48 tracksters head to Spokane, others stay

Members of The University of Montana track teams will head to Spokane this weekend to participate in the Duane Hartman Invitational. Well, some of them will.

The meet won’t be scored for teams, and the weather is expected to be predictably unpredictable, so many of the Grizzlies’ top men and women will be staying home for the weekend.

“If Loni (Perkins-Judisch) went down there and pulled a muscle in the cold it would be ill-advised,” coach Tom Raunig said.

Perkins-Judisch, a sprinter, is among 25 athletes who have already qualified for the Big Sky Championships, to be held next month in Sacramento, Calif. The men have qualified 14 athletes in 12 events while the women have 11 qualified in 11 events.

Thus, standouts like Chris Hicks, Baily Cox, Amber Aikins and Perkins-Judisch will remain in Missoula and prepare for the Drake Relays next week in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Those people already qualified for conference in a number of events,” Raunig said, adding the Spokane meet would provide another opportunity for other athletes to qualify in their respective events.

Raunig said 12 athletes will participate at Drake starting Wednesday and 48 will go to Spokane.

Griz throwers will travel to Spokane, Raunig said, because throwing events are less taxing than running events.  With Drake, as well as the Montana Open coming up, runners need to be rested.

The Hartman Invitational will also be the first meet of the year for football player Dan Beaudin, who just wrapped up spring football practices in the throwing events.

“So we’re going to get some people going,” Raunig said.