, 40^th)
Men's Discus- Walker McDonald (146-8, 54^th/56)

Bryan Clay Multis Results
Heptathlon (through four events)- Whitney Morrison (2,990), Brooke Stayner (2,884)
100mH- Morrison (14.60*, 895), Stayner (14.74, 876)
High Jump- Morrison (5-2.25, 712), Stayner (5-2.25, 712)
Shot Put- Morrison (34-7.75, 566), Stayner (30-6.25, 484)
200m- Morrison (25.77*, 817), Stayner (25.83, 812)