Griz indoor set for Wazzu

After traveling to Bozeman last weekend for the Montana State Dual Meet Invitational — where junior Lindsey Hall broke two school records, both in the 55-meter hurdles and the long jump — the University of Montana track and field team will compete in Pullman, Wash., at the Cougar Indoor Invitational on Jan. 27-28.

The meet will feature some talented nonconference teams such as University of California, Los Angeles, Utah State and Washington State, as well as Big Sky Conference teams Idaho State and UM.

Head coach Brian Schweyen said after the meet he hopes the team will prove it isn't afraid of taking on bigger schools.

"There's going to be some really good competition, some of the best competition we see until the conference championships," said Schweyen.

Both the mens' and womens' pentathlons will take place on Friday along with women's pole vault, weight throw and the men's long jump. All other events will take place on Saturday.

Hall will compete again in the pentathlon for Montana. Last weekend,. at the Montana State Dual Meet Invitational, Hall ran a 7.95 second race in the 55-meter hurdles, breaking the previous 1989 Montana record set by Kris Schmitt. Hall also broke her indoor record in the long jump, jumping 19'4.25".

Schweyen said he believes that Hall will be confident and expects she will have her season's best in the pentathlon.

Montana also saw four new athletes qualify for the Big Sky Conference Championships at last week's invitational. Junior Kourtney Danreuther ran a 56.05 in the 400-meter hurdles to win the event, blowing past her competitors. Junior Keith Webber placed first in the pole vault competition, clearinga height of 15'5" just making the Big Sky qualifying standard. Senior Courtney Kosovich secured her spot in the indoor championships with a second-place finish in the pole vault, and senior Kesslee Payne ran a 5:02 mile, just under the 5:03 qualifying mark.

"Anytime you have good group performances it gives you confidence for the next week, so I think it will give them a big build on going into this week," Schweyen said. "You'll see some good marks."

Schweyen expects many more athletes to qualify at the Cougar Indoor Invitational this weekend and other upcoming meets.

Some of the athletes who are expected to qualify include Montana's distance runners, as well as sprinters Melissa Jenkins and Brittany Schroeder. Jessica Leslie is also expected to qualify in the long jump.

Following this week's meet at Washington State, the Grizzlies will have two other meets before competing in the Big Sky Conference Championships, which will take place on Feb. 24-25 in Flagstaff, Ariz.

austin.schempp@umontana.edu