SACRAMENTO, CA — When Whitney Morrison went to sleep on Wednesday night, she did so knowing that there was work to be done in the morning. The Big Sky Champion in the indoor pentathlon came to Sacramento as the favorite to add another trophy to her case, but trailed by 141 points with three events to go.
Morrison may not have slept easy — how could you in a moment like this? — but she knew what was ahead of her. The long jump, javelin, and 800 meters comprise the final day of the heptathlon. Morrison had the best career mark in two of the three events and was ranked second in the third. She was right where she needed to be.
The local Missoula athlete made things look easy on Thursday, winning all three of the events to pull away for her second Big Sky Conference multi crown this season. When she crossed the line in the 800 meters in a PR time of 2:19.08, it looked as if she was out for a casual jog on her own as she had separated by nearly 30 meters from the next runner.
It capped off a career-best multi for Morrison and made her the first Grizzly heptathlon champion since 2019 with a score of 5,389 points.
“Bittersweet is the main thing that comes to mind knowing that it was the last time doing a multi and last time doing certain events,” Morrison said following the win. “It’s kind of sad, but just so rewarding that it ended the way that I wanted it to.”
The senior ended her multi career in style, winning in come-from-behind style to give Montana’s women 10 points in the first event of the competition.
“What a fantastic job Whitney did the last two days being 140 points down and really coming out and taking care of business,” head coach Doug Fraley said. “She backed up her number one seed with the Big Sky Championship in the heptathlon, I’m really proud of her and she deserves all the credit for as hard as she has worked. We appreciate so much what she’s done for our program.”
Any anxiety that she may have had entering the day was eased following the first event of the day. The athletes were jumping into a stiff headwind, but Morrison still was able to jump 18-4½.
She won the event by three inches and went over a full foot further than the day one leader Kylee Dimick of Idaho State. In one event, Morrison made up over 100 points in the multi table.
It brought her to the javelin, an event that has been a strength throughout her career. A former high school All-American in the event, elbow injuries have since plagued her and limited her potential in the event.
This season she had thrown just five times, four of which came in the first meet of the year at home. At the Bryan Clay Multi in California in April, she took one throw and passed the next two to save her arm.
Morrison had a heavy brace on her right arm, placed on top of a layer of tape. She was ready to leave it all out there, regardless of the toll that it took on her body. Forget a good mark, Morrison was just trying to keep her arm all in one piece.
Despite all that, she let loose the best throw of her career. The PR mark of 126-11 won the event by over 14-feet and scored 642 points. For the first time through six events, Morrison had the lead.
“I didn’t really throw javelin a whole lot this season because my elbow has been bugging me,” Morrison said. “To go out and keep my elbow intact and also throw a PR was just so special.”
The 800 was always going to be an area where Morrison could make up points if needed. But the defining moment of the championship came in the javelin, where she put her injuries behind her and went back to her track and field roots with a big throw.
“That’s kind of where it all started, she was this kid from high school that was All-American in the javelin,” multis coach Lindsey Hall said. “It’s cool to see her be resilient knowing she’s managing injury in that event all season. It set her up to go into the 800 knowing where the cards are going to fall and just run with heart and not be afraid.”
Entering the 800 meters, Morrison had 4,553 points to Dimick’s 4,509. The duo had built a large cushion on the rest of the field. Morrison had by far the best time in the event entering.
On the outside of a waterfall start, Morrison quickly moved to the front of the pack and didn’t look back. The Grizzly outstrided the closest competition and had the lead after 400 meters.
The final 400 served as a victory lap for Morrison. She cruised across the finish line in a PR time of 2:19.08, more than three seconds ahead of the next runner and 12 seconds ahead of Dimick.
It sealed the heptathlon crown for Morrison with a final score of 5,389, the 25th best score in the country this season. It’s the seventh heptathlon title for Montana since 2004, tied for the most in the conference during that stretch.
She claimed the crown on the very same track that her event coach, Lindsey Hall, won a heptathlon title back in 2011. Hall and Morrison both became Grizzlies after successful high school careers at Big Sky high school in Missoula and have worked together for the past five years.
Hall said that they talk about small moments, whether they be in competition or practice, that can be related to the competition with Morrison. When you’re in the big moment, with all the pressure on your shoulders, it makes things easier if you are grounded with the knowledge that you’ve been there, done that.
“That’s where you get your confidence from is lived moments and experiences that show you that you are capable, you’re ready, and you’re prepared,” Hall said. “I think she did a tremendous job on day two of going to those moments so it just looked like everything was right where she wanted it to be.”
Morrison won the 200 to close out Wednesday’s competition, giving her four straight event wins to cap off the heptathlon. After trailing by 167 points through the first three events, she left no doubt the rest of the way. Three wins in three events on Thursday was just a cherry on top.
“She just put an exclamation point on things, proving that she is the dominant multi-athlete in our conference this year,” Fraley said. “Coming back and winning all three of those events, that’s really the way to finish it as a senior.”
It caps off an incredible multi-career for Morrison. She’s now a two-time Big Sky champion, and also has an All-Conference honor from 2024 to go along with two other scoring performances.
She withstood injury after injury and came back stronger than ever in her senior season to go out as a champion.
“It’s so rewarding, it’s everything I could have asked for and more,” Morrison said. “It was five whole years of a really up-and-down rollercoaster, but luckily we ended at the top.”
Montana had three other multi athletes competing on Wednesday and Thursday, and all three of them were able to score points to get the Grizzlies off to a good overall start in the meet.
Kensey Gault, competing in her first heptathlon, finished in fifth place to earn four points for Montana.
Gault had top 10 finishes in all three events on Thursday. She long jumped 16-8, had a javelin throw of 85-1, and ran a 2:33.82 in the 800.
The Grizzly men finished out the final five events strong as well to land in scoring position. Porter Coffield finished in sixth with 6,154 points and Oliver Simianer was seventh with 5,947 points.
Simianer was strong on the track on Thursday, finishing fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.53 and third in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:37.62. Coffield had a good day in the field, finishing third in the javelin with a throw of 159-5 and sixth in discus with a 107-1 mark.
They are the first Grizzlies to compete in the decathlon since 2019. They earned five points for Montana to get the Griz off to a good start heading into the full meet on Friday.
“I was really proud of Kensey and the way that she battled. She had an abbreviated season and hung tough, and really competed hard to get sixth,” Fraley said. “The two guys did a really good job for their first multis, both of them getting on the board and putting up five points to get the Griz started, I couldn’t be happier with the start of the multis.”
The action resumes on Friday with field events beginning at 1:00 p.m. (MT) and track events opening at 3:00 p.m.
