Track Big Sky Track & Field Championships

[Griz til I die]

The Big Sky Track & Field Championships are underway in Sacramento and the Griz got off to a bang as Missoula's own Whitney Morrison wins the Big Sky Heptathlon and Freshmen Kensey Gault who hasn't competed at all in the outdoor season because of an injury takes 6th place and puts the Griz in a tie for first place with Idaho State atop the team standings after 2 days of multis are completed. The men's decathlon is still going on and features two Grizzlies who are in scoring position (Oliver Simianer, Porter Coffield), and will conclude tonight. I'll post the results of that once it becomes final.

Of course, NAU is the heavy favorites to win on both the women's and men's sides so obviously the Griz stand no chance, but the goal for both teams is a 3rd place finish which is absolutely attainable for both squads. Some of the events to watch includes the Men's Javelin which features three Grizzlies in the top 6, including Freshmen Kyle Lorg who is the favorite to win, and also includes Senior Matthew Hockett who ranks 3rd and has a great chance to finish 2nd, and also fellow Freshmen Ethan Grimm who ranks 6th but could definitely finish in the top 5. Another event to watch for the men is the Pole Vault which features four Grizzlies in the top 5. Carson Weeden ranks 2nd, Kevin Swindler ranks 3rd, while Carson Haegle and Corbin Luce are tied for 5th. If they were all to finish in the top 5, the Griz could come away with 21 total team points in the event, which would be huge for the team standings.

On the Women's side, all eyes will be on Junior Erin Wilde who will go for her third consecutive outdoor title in the high jump. For as good as she's been in her career, believe it or not, she actually comes into the meet ranked 2nd in the event behind Idaho State's Kylee Dimick who finished second in the heptathlon to Whitney Morrison. Wilde has not competed much in the outdoor season as Fraley has been saving her for this meet. I do believe she is the favorite to win, but she will be pushed for sure. Also keep an eye on Sophomore Tara Ohlweiler in the women's 100m who ranks second but is only 3 hundredths off the top time and has a very good chance to win.

Overall, it has the potential to be a very strong meet for both teams and I will post results as they come in over the next couple days.

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[Griz til I die]

The Decathlon has come to a close and the Griz men notched 5 points as Porter Coffield finished 6th and Oliver Simianer finished 7th. Not bad for the two of them considering it was their first multis. It’ll be good to have both of them back. That puts the men into a tie for 4th with Weber. The cats are leading the way with 14 points, followed by Idaho State with 11, and Sac State with 8. That concludes the multis portion of the meet and now individual events will begin tomorrow.

The first event of the day is the men’s Javelin at 11am and you’re gonna wanna tune into that with Kyle Lorg as the favorite to win and potentially three Grizzlies who could all finish in the Top 5. I’ll post results all throughout the day tomorrow as we get them.

 

[Griz til I die]

The Men's Javelin just concluded and the Griz put three throwers in the Top 8. Senior Matthew Hockett finishes second, Freshmen Kyle Lorg finishes third and Freshmen Ethan Grimm finishes 6th to tally up 17 total team points for the Griz in the event. Hockett was on pace to win the jav before a thrower from NAU (senior) had a lifetime best throw on his third attempt that he came nowhere close to on any of his other 5 attempts. Gotta feel for Hockett as a Senior, but with 2 Freshmen men's Javelin throwers and also the #1 high school javelin thrower in the nation coming into the program next year (he's from Corvallis), we've got the potential to sweep the podium next year. Hockett and Lorg both still have throws good enough to qualify them for next weeks NCAA West Regionals in College Station, Texas so good for both of them extending their seasons!

 

[Griz til I die]

Apologies for the lack of updates. I got busy yesterday, but what a weekend it was for Griz Track & Field! Both squads finished in 3rd place and both teams amassed 100+ team points. That’s the highest finish for the men since 2019 and the most points they’ve scored since 2007 (107). They did all this despite the men not winning a single individual title. Now just imagine if they could’ve won a couple. A few athletes came close including Carson Weeden in the pole vault, Patrick Kremer and Zachary Travis in the high jump, and Freshmen Braden Akeney who won three silver medals on the track yesterday (200, 400, 4x4) and after the meet was named the Big Sky Freshmen of the Year.

On the Women’s side, they finished with exactly 100 points to just eek out Sac State for 3rd place who finished with 97. That’s their best finish and most points scored since 2017. And unlike the men, the women produced four individual titles. Whitney Morrison started it off on Thursday with the Heptathlon, and then Junior Erin Wilde won her fifth overall and third straight outdoor title in the high jump. The biggest storyline though came on the Track as Sophomore Tara Ohlweiler became the first Grizzly female athlete to win the 100m Dash since 1987, and then one hour later completed the rare double by also winning the 200m Dash. The first Grizzly to accomplish this rare feat since 1987.

What an amazing job by Doug Fraley and his staff in his third season getting this program back to a place it has not been in a long time! This is the first time since 2002 that both teams finished at least 3rd place and both amassed 100+ points. The program is officially back on track and only gonna get better from here. Wait until you see the recruiting class they have coming in next year. It’s quite impressive! Go Griz!

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