Relay records fall as Griz top preseason expectations at Big Sky Championship

Wednesday, May 8

Bozeman, Mont.

Montana

Big Sky Conference Championship

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Relay records fall as Griz top preseason expectations at Big Sky Championship

5/11/2024 7:37:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field closed the 2024 season with some more impressive performances at the Big Sky Championships in Bozeman. Montana broke a pair of school records in the relay and placed three more athletes on the podium to build on a great Friday.

It led to exceeded expectations for both the men and the women in the final team standings. Montana's men finished fourth overall with 74 points, the highest finish in the standings since a third place result at the home meet in 2019. The women finished seventh with 59 points, the best result since 2020.

"I'm really proud of both squads exceeding expectations," head coach Doug Fraley said. "We all knew we were capable of being better than the projections and we challenged the kids after indoor to step up and improve during the outdoor season so we could get higher finishes and I'm really proud of the kids and staff for coming together and improving our finishes."

The men were picked fifth in the preseason polls and the women ninth. The Grizzlies also had the meet's Most Outstanding Performer in Evan Todd. The award is given to the best performance based on the Big Sky's athlete of the week points table.

Todd broke the championship record and Montana's school record on Friday with a throw of 246-6 to win his third straight Big Sky title.

The day opened and closed on the track with school records. Montana's 4x100-meter relay team had already set a program best mark earlier in the year, but were missing two legs of that team in Bozeman.

It was next man up for the Griz. Jay Beagle stepped in for the injured Teagun Holycross in the opening leg, and walk-on freshman Karsen Beitz took over the final leg for Cooper Hewett.

The newcomers delivered, as Montana flew around the track for a new record time of 40.30 seconds. It placed them second in the conference behind Northern Arizona.

"It's no small thing having to replace a lead-off guy like Teagun in the relay, he's one of the best in the conference. It was next man up with Jay Beagle and he really stepped up to the task," Fraley said. "For us to run that race and get a silver medal and run faster than we've ever run was just a testament to what competitors those guys are and the true definition of next man up in athletics."

It got the men off to a good start to the day, but the Grizzlies still trailed Idaho State for fourth place entering the final event of the afternoon. The 4x400 meter relay needed a big result in the last event, and they more than took care of business.

Beagle once again started Montana off well, and passed off to Taylor Johnson. The Grizzlies were right in it midway through the race, and they had two veterans that have been part of Montana history to close it out.

Xavier Melice took from Johnson, and ran the leg of his life. An Achilles injury disrupted the former Freshman of the Year's career, but in his final meet as a Grizzly he found his pre-injury form.

Melice then handed to another Grizzly that has been through so many peaks and valleys in his career in Paul Johnstone. The duo were both part of the school record team in 2019, and the guided the Grizzlies home to another record.

Johnstone nearly caught the individual 400m champion Jett Grundy, chasing him down and finishing within three-tenths of a Big Sky Championship. The Grizzlies still set a new program record and picked up four more silver medals.

"We talked about breaking that record for the last two year and before the race talked to Jay and Taylor about setting up Xavier and Paul on those last two legs and they did a really good job of that," Fraley said.

"Xavier ran out of his mind, a 45.7 split on the third leg, and after that Paul brought it home and gave the conference champion everything he could handle all the way to the wire," Fraley said. "I'm just so proud of those guys for breaking what is a really good school record and breaking it by a lot. It was a big moment to send Xavier and Paul out on an amazing note at the end of their careers."

The relays weren't the only All-Conference winners on Saturday.

Lea Moose opened the day well with women's javelin being the first event of the morning. Moose nearly hit a PR on her final throw of the day, reaching the podium with a throw of 142-2.

She wasn't the only Grizzly to score in the event. Freshman Ashley Carroll set a new PR with a throw of 136-0 to finish fourth in the event.

"Fantastic start. We talked about creating momentum and riding it, and in the women's javelin we were slated to get fourth and seventh and both of them stepped up and hit a great series of throws," Fraley said. "Ashley, a freshman walk-on who joined us at the semester, hits fourth place and Lea in her final collegiate competition makes the podium. Just a really great way to start the day and I'm super proud of those two young ladies."

Jaydon Green closed out a legendary career that includes the school record in both the indoor and outdoor sprint hurdles with one last run to remember. Green entered the week ranked third in the men's 110-meter hurdles, but outpaced most of an impressive field.

Green leaned at the line to finish as the runner-up to one of the nation's top hurdlers and the meet MVP Jerome Campbell. Green ran a 14.20 time, which is faster than any other Grizzly in history outside of himself.

"It's bittersweet. It's been a long time coming. I've been running away from the end of this sport for a long time," Green said. "I've dedicated myself to this sport and it's become my life for most of my years and honestly there's no place I'd rather give 110-percent every day at than Montana.

"I'm so grateful to be able to represent this school and to be able to find the level of success that I did with the people around me is something that I can't even put into words. It's special, and it's something I'll carry with me the rest of my life."

The final all-conference performance of the day also came in the field, and it was delivered by sophomore Patrick Kremer in the men's high jump. Kremer finished all-conference indoors with a mark of 6-8.75, but hadn't jumped higher than 6-5 so far this outdoor season.

It nearly fell apart for him again on Saturday as he missed twice at 6-2.25, but he recovered with a clearance on his final attempt and then righted the ship. He cleared his third attempt at both 6-6.75 and 6-8 to reach the podium with a third place finish.

The performance also picked up a crucial six points for Montana as a team. The Grizzlies were trailing Idaho State, which had two athletes in point scoring range in the event. Kremer outlasted both of them to give Montana's relay team a chance to move them up the standings.

"Patrick came up huge for us," Fraley said. "We were really battling it out with Idaho State, and he had a rough outdoor season and things haven't gone the way that he had hoped they would since making the podium indoors, but when you've got good athletes that are good competitors, they step up for championship moments, and he did that and got back on the podium."

Montana scored in multiple other events on the track. Xavier Melice finished fourth and Karsen Beitz came in at sixth in the men's 200m. Paul Johnstone and Jay Beagle finished the 400m in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Mikenna Ells (400m) and Jayel Dovichak (100mH) both finished in seventh in their event finals. The women also finished fifth in the 4x100m relay and fourth in the 4x400m relay.

The Grizzlies were led by a great group of seniors over the course of the week.

"We have a really amazing senior group that are wrapping up their careers here at the University of Montana," Fraley said. "First class people and outstanding athletes that are going to go on and be really successful in their lives and I'm just really glad that I was able to be around for the last couple of years and just want to say how proud we are of them and wish them the very best as they move forward in life."

Individual Awards
Men's Most Outstanding Performer- Evan Todd

Men's Results
200m- Xavier Melice (21.28*, 4^th), Karsen Beitz (21.38, 6^th)
400m- Paul Johnstone (47.30, 6^th), Jay Beagle (47.49*, 7^th)
5,000m- Lane Cole (15:01.41*, 12^th), Truman Thompson (17:02.46, 24^th)
110mH- Jaydon Green (14.20, 2^nd), Easton Brotherson (14.92, 7^th)
4x100m- Beagle, Upton, Melice, Beitz (40.30^, 2^nd)
4x400m- Beagle, Johnson, Melice, Johnstone (3:08.21^, 2^nd)
High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-8*, 3^rd), Zachary Travis (6-5.5, 10^th), Adam Maxwell (6-4.25, 12^th)
Triple Jump- Jason Upton (45-9.25, 9^th)
Shot Put- Alex Shields (52-2.5, 9^th), Wade Rykal (50-10, 10^th)
Hammer- Walker McDonald (176-7, 11^th), Wade Rykal (154-8, 16^th), Alex Shields (141-8, 19^th)

Women's Results
400m- Mikenna Ells (56.34, 7^th), Lily Meskers (FS)
5,000m- Kayla Ingraham (18:23.62, 14^th), Jade Hallgrimson (18:40.49, 17^th)
100mH- Jayel Dovichak (14.09, 7^th)
4x100m- Meskers, Ells, Hutchison, Smith (46.0, 5^th)
4x400m- Hutchison, Ells, Morrison, Meskers (3:43.87, 4^th)
Pole Vault- Samatha Serex (12-9, 7^th), Molly Chambers (12-3.25*, 11^th), Emma Zimmerman (12-3.25, 12^th)
Triple Jump- Ainsley Shipman (39-6.5*, 8^th), Ailsa Gilbert (FOUL)
Discus- Morgan Thomas (142-9*, 9^th), Cathlene Van Zyl (127-7, 16^th), Mary Mickelson (114-5, 20^th)
Javelin- Lea Moose (142-2, 3^rd), Ashley Carroll (136-0*, 4^th), Tatum McNamara (119-8, 10^th)

^School Record
*PR

Men's Point Scorers
Evan Todd – 10 (Jav)
Jaydon Green - 8 (110mH)
Zane Johnson – 8 (PV)
Beagle, Upton, Melice, Beitz - 8 (4x100m)
Beagle, Johnson, Melice, Johnstone – 8 (4x400m)
Patrick Kremer – 6 (HJ)
Carson Hegele – 6 (PV)
Xavier Melice - 5 (200m)
Carter Petersen – 4 (PV)
Karsen Beitz - 3 (200m)
Paul Johnstone - 3 (400m)
Jay Beagle - 2 (400m)
Easton Brotherson - 2 (110mH)
Jason Upton – 1 (LJ)

Women's Point Scorers
Erin Wilde – 10 (HJ)
Brooke Stayner – 9 (HJ, Hep)
Ariel Clark – 6 (HT)
Lea Moose – 6 (Jav)
Whitney Morrison – 6 (Hep)
Hutchison, Ells, Morrison, Meskers – 5 (4x400m)
Ashley Carroll - 5
Meskers, Ells, Hutchison, Smith – 4 (4x100m)
Jayel Dovichak – 2 (100mH)
Mikenna Ells – 2 (400m)
Samantha Serex – 2 (PV)
Savana Ramirez – 1 (HT)
Ainsley Shipman – 1 (TJ)

Men's Team Scores
1. Montana State – 186
2. Northern Arizona – 185
3. Weber State – 91
4. Montana – 74
5. Idaho State – 69
6. Northern Colorado – 60
7. Idaho – 55
8. Sacramento State – 54
9. Eastern Washington – 30
10. Portland State – 11

Women's Team Scores
1. Northern Arizona – 240.5
2. Montana State – 134.5
3. Weber State – 81
4. Idaho – 72.5
5. Sacramento State – 68.5
6. Idaho State – 67
7. Montana – 59
8. Eastern Washington – 52
9. Northern Colorado – 42
10. Portland State - 0