Track team comes home for MT Open

After spending the past two weekends on the road, Montana track and field will return home Saturday to host the Montana Open at Dornblaser Field.

Meanwhile, 12 athletes from the squad will be competing in the Midwest this weekend, with 11 athletes continuing the four-day Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, this morning. Senior Curtis Bean didn’t qualify for the Drake event, but will compete in the Simpson Open in Indianola, Iowa, today, then at the Nebraska Open in Lincoln on Sunday.

All in all, the mid-season slate is full for Tom Raunig’s team, where he hopes that cooperative weather can help boost more athletes into Big Sky qualifying times.

“We’re continuing to pick up qualifiers despite not getting good weather. It’s been a little slower this year, we’re back to a good old fashion spring, but I think we’re faring well,” Raunig said.

Notable athletes who have impressed Raunig thus far this spring have been senior Jesse Loether, freshman Courtney Kosovich as well as the men’s throwing unit, a group that Raunig credits with maturing.

Alongside coordinating an open meet this weekend in Missoula, where red shirts are allowed to compete and Big Sky qualifying is on the line, athletes competing in the Midwest also have high stakes.

Among those competing for the men are Brett Carter in the 10,000 meters and James Stanton in the discus. For the women, Baily Cox will continue her strong senior campaign in the heptathlon, 400-meter and triple jump. Kosovich will compete in the pole vault and junior Amber Aikins will fulfill duties in the heptathlon, 100-meter long jump and triple jump. 

Montana had a strong opening day in Des Moines on Wednesday, with sophomore Chris Hicks cementing career bests in the long jump, shot put and the 400 meters, while Cox and Aikins finished 10th and 17th in heptathlon, respectively. 

The weekend in the Midwest also presents another opportunity for UM’s 1,600-meter relay team to shatter the school record, where Loni Perkins-Judisch, Stephanie Radke, Erin Clark and Jenna Haven will have to run an average 55.75 seconds per leg in either the Drake Relays or the Simpson Open in order to break the mark.

While many miles will spread his team thin this weekend, Raunig believes his squad is fit to turn the corner at the mid-season point.

“Every team does it,” Raunig said of teams splitting into two events. “But not all those teams are putting on a home event, so it’s more of a challenge for us, just trying to get officials and putting together a meet.”

There are currently 29 athletes qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championships, with 17 men hitting the mark in 22 events and 12 women in 16 events. Raunig said the program typically expects 20 to 25 athletes to qualify in each class.

The Montana Open gets underway Saturday afternoon at 12:50 p.m. with the men’s steeplechase. Carroll, Great Falls and MSU Billings will have athletes competing, along with Montana State, who also will send athletes to the Drake Relays.

Next weekend Montana will hit the road to face MSU in the annual Griz-Cat Dual, then will return to Missoula the following Friday to host the Tom Gage Classic in its final home appearance of the season. Those two events will provide segue into the Big Sky Conference Championships, which will be held May 14-17 in Sacramento.