Results

The University of Montana wrapped up its 2010 home meet schedule and competed for the final time prior to next week’s Big Sky Conference championships when the Grizzlies hosted the Tom Gage Classic Friday afternoon at Dornblaser Field in Missoula. Blessed with sunny skies and mainly light winds for one of the few times this outdoor season, Montana took advantage with some of its best performances of the year.

Six athletes who were previously qualified in other events added new qualifying events Friday, and the two teams combined for 10 improved marks upon previous qualifications.

“I think we saw better things today than I was even anticipating,” UM track and field program director Brian Schweyen said. “There were a lot of great performances, some from people you’d never have guessed.

“When good things are happening team-wide like that, it should be a boost for everyone, whether they are competing or not. The athletes saw some great things out of their teammates, and that should get them going as we head into next week.”

The 2010 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships will take place next Wednesday through Saturday at Ogden, Utah. The men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon will be held Wednesday and Thursday. The remainder of the championship events will take place Friday and Saturday.

The highlights for the Grizzlies came in the fastest event – the men’s 100 meters – to the throwing event with the heaviest implement – the men’s shot put – and most events in between.

Senior Chris Hellekson both started the day – the men’s hammer kicked off the meet at noon – and closed the day – the men’s discus finished out the meet. In between he had a career effort in the shot put.

In the hammer, Hellekson, who competed at the NCAA Midwest Regional last spring in the event, threw a season-best 182-0 to finish second to former teammate Curtis Bean, who threw 185-4 while competing unattached.

Hellekson’s hammer mark moves him up to fourth on the Big Sky performance list.

Hellekson moved up to third in the shot put and became a contender in that event for an NCAA West Region Preliminary Round spot when he went a career-best 55-0.75.

That distance ties Hellekson for 47th in the West Region, with the top 48 athletes going to the region meet, which will be held May 27-29 in Austin, Texas.

With early-evening headwinds picking up, Hellekson threw 157-3 in the discus to place second to redshirt teammate Joey Frank, who went 159-4.

Hellekson’s season-best mark of 169-2 from the Al Manuel Invitational ranks third in the Big Sky.

“I had a season best and a lifetime best today, so that’s probably the most complete meet I’ve ever had,” Hellekson said. “With one week left, hopefully it will continue.

“And I had some good discus throws today. I just didn’t catch it right when the wind picked up.”

Next week Hellekson will be competing at his eighth Big Sky indoor and outdoor championships.

“I’d like to end with a PR in all three events,” he said. “That would be ideal. If I can throw my personal best in my last meet, I’m not going to be disappointed, no matter what place that happens to be.”

One other senior who’s peaking prior to her eighth Big Sky championships is Erin Clark. She ran a 56.79 last week to win the 400 meters at the Griz-Cat Dual, then ran a 56.58 Friday to win again, this time by over two seconds.

“This is a great time for it to happen,” Clark said of her late-season surge. “I didn’t have the best indoor season, but we’ve been hitting it hard out at practice recently. Hopefully we’ll continue to have some good weather and I can improve even more.”

Weber State’s Ally Dean has the Big Sky’s top 400 mark of 54.77. The next 12 athletes on the conference performance list, which includes Clark, are all within one second of one another.

“The women’s 400 is so competitive and close right now,” she said. “I just want to finish my career well and run a good time. In terms of place, I don’t really have a goal for that. But I would love to get into the 55s.”

Both the men’s and women’s 800 meters provided surprise winners in surprisingly fast times.

In the men’s race, redshirt freshman Cody Lund followed sophomore teammate Bevan Taylor’s 600-meter rabbit lead, then closed out the final 200 meters on his own to win the event in an altitude-adjusted time of 1:52.61.

It was the best half-mile time by a Montana runner this spring and a career best for Lund by nearly five seconds. It gives the Grizzlies their third qualifier in that event, along with Taylor and sophomore Casey Weinman.

In the women’s 800, sophomore Kesslee Payne showed her Katrina Drennen-like versatility by dropping down from the distance races and winning the half mile in an altitude-adjusted time of 2:11.79.

Payne already ranked fifth in the Big Sky Conference in the 5,000 meters and sixth in the 1,500 meters. Now she ranks third in the 800 meters and gives the Grizzlies five of the eight fastest times in the Big Sky this season in that event.

Freshman Chantelle Grey finished second to Payne, running an altitude-adjusted 2:12.27, the fourth-fastest half-mile time in the Big Sky this year.

Montana’s best group showing came in the men’s javelin, where junior Richard Brumbaugh, freshman Justin Graff and junior Jason Flemmer all broke 211 feet and established themselves as the top three throwers in the Big Sky.

Brumbaugh and Graff both went 212-11 Friday to tie for second behind Montana State’s Nick Lam, who is redshirting this season and competed unattached. The mark was a season-best for both Brumbaugh and Graff and ties them for second in the Big Sky.

Flemmer, who has the conference’s top mark this season of 219-4, finished just behind in fourth with a throw of 211-10.

In the women’s javelin, freshman standout Lindsey Hall, who won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.28 and the high jump with a height of 5-5, threw 131-11 in just her fourth collegiate javelin competition. That was good for second place and met the Big Sky qualifying standard of 130.

Hall will compete in the heptathlon next Wednesday and Thursday. She is also qualified to compete Friday and Saturday in the hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump and now javelin.

Montana’s lone new addition to its qualifying list was senior Kelsey Smith, who went 11-9 in the pole vault to finish second and earn a spot at her fifth Big Sky championships.

Smith scored points for the Grizzlies in the event with seventh-place finishes at last May’s outdoor championships and February’s indoor championships.

Smith’s addition gives the Montana women 23 automatic qualifiers. The men have 22.

Highlighting the shorter races was a pair of juniors in David Carcamo and Jennifer Walter.

Carcamo pulled away over the second half of the 100 meters to post his second sub-11-second time of the season of 10.77. His altitude-adjusted time of 10.80 ties him for fifth in the Big Sky Conference.

Walter, who scored points for Montana at last year’s outdoor championships in the 100 meters, 400-meter hurdles and both relays, looks like she could do it again in 2010.

After helping Montana to a victory in the 4x100-meter relay, Walter ran a career-best 12.11 in the 100 meters, then came back 30 minutes later to win the hurdles in a season-best time of 1:02.38.

Freshman Anika Green finished just behind Walter in the 100 meters, running a qualifying time of 12.40, and just behind Hall in the 100-meter hurdles, improving on her previous qualification with a time of 14.36.