Griz Athletics Spring Sports start this weekend

[Griz til I die]

Can you believe it's the start of the Spring sports season already? It's my goal this year to help provide as much coverage as possible to all the teams in the department here on eGriz. So here is your first olympic sports roundup of the year:

Two teams will get their seasons underway this weekend starting with the defending Big Sky regular season champions Women's Tennis that will take on Oregon tonight and Portland State (non-conf match) tomorrow. Both matches will be in Eugene and along with providing live scoring, Oregon will actually provide live video for both matches so you can actually watch all the action. Obviously they're gonna get smoked by Oregon, but the Portland State match tomorrow will be very telling of what kind of team Steve Ascher and the girls will have this year. They lost Olivia Oosterban and Maria Goheen to graduation, and also the reigning Big Sky MVP Hailey Murphy transferred to Texas Tech. Returning to the team though is the reigning Big Sky Freshmen of the year Kelsey Phillips, and Seniors Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen. All 3 played great Tennis last year and will need to carry the team with a lot of new faces most of which are Freshmen and a couple transfers. Interested to see the lineups tonight and tomorrow and who works their way into the mix. The Griz were picked 4th in the preseason poll.

Griz Track & Field gets their indoor season underway tomorrow and Sunday at the Podium in Spokane. There has perhaps been no team that has benefitted more from the opening of the Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility then the Track team. Of course Football, Soccer, and Softball will all benefit from it as well, but Track quite literally had nothing to practice in. Doug Fraley has done a great job in his first 2 years leading the squad and I expect them to take a big step forward this year on both the mens and womens side. I'd like to see some improvement from the women this year who finished a disappointing 8th last year and I'm confident they'll be much improved this year. The men I think could challenge for 3rd place in the league this year and we'll have to see how that goes. It'll be a while before we catch up to the likes of the cats and nationally ranked NAU. Starts with baby steps and we'll see how the weekend goes!

 

[maroonandsilver]

Can you believe it's the start of the Spring sports season already? It's my goal this year to help provide as much coverage as possible to all the teams in the department here on eGriz. So is your first olympic sports roundup of the year:

Two teams will get their seasons underway this weekend starting with the defending Big Sky regular season champions Women's Tennis that will take on Oregon tonight and Portland State (non-conf match) tomorrow. Both matches will be in Eugene and along with providing live scoring, Oregon will actually provide live video for both matches so you can actually watch all the action. Obviously they're gonna get smoked by Oregon, but the Portland State match tomorrow will be very telling of what kind of team Steve Ascher and the girls will have this year. They lost Olivia Oosterban and Maria Goheen to graduation, and also the reigning Big Sky MVP Hailey Murphy transferred to Texas Tech. Returning to the team though is the reigning Big Sky Freshmen of the year Kelsey Phillips, and Seniors Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen. All 3 played great Tennis last year and will need to carry the team with a lot of new faces most of which are Freshmen and a couple transfers. Interested to see the lineups tonight and tomorrow and who works their way into the mix. The Griz were picked 4th in the preseason poll.

Griz Track & Field gets their indoor season underway tomorrow and Sunday at the Podium in Spokane. There has perhaps been no team that has benefitted more from the opening of the Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility then the Track team. Of course Football, Soccer, and Softball will all benefit from it as well, but Track quite literally had nothing to practice in. Doug Fraley has done a great job in his first 2 years leading the squad and I expect them to take a big step forward this year on both the mens and womens side. I'd like to see some improvement from the women this year who finished a disappointing 8th last year and I'm confident they'll be much improved this year. The men I think could challenge for 3rd place in the league this year and we'll have to see how that goes. It'll be a while before we catch up to the likes of the cats and nationally ranked NAU. Starts with baby steps and we'll see how the weekend goes!

Softball "Meet the Team" dinner and fund-raiser tonight.

 

[Spanky2]

Can you believe it's the start of the Spring sports season already? It's my goal this year to help provide as much coverage as possible to all the teams in the department here on eGriz. So is your first olympic sports roundup of the year:

Two teams will get their seasons underway this weekend starting with the defending Big Sky regular season champions Women's Tennis that will take on Oregon tonight and Portland State (non-conf match) tomorrow. Both matches will be in Eugene and along with providing live scoring, Oregon will actually provide live video for both matches so you can actually watch all the action. Obviously they're gonna get smoked by Oregon, but the Portland State match tomorrow will be very telling of what kind of team Steve Ascher and the girls will have this year. They lost Olivia Oosterban and Maria Goheen to graduation, and also the reigning Big Sky MVP Hailey Murphy transferred to Texas Tech. Returning to the team though is the reigning Big Sky Freshmen of the year Kelsey Phillips, and Seniors Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen. All 3 played great Tennis last year and will need to carry the team with a lot of new faces most of which are Freshmen and a couple transfers. Interested to see the lineups tonight and tomorrow and who works their way into the mix. The Griz were picked 4th in the preseason poll.

Griz Track & Field gets their indoor season underway tomorrow and Sunday at the Podium in Spokane. There has perhaps been no team that has benefitted more from the opening of the Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility then the Track team. Of course Football, Soccer, and Softball will all benefit from it as well, but Track quite literally had nothing to practice in. Doug Fraley has done a great job in his first 2 years leading the squad and I expect them to take a big step forward this year on both the mens and womens side. I'd like to see some improvement from the women this year who finished a disappointing 8th last year and I'm confident they'll be much improved this year. The men I think could challenge for 3rd place in the league this year and we'll have to see how that goes. It'll be a while before we catch up to the likes of the cats and nationally ranked NAU. Starts with baby steps and we'll see how the weekend goes!

 

[Spanky2]

Griz, very good information. Thanks! One comment: you mentioned that our women’s tennis team wouldn’t do well against Oregon. Why not? If UM is actually interested in becoming more competitive in men’s and women’s tennis we need to expand our schedule and play more teams we might not beat. That will benefit recruitment and our success rate. I’m unaware of our budget for tennis, but it is possible to build national caliber teams in tennis far beyond the Big Sky Conference.

 

[Griz til I die]

Griz, very good information. Thanks! One comment: you mentioned that our women’s tennis team wouldn’t do well against Oregon. Why not? If UM is actually interested in becoming more competitive in men’s and women’s tennis we need to expand our schedule and play more teams we might not beat. That will benefit recruitment and our success rate. I’m unaware of our budget for tennis, but it is possible to build national caliber teams in tennis far beyond the Big Sky Conference.

Nothing wrong at all with playing power teams in Tennis, in fact I encourage it, they just may not be very competitive. Oregon typically has nationally ranked teams in both men's and women's tennis and with so many new faces on the women's team (only 3 players with significant playing time) it's realistic to assume that in the first match of the season it could be a little rocky. I would say the goal for tonight for the ladies is avoid getting swept. If they can come out of it with a 1-6 or 2-5 result and force a couple third set matches, I think Ascher comes out of it feeling pretty good about that result. Like I said, the Portland State match tomorrow is the big one that will give us an idea of what kind of team we got this year. Hopefully they get their feet wet tonight with some great experience against a Big 10 team, and they're ready to go for PSU tomorrow.

Also you mention their budget, I don't know exact numbers but I imagine it's pretty low. One thing I noticed though is in the current legislature, one of the budget bills for long range building appropriations (HB 5), UM is asking the state for money to construct a new Tennis center on South Campus that would feature both indoor and outdoor courts for athletics and campus rec, and likely general public as well. That would be huge for our Tennis program to have a facility on campus and not have to rent out The Peak courts anymore. I'll keep an eye on that as it progresses through the legislature!

 

[Spanky2]

Nothing wrong at all with playing power teams in Tennis, in fact I encourage it, they just may not be very competitive. Oregon typically has nationally ranked teams in both men's and women's tennis and with so many new faces on the women's team (only 3 players with significant playing time) it's realistic to assume that in the first match of the season it could be a little rocky. I would say the goal for tonight for the ladies is avoid getting swept. If they can come out of it with a 1-6 or 2-5 result and force a couple third set matches, I think Ascher comes out of it feeling pretty good about that result. Like I said, the Portland State match tomorrow is the big one that will give us an idea of what kind of team we got this year. Hopefully they get their feet wet tonight with some great experience against a Big 10 team, and they're ready to go for PSU tomorrow.

Also you mention their budget, I don't know exact numbers but I imagine it's pretty low. One thing I noticed though is in the current legislature, one of the budget bills for long range building appropriations (HB 5), UM is asking the state for money to construct a new Tennis center on South Campus that would feature both indoor and outdoor courts for athletics and campus rec, and likely general public as well. That would be huge for our Tennis program to have a facility on campus and not have to rent out The Peak courts anymore. I'll keep an eye on that as it progresses through the legislature!

That would be wonderful! An ACC tennis coach told me once that he could develop UM into a top ten program. A tennis center would be what the doctor ordered toward that end. In another life I was deeply involved with tennis and I would be delighted to see UM become a top national program.

 

[Griz til I die]

Griz lose to Oregon 4-0. Top of the singles lineup played pretty well but the bottoms of the lineup got smoked and the top of the lineup didn’t get to finish their matches because of it. Portland State tomorrow will tell us a lot more

 

[Spanky2]

Griz lose to Oregon 4-0. Top of the singles lineup played pretty well but the bottoms of the lineup got smoked and the top of the lineup didn’t get to finish their matches because of it. Portland State tomorrow will tell us a lot more

I think it’s good they played them. The more they play good teams the better they will become.

 

[Griz til I die]

Updates from the weekend:

Women's Tennis dropped their match yesterday to Portland State 4-2. Better showing than we had against Oregon but still the same issues. We lost the doubles point and then the bottom of the lineup struggled again. The middle and top of the lineup actually had good showings, but Ascher’s gotta figure out the 4-6 spots and the doubles pairings. You throw yourself behind the 8 ball early if you drop the doubles point. The women will be back in action next weekend with road matches at Colorado State and Air Force.

Griz Track & Field had a strong showing at their first indoor meet in Spokane and especially strong on the men’s side as they won 4 different events at the meet: 1 mile (Henry Ballinger), High Jump (Patrick Kremer), Shot Put (Alex Shields), Weight Throw (Donaven Humphreys). The only win on the women’s side was Erin Wilde in the high jump who’s a 2 time conference champ so that’s nothing new for her. The encouraging thing IMO is winning the mile. The Griz have really struggled in the distance events and if they can continue to improve in that area, then that’s how the team as a whole takes the next step. The Griz will return to the track next week at Idaho’s indoor meet in the Kibbie Dome where a bunch of Big Sky teams will be in attendance.

AthleticLIVE

live.athletictiming.net

Men’s Tennis will get their season started next Saturday at home against North Dakota. Excited to see them in action. They were picked second in the preseason poll.

 

[Griz til I die]

What to expect this weekend:

Women's Tennis is underway right now against Colorado State in Fort Collins. Here's the link to follow the live scoring: https://ioncourt.com/ties/679048b93c78a1ac3755eb10
They will also face Air Force tomorrow.

Men's Tennis gets their season started tomorrow morning at home against North Dakota at 10:30am at The Peak. So if you wanna take in some early morning Tennis before Griz-cat Basketball tomorrow, you can do that! The men were picked preseason second behind just NAU. I have high expectations for Jason Brown's team this year. They should win relatively easy tomorrow. UND is not very good.

Track & Field is down in Moscow for their second indoor meet and a lot of Big Sky teams are in attendance at this one. Doug Fraley said earlier this week that a lot of his top athletes will compete this weekend with several Big Sky teams in attendance and use this as a measuring stick for the conference championships to see where everyone's at. Hopefully they can build on a lot of last weeks strong performances.

 

[Griz til I die]

Updates from the weekend:

Women's Tennis continued their tough start to the season going 0-2 on their road trip against Colorado State and Air Force. The women are battling a bunch of injuries to start the season as they only had 6 healthy players on the trip. Kelsey Phillips (our best player) was only able to play doubles this weekend because of her injury. When she's not in the singles lineup, it leaves a massive void in the lineup and makes it tough to win as a team without her. One bright spot is Grace Haugen went 2-0 on the weekend in the 1 singles spot and she's off to a very strong start as is Rosie Sterk. When Phillips gets back and Haugen and Sterk occupy the 2 and 3 singles spots, that will make life much easier for them. Not sure how long we will be without her but the sooner the better. The women will play a double header against Lewis & Clark State next weekend.

Men's Tennis opened up their season with a bang getting the close 4-3 win over North Dakota at home on Saturday. UND beat Eastern and Idaho on the road before they played us so the Fighting Hawks are no slouch. They were picked second in the Summit League. We dropped the doubles point but the men were able to rally to win 4 out of the 6 singles matches to win the match. The top and bottom of the singles lineup came up clutch while the middle of the lineup struggled a little bit, but that's alright since it was the first match of the year. The men will go to Spokane next week to play a double header against Whitworth and a non-conference match against Eastern.

Track & Field had another good weekend, especially on the Men's side where they notched 3 event wins. Highlighted by Freshmen Braden Ankeny who won both the 200 and the 400. Love to see that from a freshmen. Could be a sign of things to come. Alex Shields of Missoula won the shot put for the third time this year. He's definitely looking like one of the favorites come conference championship time. Erin Wilde on the women's side continued her strong season winning the high jump yet again. The team will take this weekend off.

 

[Griz til I die]

Updates from the weekend 1/31-2/2:

Men’s Tennis remained undefeated on the season after going 3-0 on their road trip in Spokane and Cheney. They beat Whitworth yesterday in a double header winning both matches 6-1. Then today they beat Eastern in a non-conference match in Cheney 4-3. Jason Brown made the decision to rest our top player Tom Bittner on this road trip with a big road trip looming next week. The men will be in Colorado Springs next week to take on Air Force and D2 Metro State.

Women’s Tennis got their first win of the season blanking Lewis & Clark State 7-0 and they did so without a lot of their top players. Neither Kelsey Phillips nor Grace Haugen played yesterday. In fact the only top player who played yesterday was Rosie Sterk, so a lot of younger players got to play yesterday. The women now have 3 weeks off which they badly need to get healthy before heading to Utah for their first conference match against Weber and a non-conference match against Utah State.

Next week is a busy slate as Track & Field returns to action down in Spokane, and Softball gets their season started next weekend down in Arizona, plus Men’s Tennis down in Colorado!

 

[Griz til I die]

Updates from the Weekend 2/7-2/9:

Men's Tennis had a big weekend down in Colorado Springs beating Air Force on Saturday 5-2. The Falcons have been a thorn in our side for years and we had never beaten them at their place until now. The Griz were able to win the doubles point and then won 3 of the top 4 singles matches as the top of the lineup looks very strong. We also beat D2 Metro State yesterday 7-0 as the Griz remain undefeated on the season at 6-0. The winning doesn't look like it's gonna stop anytime soon as the Griz will travel to Washington and Idaho next week to take on Whitman and Lewis & Clark State.

Griz Track & Field had a very strong weekend down in Spokane as several school records were broken. Freshmen Braden Akeney broke the school record in the Men's 200m and continues his strong season and looks to be one of the favorites in the event when we get to the conference championships. On the Women's side, this was easily their strongest meet as Erin Wilde tied the school record in the high jump, Lily Meskers came within .01 seconds of the school record in the 200m, and the Women's 4x400m set the school record as well. The Griz will have one final regular season meet in Spokane next weekend before heading to the conference championships in Flagstaff at the end of the month.

Also, Griz Golf gets their Spring season underway tomorrow down in Arizona for the two day Bowling Green Invite. I'll provide a recap on their performance following the conclusion of the tournament on Wednesday but I have relatively low expectations for Golf this year. This will be their only tournament in the month of February so we'll see how they stack up in the early going.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Appreciate you doing these.

 

[Griz til I die]

Update on Griz Golf:

The Golf team just got done with their first tournament of the Spring season down in Arizona at The Bowling Green Invite. They played 72 holes over 2 days at Wigwam Resort, the site of this years Big Sky Championships. The Griz finished 11th out of 14 teams which is about what I expected. They played 36 holes yesterday and 18 today. The wind was really whipping yesterday and it made it tough for the girls to adjust. Unfortunately their first round was a complete disaster and it set them back for the rest of the tournament and made it tough for them to climb back into it. The good news though if you're Jimmy Mee is they improved on each round. They shaved 6 strokes off their second round from the first, and 5 strokes off their third round from the second. They were actually on pace to put up a really respectable score in the third round today, but unfortunately a streak of bogeys or worse across 8 straight holes from Hannah Ports to close stopped all the momentum they had. Despite all that, today was still their best round of the tournament shaving 5 strokes off the second round.

Overall, not a surprising result for the first tournament following a winter of practicing in the indoor facility. Likely had to knock the rust off from winter, but a good opportunity to play the course that will host the conference championships. When I look at these results, I always look at how the Griz stacked up against fellow Big Sky teams. There were 4 other Big Sky teams at the tournament (Weber, Idaho, UNC, ISU). Out of 5 Big Sky teams, the Griz finished 4th. We beat Idaho State by a whopping 34 strokes so it would appear the Bengals are not very good this year as they finished in last place by 11 strokes. UNC was 9th place, two spots ahead of the Griz, and they were 17 strokes better than us. So some things to improve on but my guess would be they just have to clean up the putting a little bit and not 3 putt. Also congrats to Weber on winning the tournament by 1 stroke over UTEP. Likely gonna be a two horse race between Weber and Sac State for the conference championship.

The Griz will now have 1 month off before their next tournament at NAU's Red Rocks Invite. Likely to be a lot of Big Sky teams at that one.

 

[Griz til I die]

Updates from the weekend 2/14-2/16:

Men's Tennis kept the good times rolling with road wins at Whitman (7-0) and at Lewis & Clark State (6-1). Some guys who likely won't be in the lineup come conference play got to play this week and we moved around the doubles pairings. I think Jason Brown found some combinations that he likes now for doubles as there was a lot of experimentation there. Men's Tennis is now 8-0 to start the season. The only undefeated team remaining in the Big Sky and next week is a big opportunity for the Men as they will play at Gonzaga. A team that has traditionally been very tough on on us. The Zags do appear to be slightly down this year at 4-4, but they are 3-0 against the Big Sky beating Eastern twice and the cats. If the Griz can win this one on the road next week with conference play looming in early March, then I think we can start feeling really good about this teams chances at winning the Big Sky.

Griz Track & Field had their final indoor meet of the regular season this past weekend in Spokane and while many of our top athletes sat this one out, others shot themselves up the league standings just in time for the conference championships. 3 school records were broken this week starting with Shealyne McGee breaking the school record in the women's pole vault at 13-6.5 shattering the old record of 13-2.5. That mark now puts her at 1st overall in the conference at the perfect time. Tara Ohlweiler broke the school record in the women's 60m with a time of 7.53 which surprisingly moves her into 4th in the standings but I believe can finish top 3 at the championships. Then on the men's side, Karson Beitz broke the school record in the men's 200m that was set by his teammate Braden Akeney just last week with a time of 21.42 putting him at 3rd in the standings. Multiple athletes put themselves into the top 3 of the league standings this week as well, but I'm not gonna go through all of them lol. The Griz will now take this weekend off before heading to Flagstaff in two weeks for the Indoor Championships. Excited to see if the men can crack the top 3. I think we have a chance. the women I'd like to see in the top 5.

 

[Spanky2]

Updates from the weekend 2/14-2/16:

Men's Tennis kept the good times rolling with road wins at Whitman (7-0) and at Lewis & Clark State (6-1). Some guys who likely won't be in the lineup come conference play got to play this week and we moved around the doubles pairings. I think Jason Brown found some combinations that he likes now for doubles as there was a lot of experimentation there. Men's Tennis is now 8-0 to start the season. The only undefeated team remaining in the Big Sky and next week is a big opportunity for the Men as they will play at Gonzaga. A team that has traditionally been very tough on on us. The Zags do appear to be slightly down this year at 4-4, but they are 3-0 against the Big Sky beating Eastern twice and the cats. If the Griz can win this one on the road next week with conference play looming in early March, then I think we can start feeling really good about this teams chances at winning the Big Sky.

Griz Track & Field had their final indoor meet of the regular season this past weekend in Spokane and while many of our top athletes sat this one out, others shot themselves up the league standings just in time for the conference championships. 3 school records were broken this week starting with Shealyne McGee breaking the school record in the women's pole vault at 13-6.5 shattering the old record of 13-2.5. That mark now puts her at 1st overall in the conference at the perfect time. Tara Ohlweiler broke the school record in the women's 60m with a time of 7.53 which surprisingly moves her into 4th in the standings but I believe can finish top 3 at the championships. Then on the men's side, Karson Beitz broke the school record in the men's 200m that was set by his teammate Braden Akeney just last week with a time of 21.42 putting him at 3rd in the standings. Multiple athletes put themselves into the top 3 of the league standings this week as well, but I'm not gonna go through all of them lol. The Griz will now take this weekend off before heading to Flagstaff in two weeks for the Indoor Championships. Excited to see if the men can crack the top 3. I think we have a chance. the women I'd like to see in the top 5.

Wake Forest men’s tennis currently ranked #2 in the nation, plays in the championship of the National Indoor tomorrow. My son, Nikos Ridle of Billings, 3 time AA champion, 2 time Montana Men’s Open champion played for Wake Forest, but was killed in an automobile accident in 1986 prior to starting his junior year at Wake Forest.

 

[Mick Belker]

Spring sports begin this weekend. Where I am the next couple of days will be in the -20 F range. Got another MONTH til St. Patricks Day. To this point, Winter has cost me over $1,400 in house repairs. I want Winter gone as much as anyone, but...get with the weatherman and get Spring HERE!

 

[Griz til I die]

Updates from the weekend 2/21-2/23:

Men's Tennis was down in Spokane taking on Gonzaga and unfortunately they suffered their first loss of the year losing 5-2. The Griz won the doubles point to go up 1-0 but then got shellacked in singles losing 5 of the 6 singles matches with the only win coming from Tom Bittner. The bottom of the lineup got absolutely smoked and Gonzaga would go up 3-1 and that ended up putting a lot of pressure on the top of the lineup as they were all stuck in razor tight matches that ended up not going their way. The good news is the Men are still 8-1 on the year and I believe still look like the favorites to win the Big Sky. They'll probably drop out of the national rankings after this but there's still plenty of opportunity for them to get back in. Up next the men will have a busy week down in California as they'll take on Pacific on Wednesday in Stockton before heading up to Sacramento for their first conference match of the year on Friday against Sac State, and then on Saturday will participate in Sac State's Golden State Invite tournament against a TBD opponent. Big week for the men down in Cali.

Women's Tennis was back in action this weekend after a 3 week break that they badly needed and they opened up conference play on Saturday in Ogden beating Weber State 6-1. The women were in full control of this match from the start and it's great to see them start conference play 1-0 on their quest to repeat. Grace Haugen continued her reign of terror and remains undefeated in singles matches this year and Rosie Sterk has come on really strong in that 2 singles spot. On Sunday the Griz traveled up the road to take on Utah State and dropped a nailbiter 4-3 match that unfortunately they should've won, but at least they beat Weber and that was the more important one. Up next for the Women, they will be over in Spokane this weekend to take on Gonzaga and Seattle U. They got a two week break before their next conference match.

Also the Big Sky Indoor Track & Field Championships get underway in Flagstaff starting on Wednesday with the multis. I'll keep everyone posted on that throughout the week but I'm cautiously optimistic that the men could finish top 3 and the women top 5.

 

[Griz til I die]

Update from the Indoor Track & Field Championships:

Congratulations to UM and Missoula's very own Whitney Morrison on winning the Women's Pentathlon in a stunning upset victory. The Senior in her final indoor meet ranked third coming into the meet and was not expected to contend for the title and today and she was incredible going 4th in the 60mH, 2nd in the high jump, 2nd in the shot put, 2nd in the long jump, and 1st in the 800m to win the title. The best part of all, she beat out msu's Shelby Schweyen (yes Shannon's daughter lol) who was the huge favorite coming into the meet. Also congrats to Griz freshmen Kensey Gault for finishing 5th in her first Pentathlon to put the Griz women in first place in the team standings. They already outperforming where they were expected to finish as a team after day one of the meet. No men's athletes were in action today for the Griz so they'll hit the ground running tomorrow. Hell of a day one for the Griz!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1895242212134502769