Multiple school records fall on day one in Pocatello

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

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

Multiple school records fall on day one in Pocatello

4/26/2024 9:21:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field record book was not safe on Friday as multiple records fell in a fantastic day of action at the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho. Jaydon Green broke his own school record in the 110-meter hurdles and Zane Johnson broke a 10-year-old record in the men's pole vault.

Green's event was the first of the day on the track, and he set an impressive tone for the rest of the squad. Green won his prelim with a time of 14.09, which improves upon his own school record originally set last year.

The time is not the fastest of Green's career, that is a 13.82 time at the Big Sky Championships last year, but is the best wind legal time. He now has the seven fastest times in program history, and will have another chance on the track in Saturday's final.

"Jaydon has been gradually ratcheting things up as the season has gone along, cleaning things up, and in a real smooth prelim today had an outstanding performance," head coach Doug Fraley said. "I'm looking forward to him racing the final with a bit more competition tomorrow to see what he can do."

🚨𝙎𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙇 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿🚨

Jaydon Green breaks his own record in Pocatello. He now has the fastest seven times in program history.

13.82*
13.84*
𝟏𝟒.𝟎𝟗
14.12*
14.20*
14.21
14.23

*wind aided#GrizTF | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/f4DC9TwAj0
— Montana Griz TF & XC (@MontanaGrizTFXC) April 27, 2024

Johnson has been eying the 17-foot mark all season and has been working towards the school record. He qualified for regionals last season and set his previous career best mark of 17-0.75 at the NCAA West First Round.

He has been building toward this mark all season, dating back to indoors where he was All-Conference at the Big Sky Championships with a mark of 16-10.25. On Friday in Pocatello, he finally broke Keith Webber's 2014 record by clearing 17-3.5. Webber set the original mark 10 years ago to the day.

"Zane has been knocking on that door for a while now and to be able to knock that out was great," Fraley said. "To be able to really finish the deal with a school record he's been chasing since indoor season was really good to see. That young man has worked hard and has been right there for most of the year. To see him finish the deal and become the new school record holder is something we're really proud of."

🚨𝙎𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙇 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿🚨

Zane Johnson clears 17-3.5 and breaks Keith Webber's 10 year old record!#GrizTF | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/4xtyPcajnh
— Montana Griz TF & XC (@MontanaGrizTFXC) April 27, 2024

Green's time bumps him back into the top 48 in the NCAA West Qualifying Region for the time being. The top 48 will all make the NCAA First Round in Fayetteville, Ark. in late May. Johnson's mark is the 23^rd best in the region this year and moves him safely off the bubble.

"Every inch or every tenth of a second in sprints or hurdles is a big deal when it comes down to whether or not you qualify for the first rounds of the NCAA Championships," Fraley said. "Zane sealed his up today and Jaydon is in much better shape with a good final to come. It's always good when you make progress on the regional list."

The two seniors stole the show on a great overall day for Montana. The Griz had 13 women and 10 men qualify for Saturday's finals in the sprint events with plenty of PR times recorded.

Karsen Beitz led the way in both the 100 and 200 for the men, recording new best times of 10.59 and 21.24 seconds. Lily Meskers did the same on the women's side, running 12.08 and 24.55 in the two events.

The women had both 400m runners - Mikenna Ells and Cosley Bruno – qualify for the finals while a trio of men reached Saturday's race in the event.

Freshman Easton Brotherson finished second to Green in the 110-meter hurdles by matching his best time of 14.77 for an impressive day from the Grizzlies as a group.

The women were just as good, sending four athletes to the finals in the 100-meter hurdles. Freshman Jayel Dovichak led the way with a PR of 13.87 to finish third in the prelims.

The distance group ran the finals in the mile on Friday to good success. Jade Hallgrimson and Jaylyn Hallgrimson both finished in the top five on the women's side. Henry Ballinger finished second for the men with a time of 4:13.14.

There were also finals in the field with the pole vault, hammer, long jump, and javelin contested for both the men and the women.

Jason Upton finished third in the long jump with a 23-6.25 mark and Patrick Kremer set a new PR with a 23-1.25 jump that was good for fourth place. Montana had four of the top seven in the event.

Evan Todd finished second in the men's javelin with a throw of 228-3. Ashley Carroll had a new javelin PR of 135-10 to finish fourth. Results are still not in for the pole vault and hammer throw competitions. This story will be updated online once the results are in.

"It was a really good day for our track program," Fraley said. "We had really good success in the events where we ran prelims, a majority of our athletes made it to the finals, and that's part of the reason we like this meet is it's kind of a dress rehearsal for the conference meet.

"We're looking to getting out there on day two and seeing what we've got left in the tank," Fraley said. "It should be a good test, there is good athletes in all the finals, and we should have our hands full, which is what we want."

Men's Results
100m Prelims- Karsen Beitz (10.59*, 5Q), Jason Upton (10.69*, 7Q), Teagun Holycross (10.71, 9^th)
200m Prelims- Karsen Beitz (21.24*, 2Q), Xavier Melice (21.42, 4Q), Teagun Holycross (21.82, 11^th), Easton Brotherson (23.18, 22^nd)
400m Prelims- Taylor Johnson (48.11*, 3Q), Jay Beagle (48.45, 5Q), Ty Ferguson (48.60, 6Q), Garrett Dahlke (49.83, 9^th)
Mile- Henry Ballinger (4:13.14, 2^nd), Lane Cole (4:18.60, 7^th), Truman Thompson (4:26.12, 11^th), Maxwell Scott (4:32.23, 17^th), Colin Shaules (4:35.87, 19^th)
110mH Prelims- Jaydon Green (14.09^, 1Q), Easton Brotherson (14.77, 2Q)
400mH Prelims- Adam Maxwell (57.26, 7Q)
Pole Vault- Zane Johnson (17-3.5, 1^st), Kevin Swindler (16-5.5*, 4^th), Carter Petersen (15-11.75*, 6^th), Jackson Merrill (15-5.75*, 8^th)
Long Jump- Jason Upton (23-6.25, 3^rd), Patrick Kremer (23-1.25*, 4^th), Jethro Thorne (21-11.75, 5^th), Gordon McMillion (21-9, 7^th)
Hammer- Walker McDonald (188-3*, 4^th), Wade Rykal (157-8, 8^th), Alex Shields (120-3, 16^th)
Javelin- Evan Todd (228-3, 2^nd), Everett Fred (196-0, 4^th), Porter Coffield (169-3*, 7^th)

Women's Results
100m Prelims- Lily Meskers (12.08, 5Q), Claire Hutchison (12.20*, 6Q), Audrey Smith (12.26, 8Q), Destiny Santiago (12.84, 15^th)
200m Prelims- Lily Meskers (24.55, 3Q), Claire Hutchison (25.22, 8Q), Audrey Smith (25.31*, 10^th), Brooke Stayner (25.43*, 13^th), Ainsley Shipman (25.76*, 15^th), Destiny Santiago (26.40, 20^th)
400M Prelims- Mikenna Ells (58.18, 2Q), Cosley Bruno (58.62, 6Q)
Mile- Jade Hallgrimson (5:09.22, 3^rd), Jaylyn Hallgrimson (5:14.22, 5^th), Kayla Ingraham (5:16.49, 6^th), Iris McKean (5:17.82, 8^th), Layne Lathrop (5:38.84, 17^th)
100mH Prelims- Jayel Dovichak (13.87*, 3Q), Brooke Stayner (14.16, 5Q), Whitney Morrison (14.35*, 6Q), Ailsa Gilbert (14.38, 7Q), Ainsley Shipman (14.63*, 9^th)
400mH Prelims- Whitney Morrison (1:01.96*, 3Q), Jayel Dovichak (1:03.68, 4Q)
Pole Vault- Samantha Serex (13-0.25, 3^rd), Emma Zimmerman (12-2.5, 8^th), Molly Chambers (11-8.5, 11^th), Hannah Moses (11-2.5*, 12^th), Chesnee Lawrence (11-2.5*, 12^th)
Long Jump- Perry Paffhausen (17-2.75, 12^th)
Hammer- Ariel Clark (179-10, 2^nd), Savana Ramirez (161-0, 7^th), Mary Mickelson (150-0*, 11^th), Morgan Thomas (149-3, 12^th), Cathlene Van Zyl (123-1, 29^th), Scout Nadeau (120-0, 32^nd)
Javelin- Ashley Carroll (135-10*, 4^th), Lea Moose (131-0, 7^th), Tatum McNamara (129-2, 9^th)

^School Record
*Personal Record
Q – qualified for Saturday's final