'I'm Not Letting Them Catch Me': Jett Grundy Closes Out Big Sky Title for Men's Track & Field
5/13/2024 11:54:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Grundy named Big Sky Freshman of the Year after heroic anchor leg in 4x400 seals Bobcats' first championship since 2005
BOZEMAN, Montana – Montana State freshman sprinter Jett Grundy has heard for months about his team's chase of Northern Arizona for the top of the mountain in Big Sky Conference track and field but he didn't really feel it until he was about to take the baton for the anchor leg of Saturday's 4x400 meter relay, which would decide the men's conference championship.
"It was unreal," he said. "Just before I got my handoff I saw how far NAU was behind and I thought, 'We really have a chance.' Everyone being so hyped. It was great."
With his team gathered near the point of the handoff and the grandstands and fenceline nearly packed, Grundy began his final leg to quite a din. In order for a Bobcat championship, MSU not only needed to win the four-by-four, but needed NAU to finish fifth or lower. The Lumberjacks began the anchor leg in sixth.
"Honestly, the hype we've had to beat NAU this meet, that really motivated me, knowing we had a chance to do it," Grundy said. "As soon as I got the baton I was, I'm not letting them catch me. Montana ran a really good race, they were pretty close, but winning that was such a great feeling."
For his efforts, Grundy was named the league's Freshman of the Year. In addition to anchoring the decisive relay, Grundy grabbed a gold medal by winning the 400 meters and scored a crucial point in the 200 meters by finishing eighth.
The 400 meter win provided one of the dramatic moments of the weekend. "Going into the four I must have taken out too slow," he said. "Weber (State's Rodee Brow and Orion Barger) went out really hard, and the last hundred I knew I had work to do. I kept pushing, pushing, pushing, and I dipped, and I did not think I got it but seeing that first place come up on the board, it was unreal. An amazing experience. I tumbled, I was on the ground, and then I got up and I was like, Aw, damn. I looked up at the screen, and everybody started going nuts. It was crazy."
Bobcat head coach Lyle Weese said Grundy's 400 will remain with him for a while. "There's a lot of things about this weekend that I won't forget, but one was how far back Jett was with a 100 meters to go in a 400 meter race," he said. "Usually things like that do not happen in the sprint events, where he made up just so much ground and he got the lean and the win in super dramatic fashion. That was incredible that he had that poise, he didn't panic, and he just kept running his race and made a run at it. Jett kept his composure."
That Gundy made it to Montana State from his home in North Queensland, Australia, remains somewhat unusual. "(Jett) contacted us through a recruiting service, or contacted us somehow in some form, and we responded to him," Weese said. "We found a pretty special one there."
The community created in a college track and field program is one of the strong positives of his journey, he said. "In Australia, I feel track is very on your own. You have to do everything by yourself, that's how I used to feel. But coming here, having a team to train with, and being really close with the team, it's amazing."
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