MISSOULA, Mont. -- The Thunderbird track and field teams saw a number of impressive performances on Friday at the Dornblaser Track & Field Complex, as both men's and women's programs claimed individual titles and have positioned themselves to compete for team conference championships on Saturday.

Men's Team (3rd Place, 34.33 Points)

Frank Harris III started things off right for the Thunderbirds, claiming the top spot in the men's high jump with a mark of 6' 9 ½''. While Harris' top season mark is much higher, once his opponents were finished he bowed out with an eye on NCAA Regionals in the coming weeks. He claimed the gold medal in high jump both indoors and outdoors this calendar year in the Big Sky Conference.

The Thunderbirds had another individual title in the final event of the day, as Aidan Reed won the men's 10,000-meter with a time of 29:53.47. Both Mark Bennett (6th; 31:00.21) and Christian Ricketts (7th; 31:11.41) scored points for the Thunderbirds as well.

SUU picked up points in the men's steeplechase as well, with Michael Finch placing in fourth with a time of 9:18.01 and Jacob Francis finishing eighth with a mark of 9:28.88.

In the men's discus SUU's Cannon Brunsvik finished in sixth place with a throw of 166' 1" to put points on the board for the T-Birds as well.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, both Kasey Knevelbaard and George Espino qualified for finals in the 800-meter and the 1,500-meter. Senior Devon Montgomery will compete in finals of both the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. The Thunderbirds will also be well represented in the 400-meter with Justin Lewis, Max Morley and Tre Harley all moving into the final round. Morley's time of 48.12 was a personal best while Harley's 48.19 was a season PR.

With seven of the 21 events scoring the Thunderbirds sit in third place as a team behind Northern Arizona (50 points) and Montana (37 points).

Women's Team (7th Place, 25 Points)

Angie Nickerson claimed her second-consecutive 10,000-meter title for the Thunderbirds at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, as she won the event with a 36:03.29. She was more than 16 seconds clear of the next closest racer. For Nickerson, this continues a more than impressive senior campaign that also includes an individual cross country title and a team title in the real of cross country as well.

The T-Birds were well represented in the women's steeplechase as well, with Morgan Porcaro claiming the silver medal with a time of 10:42.87 to score eight points for the team. Haley Tanne also scored, finishing in fifth place with a time of 10:59.24.

The Thunderbirds also picked up points in the women's javelin, with Alexis McAllister finishing in sixth place with a throw of 144' 8".

In terms of finals, both Sharlie Dimick (4:35.48) and Alison Pray (4:36.98) will compete for the women's 1,500-meter title on Saturday. Linnea Saltz set the second-fastest time in the women's 800-meter to secure a spot in the finals for herself. Laura Kehr ran a personal best of 56.60 in the women's 400 to advance to finals of the event. Rakayla Tyler (11.93) will represent the Thunderbirds in the 100-meter and Mia Russell (24.58) will compete in the 200-meter finals.

Despite not qualifying for finals, Emma Aldred had a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles with a 14.37.

The Thunderbirds sit in seventh on the women's side with 25 points through a third of the events. Just 17 points separate the T-Birds from the top team on the women's side, Eastern Washington.

Words From Coach Houle

On Angie and Aidan sweeping the 10K…

"Those are two of our best all time 10K runners, especially with Angie being one of the best in the country," SUU head coach Eric Houle said. "For Angie, the objective was to see how many slow laps she could put in to get ready for the 5K, and it worked out well for us, while Aidan was trying to hit a qualifying time for regionals. … They're just crazy mentally tough and in great shape."

On Frank's performance in high jump…

"When you get to this stage some people get so caught up in the emotions that it can become a hindrance, but when you've got a guy like Frank that is very calm and collected he's not going to panic," Houle said. "Those kind of athletes are the best in their events. They bring a level of calmness, and performances like that are the result."  

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A livestream of the meet can be viewed on www.watchbigsky.com or on the PlutoTV App. A link to live results can be found on www.suutbirds.com.

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*** Marks in this release were not adjusted for altitude