Grizzlies prep for Montana State Duals
6 local track athletes have eyes on prize
With a handful of Big Sky-qualifying performances already under its belt, the University of Montana indoor track and field team will travel to Bozeman onf Friday for the Montana State Duals.
It is the second of three times that UM will compete at Montana State University. The meet will include duals scored between UM, MSU and Weber State.
UM athletes have qualified 43 entrants into the conference meet at the end of February - and seven athletes from northwest Montana have their eyes on the prize.
Whitefish's Chris Hicks and Eureka's Curtis Bean have already grabbed three of those entries.
Hicks, a sophomore, has qualified in the heptathlon and triple jump. He continues to hold down the conference's top spot in the triple jump with his jump of 48-feet, 3/4-inches. His heptathlon total of 4,866 from Pocatello, Idaho, last weekend ranks fourth.
Bean, a senior, improved his career-best weight throw to 59-7 to win that event at Idaho State. That distance ranks No. 2 in the Big Sky and is 12 1/2 inches from the Montana school record. He is a foot-and-a-half away from qualifying in the shot put.
Senior Cody Henning of Whitefish is still looking to qualify for the 60-, 200- and 400-meter runs. He is one-tenth of a second away from qualifying in the 60, two-tenths away in the 200 and one second away from the 400.
On the women's side, Bigfork sophomore Brooke Andrus got her legs involved with a record-setting performance. She was a member of Montana's record-setting distance medley relay team with senior Loni Perkins-Judisch, sophomore Kara DeWalt and freshman Katrina Drennen. It ranks No. 1 in the league with its school-record 11:49.74.
Andrus is mere seconds away from qualifying for the conference meet in the 800 and mile.
Senior Kasi Calaway of Bigfork is still looking to qualify in distance runs.
Freshman Courtney Ferda of Whitefish is still looking to qualify in the 55, 60 and 200.
Montana will make one final trip to Bozeman for the Montana State Last Chance meet before competing at the 2008 Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, Feb. 29 and March 1, in Pocatello.