By JOEL CARLSON
Montana senior Lindsey Hall broke her own school record in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday evening at the NCAA West Regional, but she came up short in her attempt to make nationals in the event. Her race was the final competition for the Grizzlies at the three-day meet at Fayetteville, Ark.
Running in the final of three heats, Hall clocked a time of 13.51 to break her previous record of 13.57. It placed Hall fifth in the heat and 16th overall. The cut to make nationals in two weeks at Eugene, Ore., where Hall will be competing in the heptathlon, ended up being 13.44.
“She missed nationals by four spots and less than a tenth of a second, so she was right there, and that’s a tough event to make it in,” said UM coach Brian Schweyen. “She ran great in a big race, so that should give her a ton of confidence heading into nationals.”
The only other athlete competing Saturday was junior Caitlin Caraway, who finished 44th in the hammer throw. Caraway fouled on two of her three attempts and recorded a distance of 157-11 on the other, well short of her school record of 194-2.
Montana did not advance any athletes to nationals from Fayetteville, but like Hall’s performance in the hurdles, a number of Grizzlies were right there. And six of the 10 athletes competing finished higher in their event than their pre-meet ranking.
“For the most part our kids jumped up from where they were ranked, which is always good to see, but I think we had more performances in each of them,” Schweyen said. “At the same time, I think we had a good representation. I’m really happy for all the athletes for what they accomplished.”
Hall will compete in the heptathlon at nationals Thursday and Friday, June 12-13. Hall also made nationals in the multi-events in 2011 as a sophomore.
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