Montana's Shealyne McGee matches school pole vault record at Tom Gage Classic

BOZEMAN — The Montana track and field program wrapped up the regular season on Friday evening in Bozeman at the Tom Gage Classic. A small group of Grizzlies made the trip over the Continental Divide with some big results in the conference and regional race. 
 
The top performance of the day came in the women’s pole vault where Shealyne McGee matched a school record and made great progress toward a potential bid to the NCAAs. 
 
McGee entered the week just inside the regional bubble in the event. The top 48 marks at the end of the conference championships will earn a trip to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA First Round meet. She sat at 43rd going into Friday’s meet. 
 
The mark was very good, but the senior likely needed to improve to book her ticket to the regional meet. She did just that on Friday by matching the school record set by Samantha Serex last season. 
 
McGee cleared on her first three attempts and didn’t miss until the bar was over 13 feet. She went over 13-5¼ on her second attempt, which was an improvement from her previous career best. 
 
At 13-7¼, McGee went over on her final attempt to match Serex’s record. The height was tied for 35th entering Friday’s competition. While she hasn’t guaranteed a spot at the First Round meet, McGee made a lot of progress toward it on Friday.
 
Carson Hegele in the men’s pole vault had a strong performance, clearing 16-8 and just missing out on improving upon his season best of 16-9½. Hegele placed third on Friday and ranks fourth in the Big Sky in the event.
 
“The vaulters, led by Shea, had a very solid day,” Montana coach Doug Fraley said. “Her jump really solidifies her regional standings and gives her a lot of momentum heading into the conference championships next week. Carson was really close at the regional bar and is in great form as well.”
 
There was a top 10 entry for Montana as Morgan Thomas had a big throw in the women’s hammer. Thomas placed second in the event with her mark of 174-0, which moved her into a tie for eighth in program history in the event. 
 
She’s now tied with teammate Mary Mickelson in the Big Sky standings at ninth in the event.
 
Ally Sempf picked up a win on the track for the Grizzlies, running a time of 24.76 to win the 200m. Sempf also finished third in the 100m with a new PR time of 12.14 seconds. 
 
Lillian White picked up a win for Montana in the women’s discus with a throw of 148-10. It’s the best throw for White in the event since the season opening Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula, where she threw 154-10 to rank sixth in the Big Sky Conference.
 
Ethan Grimm placed second in the men’s javelin throw with a mark of 182-9, a season best for the sophomore. He’s currently ranked 12th in the Big Sky in the event.
 
Montana will head to Portland for the Big Sky Championships next week. The multis begin on Wednesday  with the full meet opening up on Friday.