Griz Recap

Football

Former University of Montana and National Football League running back Justin Green has been named the running backs coach for the Grizzlies, Robin Pflugrad announced Monday.

Green, 29, who is from San Diego and was a student assistant coach at Montana last season, replaced Mick Delaney, who retired recently after 44 years of coaching, 29 of which were at the college level.

"Justin is a quality person, and I noticed this past spring and fall how much respect that the players have for him," Pflugrad said in a press release. "He did a great job of shadowing Coach Delaney because that is where his interest naturally migrated to the running back position. So we had him help at that position on the field and in the video room."

As a Griz, Green rushed for 1,784 yards in 2003 and 2004, which ranked him eighth in school history.

After his UM career, he was a fifth-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens and had a four-year career in the NFL. He played three seasons for the Ravens before playing one year with the Phoenix Cardinals.

Ty Gregorak, an assistant coach for the Griz for eight of the last nine years, will now takeover as Montana's new defensive coordinator, Pflugrad announced Saturday.

Gregorak will replace Mike Breske, who accepted the position of defensive coordinator for the Washington State Cougars.

During his coaching career with the Griz, Gregorak worked as a linebackers coach for six years. He began his coaching career with Montana as a defensive secondary coach.

Men's Basketball

The Montana men's basketball team improved its Big Sky Conference record to 12-1 after picking up a 67-58 road win over the Sacramento State Hornets on Feb. 11.

The Grizzlies are riding an eight-game winning streak and have also won the last 14 out of 15 games.

Will Cherry continued his scoring rampage, leading all scores with 17 points, along with four rebounds and four assists. Art Steward also had a big night for the Griz, scoring 16 points and picking up eight rebounds.

Montana (19-6 overall, 12-1 BSC) is tied with Weber State (20-4 overall, 12-1 BSC) for the best record in league play with four more games left on the regular season schedule. The Griz will play at home for the rest of the regular season, facing three conference opponents. The last game is against Weber State on Feb. 28.

Women's Basketball

In their second meeting with Northern Colorado this season, the University of Montana Lady Griz fell in overtime 56-54 on Feb. 11 in Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz fought back after a 16-point Northern Colorado advantage to force the game into overtime. In the first meeting between the two teams, the Bears won easily, beating Montana by 17 on Jan. 19 in Greeley, Colo.

The first half seemed like it would produce the same result as their first meeting, as Montana trailed Northern Colorado 31-16 at halftime. However, in the second half the Lady Griz turned it around, shooting 42 percent and outscoring the Bears with 36-25 in the second half.

Montana (14-11, 7-5 BSC) will face Weber State (2-23, 0-12 BSC) on Feb. 16 in Ogden, Utah. Four regular season games remain for the Lady Griz, all of which are against conference opponents.

Indoor Track

Griz indoor track athletes earned eight individual event victories this weekend in Bozeman, while the team also picked up eight new Big Sky Conference qualifications.

Five new athletes on the men's side qualified at the meet including distance runner Lynn Reynolds, who ran a career best race in the 3,000-meter. Reynolds, a senior on the team, also qualified for the 5,000-meter, due to his 3,000-meter time.

On the women's side, freshman Allie Parks qualified for both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter races after finishing fourth at the meet.

The women's team also produced four event winners. Winners included junior Anika Green in the 55-meter hurdles, junior Kourtney Danreuther in the 400-meter, junior Gwenn Abbott in the high jump and sophomore Kellee Glaus in the triple jump.

Montana has one meet remaining in its regular season schedule. The meet will take place in Bozeman on Feb. 17, with only a handful of Grizzlies competing at the meet.

Men's Tennis

The Montana men's tennis team earned two match victories this past weekend when the team travelled to Walla Walla, Wash., as part of the Whitman College Shootout.

The Grizzlies dominated their first match of the day, rolling to an 8 to 1 victory over Whitman. Montana swept the singles matches and then lost only one match in doubles.

After winning against Whitman, the Griz played the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. The match saw Montana come out on top again, this time 7-2. Montana won five out of six singles matches and only lost one doubles match.

The men's team, now 2-1, will face off against Montana State on Feb. 18 in Bozeman.

Women's Tennis

The Montana women's tennis team was on fire this past weekend, dominating opponents, while picking up three meet wins in three days.

Montana beat Portland 4-3 on Feb. 10, then swept Portland State 7-0 on Feb. 11 and finished the weekend with a 5-2 win over Seattle on Feb. 12. All three meets were held in Seattle.

Against Portland State, the Griz exhibited their dominance opening their first conference match of the season with sweeps in both singles and doubles matches. At No. 1 singles, Heather Davidson defeated Portland State's Audrey Farr 6-0, 6-0.

The team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 24-26 to play three consecutive matches against Drake, Upper Iowa and Kansas.

austin.schempp@umontana.edu