Upset doesn’t bother Gill

The passing of the torch, Jas Gill called it – but really it was not so much passed as snatched away.

And so the University of Montana senior won’t join the exclusive company of four-of-a-kind winners at the Big Sky Conference track and field championships.

But Ryan Grinnell might.

He’s already cautioning “one meet at a time,” but as a freshman he’s managed to loop the most important medal around his neck with a shocking upset of his senior teammate in the high jump – adding a bit of drama to a windy and occasionally wild Friday session of the Sky meet at Woodward Field.

The Grizzlies duo came to the track talking up a 1-2 finish – but it was pretty obvious who was supposed to be the “one” in that equation.

Gill had won three previous Big Sky high jumps – along with three indoors, finishing second this past winter to Idaho State’s Ben Layman despite clearing the same height. Last year, he won this meet by jumping 7 feet, 2 1/2 inches; Grinnell’s 6-9 best dated back to high school in Idaho Falls.

“I don’t think he thought he could win,” Gill said. “But he grew up right in front of my eyes.”

The first step was making 6-10 3/4 – the NCAA regional qualifying standard. But the stunner was another first-attempt clearance of 7- 1/2, just moments after Gill had brushed the bar off at the same height. Gill would make it on his second try, but that left him second when both jumpers missed all three attempts at 7-2 1/2.

And Grinnell was naturally ecstatic – and a little heartbroken.

“It makes me feel bad in a way – Jas has been my mentor,” he said. “I wouldn’t be at this point without him. He has no idea how much he’s helped me. He was the first guy I ever saw jump 7 feet. One of the reasons I chose UM was because I wanted to be like Jas Gill.”

But Gill had no regrets.

“Ryan Grinnell deserves this,” he said. “If I had to lose, I’m happy I got beat by my teammates and not someone else.”

Idaho State’s men, with big points in the high jump, shot put and pole vault along with Thursday’s 1-2-3 finish in the decathlon, are off to a big lead, while Northern Arizona’s women – looking to complete a triple crown that began with titles in cross country and indoor track – jumped ahead Montana State with a bonanza in Friday’s concluding event, the 10,000 meters. Host Eastern Washington fared best on the men’s side, with freshman Tyler Cathey’s runner-up finish in the javelin and a strong third in the 10,000 by John Timeus helping the Eagles into fourth place.

But a little weirdness blew in with the West Plains winds.

Roughly a third of the men’s javelin throws got caught in the gusts and sailed well out of the sector – and yet somehow Cathey (205-8) and teammates Cody Irby (199-1 for fourth) managed lifetime bests.

“Another foot would have been nice,” said Cathey, who finished four inches behind Portland State’s Jordan Senn.

In the pole vault, the winning height was actually lower than what took fifth place. That’s because five vaulters made 15-1, but the miss count put only ISU’s Levi Keller and Thomas Seely into the title-deciding jumpoff – which wasn’t decided until the bar was lowered to 15-1/2, which Keller negotiated and Seely missed. EWU’s Mike Uhlenkott took fourth, but had to pass his final two cracks at what could have been the winning height of 15-7 after crashing down on the right standard on his first attempt.

PSU’s Kerry-Ann Blackwood defended her title in the women’s long jump with a wind-aided leap of 20-8 – motivated by what she though was teammate Gayle Imran-Sideris breaking her school record. As it turned out, that jump of 20-1/2 was also wind-aided – but Blackwood had one of the same length that was made with a breeze under the allowable 2.0 meters per second.

That wound up leaving her short of both the stadium and meet records.

“And I passed my last jump to go run the hurdles, too,” she said. “Shoot, if only someone had told me.”

Three women’s stadium records did fall – to MSU’s Ashley Jones in the hammer (183-7), Weber State’s Sariah St. Laurent in the steeplechase (10:43.45) and NAU’s Nicole Gueldemeister in the 10,000 (35:36.26), passing Sandpoint’s Allie Brosh of Montana on the last lap. Sacramento State’s David Nichols toppled both the meet and stadium records in the men’s shot put with a first-throw pop of 64-3 – and passed all three in the finals.

In the prelims, EWU intermediate hurdlers Alex Moon and Haley Heater both advanced – Moon getting his NCAA Regional qualifying mark in 52.29. But Heater’s conference-leading mark of 1:00.69 was bettered by Sacramento State’s Melissa Tracey in her own heat, and EWU teammate Lyndsey Johnson-Cooper even ran a faster prelim in 1:00.78.