Griz to participate in trio of California meets

Thursday, April 11

Long Beach, Calif.

Montana

Pacific Coast Invitational

Photos from the Griz-Cat Dual on April 5, 2024.

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

4/9/2024 4:23:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Performance List

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field team have reached the midpoint of the outdoor season as they head to California for a trio of meets to be held over a three-day stretch this weekend. They have been climbing up to this point with three meets already behind them, but will look to make a jump in performance that will push them through to the Big Sky Championships next month.

Head coach Doug Fraley will have some of the top athletes on the team competing at Long Beach State's Pacific Coast Invitational and Beach Invitational. The Grizzlies will also have two entries into the Bryan Clay Multis and three runners competing at the Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific.

The meets should give Montana's athletes a great opportunity to build on the marks that they have established over the opening month of the outdoor season.

"This is the week that you circle on the calendar. You're going out to California for some good weather and absolutely top-notch competition at both of the venues," Fraley said. "This is the time of the outdoor season where marks and performances need to start moving forward as we get within one month of our Big Sky Championship. This is really the time of year that you want your squad to get going and start hitting stride at a high level."

The bulk of Montana's squad will compete at Long Beach in the two meets. The men will be represented by six athletes on the track at Long Beach, all running in the shorter sprints. Montana's 100m crew has been fantastic this year, breaking the school record in the 4x100m at the Al Manuel in March.

The women will have five sprinters compete at Long Beach. The strongest performers in the field events will also be represented. Erin Wilde (high jump) and Ariel Clark (hammer) are the only two women on Montana's roster that are currently in the top 48 in the NCAA West Region. They will look to improve on their top marks, set last week in Bozeman, at a better overall environment in California.

The men also have plenty of field athletes looking to move up the performance lists. Jason Upton (long jump) and Zane Johnson (pole vault) both rank second in the Big Sky Conference in their events and are in the top 48 in the region. Evan Todd, the two-time defending Big Sky champion in the javelin, will also be competing.

All three have realistic chances to break school records this year, and California should provide ideal performance conditions.

"Long Beach is where you want to go for your sprinters, hurdlers, the speed-power events essentially," Fraley said. "Great competition from all over the country, and we won't have anybody that isn't challenged to the max in any event that they're doing because the competition is so good and it's a real high-performance venue."

At the Bryan Clay Invitational, Montana will see its multi-athletes compete for the first time this outdoor season. Whitney Morrison and Brooke Stayner will both compete in the heptathlon. Stayner finished 5^th and Morrison 7^th at last year's Big Sky Championships in the event. Fraley is expecting both to be a factor at the conference championships again this May.

They have competed in a variety of events through the first month of Montana's outdoor season. Fraley said that they have both been training well and getting a good balance of event experience. Now, for the first time, they get to put it all together.

"For a heptathlete, the Bryan Clay Invitational is a really special place. They have multiple sections of the heptathlon, so our women will be in a section that is very competitive, in great weather, with great competition," Fraley said. "This is really an opportunity for them to bring all of those skills together.

The track at Azusa Pacific will also host thousands of the country's best middle distance and distance runners at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Montana will be represented there with a pair of men's runners, Henry Ballinger and Lane Cole, competing in the 1,500m and Katie Whitehurst running in the women's 800m.

Ballinger, currently ranked 5^th in the Big Sky and 26^th in the West Region with his altitude-adjusted time of 3:45.38 in Bozeman last week, and Cole will be among a field of more than 800 men competing in the 1,500m.

Whitehurst is currently 8^th in the Big Sky in the event and had a strong indoor season in the 800m as well.

"It's the Bryan Clay magic for middle distance and distance runners. We're really excited that this year we have three athletes that are good enough to go and participate at that meet," Fraley said. "They set those races up for one thing and one thing only, fast times in every section. It's a great opportunity for those three to be able to go out and continue to progress and really show that they can be a factor at the Big Sky level, which is brutally tough in those events."

Montana will have a smaller squad participating this weekend. They will return home for two more meets this season with one road trip to Pocatello squeezed in where a larger number of athletes will be able to compete as they progress toward the Big Sky Championship. But for this week, it will be less about competing for event wins and more about improving season-best marks and putting yourself in a position to make the regional meets in late May.

"Another big factor in us taking the top-end of our roster on a trip like this is that we've got several kids that are going to be closing in on regional marks," Fraley said. "One of the big factors in getting those is getting your athletes to a place where they have the right weather, the right competition, and the right setting to hit those big marks and potentially qualify for the NCAA First Round."

This year saw the shortest break between indoor and outdoor season in many years for Montana. They have three meets under their belts already, but this California trip serves as a turning point for the season. From here on out, it's all systems go for the Grizzlies as they steamroll their way towards the Big Sky Championships in Bozeman on May 8-11.

"We've come over the crest of training hard after the indoors and getting a few meets under our belt, but really now we are at the top of the hill and it's a downhill push to the conference championships," Fraley said. "This is the time of year that you want to see progress out of your athletes, and although we're leaving a few kids home just to take care of some injuries so they'll be right for the end of the season, we're looking for the bulk of our roster to really get going here starting this week."

Pacific Coast Invitational Entries (Thursday, April 11)
Men's 200m- Karsen Beitz
Men's 400m- Taylor Johnson, Paul Johnstone, Xavier Melice, Jay Beagle
Men's 110mH- Jaydon Green
Men's High Jump- Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis
Men's Pole Vault- Zane Johnson
Men's Long Jump- Jason Upton, Jethro Thorne, Gordon McMillion, Patrick Kremer
Men's Discus- Walker McDonald
Men's Hammer- Walker McDonald
Men's Javelin- Evan Todd

Women's 100m- Jayel Dovichak
Women's 200m- Claire Hutchison, Jayel Dovichak
Women's 400m- Mikenna Ells, Lily Meskers
Women's 100mH- Ailsa Gilbert
Women's 4x100m- One squad
Women's High Jump- Erin Wilde, Claire Hutchison
Women's Pole Vault- Emma Zimmerman, Molly Chambers
Women's Long Jump- Ailsa Gilbert
Women's Shot Put- Cathlene Van Zyl, Morgan Thomas
Women's Discus- Morgan Thomas, Cathlene Van Zyl
Women's Hammer- Ariel Clark, Savana Ramirez
Women's Javelin- Lea Moose

Bryan Clay Multi Event Entries (April 11-12)
Women's Heptathlon- Brooke Stayner, Whitney Morrison

Bryan Clay Invitational Entries (Thursday, April 11)
Men's 800m- Henry Ballinger, Lane Cole
Men's 1,500m- Henry Ballinger, Lane Cole
Women's 800m- Katie Whitehurst

Beach Invitational Entries (Friday and Saturday, April 12-13)
Men's 100m- Karsen Beitz
Men's 200m- Karsen Beitz, Xavier Melice, Paul Johnstone, Taylor Johnson, Gordon McMillion
Men's 400m- Taylor Johnson, Paul Johnstone, Jay Beagle
Men's 110mH- Jaydon Green
Men's 4x400m- One squad
Men's High Jump- Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis
Men's Pole Vault- Zane Johnson
Men's Long Jump- Jason Upton, Jethro Thorne, Gordon McMillion, Patrick Kremer
Men's Discus- Walker McDonald
Men's Hammer- Walker McDonald
Men's Javelin- Evan Todd

Women's 100m- Lily Meskers, Mikenna Ells, Claire Hutchison
Women's 200m- Lily Meskers, Mikenna Ells
Women's 100mH- Brooke Stayner, Jayel Dovichak, Ailsa Gilbert, Whitney Morrison
Women's 400mH- Brooke Stayner, Jayel Dovichak, Whitney Morrison
Women's 4x100m- One quad
Women's 4x400m- One squad
Women's High Jump- Erin Wilde, Brooke Stayner, Claire Hutchison
Women's Pole Vault- Emma Zimmerman, Molly Chambers
Women's Shot Put- Cathlene Van Zyl, Morgan Thomas
Women's Discus- Morgan Thomas, Cathlene Van Zyl
Women's Hammer- Ariel Clark, Savana Ramirez
Women's Javelin- Lea Moose