LONG BEACH and AZUSA, Calif. — The Montana track and field team closed out the week in California with more good performances as the Grizzlies crossed into the second half of the season with the conclusion of the Beach Invitational and the Bryan Clay Invitational.
It was a great week for the Grizzlies that featured three meets in as many days and countless strong performances that either booked tickets for Griz athletes to the NCAA First Round or will have them knocking on the door.
“I thought this was the best trip out to these meets that we’ve had since I’ve been at Montana,” head coach Doug Fraley said. “We got off to a strong start on Thursday and continued that with some really good javelin throwing Friday and a lot of solid performances (Saturday).”
On Friday night, freshman Hunter Loesch delivered a historic performance in the men’s javelin with a throw of 230-7 to place fourth in a very competitive field. Loesch’s mark is a top-10 throw in the NCAA West this season.
The true freshman joins the 70-meter club at Montana alongside teammate Kyle Iorg. There have only been five men in program history to reach the 70-meter mark with Iorg and Loesch entering rare air this season.
Iorg finished seventh on Friday night with a throw of 221-7.
“Hunter has improved a meter per meet so far in his college career and (Friday) he got second place in a really competitive flight,” Fraley said. “He joined the 70-meter club and did it twice (Friday), so that was very impressive for a true freshman in his first big-time collegiate competition.”
Lily Meskers became just the third woman in program history to break the 54-second mark in the women’s 400 as she finished fifth in the event. Meskers ran a time of 53.79, beating her previous best by three-tenths.
The senior also came from behind in the women’s 4x400-meter relay to lead the Griz to a win by out-leaning her opponent from BYU at the finish line.
“Our goal coming into the trip was for Lily to go sub-54. She was really close on Thursday, and she improved exactly what we needed to in the first half of the race to give her a chance,” Fraley said. “She delivered on exactly what the race plan was, competed hard, won her section and went sub-54, so that was an awesome performance for her.”
She wasn’t the only Grizzly with a top-five finish on Saturday in a meet that features schools from across the country. Callie Wilson and Erin Wilde had the top finishes of the day by individuals on the women’s side.
Wilde cleared 5-10.5 in the high jump to continue an impressive senior season. The mark was good for fourth behind a pair of athletes from Rice and Air Force’s Morgan Glaser.
Wilson ran in the 100 just two days after recording the fastest time in program history on the same track. This time around, Wilson ran an 11.67 to finish fourth in a field that included athletes from Wisconsin, New Mexico, UTEP and more.
Rileigh McGree had a good day on the track with PRs in both the 100m and 200m. The senior from Butte is fourthg in program history in the 100m and seventh in the 200m and recorded top-10 finishes at the Beach Invitational in both with times of 11.71 and 24.14 on Saturday.
It was a busy two days for Montana’s middle-distance crew of Truman Thompson, Morgan Amano and Henry Ballinger. Amano and Thompson ran the 800m at both the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday and the Beach Invitational on Saturday.
Thompson finished second at Long Beach with a time of 1:51.18. Amano was sixth at Long Beach but recorded his best time of the weekend at the more competitive Bryan Clay with a time of 1:51.05.
Jayel Dovichak had a season-best time in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, finishing ninth overall in 13.83 seconds.
The women finished fourth in the 4x100-meter relay and won the 4x400-meter relay on Saturday. The Grizzlies came from behind to defeat BYU thanks to a sub-53 split from Meskers on the final leg.
As has been the case all season, the Grizzlies had impressive performances from each and every event group over the three days in California. Fraley liked his team’s response to the busy schedule and tough competition.
“It’s a good test for us running, jumping and throwing in multiple events on multiple days and just seeing where we’re at on a quick turnaround,” Fraley said. “I thought our kids handled it well and we had some good performances from start to finish.”
The Grizzlies return home next weekend for the Montana Open at Dornblaser Field. The meet will be held on Friday and Saturday with a spring social on Friday night hosted by the program. It will be Senior Day for Montana as the final home meet of the season.
There has been plenty of momentum brewing for the Griz all season and they are excited to take some solid performances in California back home. The last time the Grizzlies competed at Dornblaser Field, they broke five school records and three stadium records.
“I felt like it was a very competitive effort from our team and I’m looking forward to getting home next week to continue our outdoor season,” Fraley said. “After being on the road all week, we’re looking forward to getting into the home stretch of the season and that starts next week in Missoula.”
BEACH INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
100m- Ben Bliven (10.75, 19th)
200m- Braden Ankeny (21.32, 11th)
400m- Cadence Waller (47.39, 8th), Taylor Johnson (48.00, 14th), Braden Ankeny (48.73, 18th), Garrett Dahlke (49.07, 26th)
800m- Truman Thompson (1:51.18, 2nd), Morgan Amano (1:54.43, 6th)
4x400m- Dahlke, Johnson, Ankeny, Waller (3:09.91, 2nd)
High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-5.5, 10th), Sam Henderson (6-5.5*, 15th)
Pole Vault- Kevin Swindler (NH), Carson Hegele (NH), Michael Cullen (NH)
Shot Put- Alex Shields (55-7.5, 13th), Astin Brown (53-0.25, 26th), Titus Jeffrey (51-6.5, 30th)
Discus- Cooper Henkle (171-0, 13th)
Hammer- Donaven Humphries (182-9, 23rd), Cooper Henkle (160-1, 45th)
Javelin- Hunter Loesch (230-7, 2nd), Kyle Iorg (221-7, 7th)
BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
800m- Henry Ballinger (1:50.96, 34th), Morgan Amano (1:51.05, 37th)
800m Invite- Truman Thompson (1:51.96, 104th)
1,500m- Henry Ballinger (3:50.95, 36th)
WOMEN’S RESULTS
100m- Callie Wilson (11.67, 4th), Rileigh McGree (11.71*, 8th), Brooke Zetooney (11.80, 13th), Tara Ohlwiler (11.93, 17th)
200m- Rileigh McGree (24.14*, 9th), Tara Ohlwiler (24.21, 11th), Jayel Dovichak (24.70*, 23rd), Ainsley Shipman (24.92*, 26th), Isabelle Berry (25.08, 30th)
400m- Lily Meskers (53.79, 5th), Sophia Clark (54.72, 9th), Claire Hutchison (55.71*, 15th),
100mH- Jayel Dovichak (13.83, 9th), Ainsley Shipman (14.05, 12th), Isabelle Berry (14.64, 31st)
4x100m- Zetooney, Ohlwiler, McGree, Wilson (45.02, 4th)
4x400m- Hutchison, Clark, Zetooney, Meskers (3:38.45, 1st)
High Jump- Erin Wilde (5-10.5, 4th), Jaidyn Pevey (5-3.25, 14th)
Pole Vault- Shealyne McGee (12-4.5, 18th), Reghan Skogen (12-4.5, 21st), Hannah Moses (11-10.5, 30th)
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau (43-6, 31st), Lillian White (41-3.25, 44th)
Discus- Lillian White (143-3, 37th), Morgan Thomas (142-4, 38th)
Javelin- Ashley Carroll (142-9, 19th), Brynn Fuller (141-0, 21st), Ella Moodry (133-5, 27th)
TOP 10 WATCH
The following athletes either entered the Montana all-time top 10 or moved up in the rankings with their performances this weekend.
- Lily Meskers, 400m (53.79, 3rd)
- Hunter Loesch, javelin (230-7, 3rd)
- Cooper Henkle, discus (171-0, 6th)
