Montana State University
Cat/Griz Dual
Cat-Griz Dual Meet on Tap for Track and Field
4/4/2024 4:00:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Bobcats host rival in 89th Cat-Griz Dual from Bobcat Track and Field Complex on Friday afternoon
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The biggest rivalry in the Treasure State takes center stage on Friday, as Montana State hosts Montana in the Cat-Griz Dual meet from Bobcat Track and Field Complex.
Montana State has dominated the annual dual as of late, with the men winning ten of the last 12 and the women winning nine of the last 11 meetings. Montana State has won every dual in Bozeman on both the men's and women's sides since 2010.
The 89th Cat-Griz Dual gets underway with the women's javelin at 11:30 a.m., while track events start with the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase at 12:00 p.m. The final event is slated to be the women's 4x400 meter relay at 3:10 p.m.
A full schedule is available here.
Admission to Friday's meet is free. Live results will be available here.
The winner of the dual on both the men's and women's sides is determined by point totals. The top finisher in each event earns five points, with the runner-up earning three points, third place earning two points, and fourth place earning one point. The top two finishers for each team can earn points.
"We are so fortunate to have that in-state rival and have this type of experience for our student-athletes," Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field Lyle Weese said. "It's so different from most of our college track and field meets. It is really a great atmosphere just going head-to-head—one of the few times during the season where the score really matters. Having a team score, having people battle for something bigger than themselves is really an important part of track and field and helps prepare us for the conference championships because we'll have that same scoring points for the team type of mentality."
Friday's home meet will be the first of two competitions held at Bobcat Track and Field Complex this spring, with the 2024 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships coming to Bozeman on May 8-11.
The Bobcat men enter the weekend ranked 20th in the country according to the USTFCCCA Ratings Index. Thanks to a bevy of strong performances at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, the Bobcat men rose 117 spots to sit firmly in the national top-25 rankings as the calendar turns to April.
In the USTFCCA Event Squad Rankings, which orders the top event groups in NCAA Division I, the Montana State men's steeplechase group reigns supreme as the top-ranked squad in the country.
Rob McManus (2nd) and Levi Taylor (4th) both rank in the top-five in NCAA Division I in the event, with Harvey Cramb (23rd) and Owen Smith (31st) not far behind. The Bobcat men's hammer group is ranked ninth in the country, with Matt Furdyk (62nd) and Elijah Jackman (89th) leading the way.
A pair of school records have already fallen this outdoor season, with sophomore Pat Vialva setting the men's javelin record (225-03) and freshman Sydney Brewster setting the women's shot put record (52-02.50) at the Al Manuel Invite in Missoula on March 22.
Through just two outdoor meets, including only one that has included the full team, Montana State has already set nine top-ten marks in program history on the men's side and nine top-ten marks on the women's side.
Weese pointed to the men's javelin, the women's pole vault, and both finals for the 1,500 meters as some events that promise to be must-watch theater.
"We're expecting to see continued development," Weese said. "We had a good start in Missoula, built on that at Palo Alto, and really want to continue that tomorrow."
After a pair of runner-up finishes to nationally-ranked Northern Arizona at the 2024 Big Sky Indoor Track & Field Championships, both Cats' squads were picked second in the preseason outdoor coaches' poll. The Griz men were picked to finish fifth, while the Griz women were picked ninth.
SERIES HISTORY
Montana leads the all-time Cat-Griz Dual series 55-33 for the men, while the Bobcat women have a 21-19 lead. The first Cat-Griz Dual dates back to 1906, and the series has been run concurrently since 1960 with the exceptions of 2020 and 1973. The women's Cat-Griz Dual began in 1983.
The Bobcat men have won ten of the last 12 meetings, while the Bobcat women have won nine of the last 11 meetings.
Last season, the a victory in the 4x400 meter relay gave Montana a 97.5-93.5 victory on the men's side, while the Bobcat women won 107.5-85.5.
Montana State's 2023-2024 track and field roster boasts 27 women hailing from the Treasure State and 16 men.
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Players Mentioned
