FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Whitney Morrison returned to her hometown school for a fifth year for a moment just like this. Her health had hindered her performances early in her career, but after a successful 2024 season she decided to run it back one more time and see what could happen.
Morrison’s persistence was rewarded on Thursday afternoon with a Big Sky Championship. The Missoula product claimed to the top spot in the Big Sky women’s pentathlon with a score of 3,877 in Flagstaff, Ariz.
She won the all-important closing 800m race, finished second in three of the other events, and didn’t fall outside of the top four in any single event on her way to the Big Sky crown.
“The best part about this is she’s from Missoula, Montana,” head coach Doug Fraley said. “She came back for a fifth year because last year she finally got things right physically and had some success and was All-Big Sky last year outdoors in the heptathlon. For her to come back and do this as a fifth year and one of our team leaders is just outstanding. I could not be happier for her.”
Morrison earned Montana 10 points to start the meet off on the perfect note, and she was backed up by freshman Kensey Gault’s fifth-place finish. The Grizzly pair earned 14 points, putting Montana in first place heading into the main event.
Gault got off to a dream start in the women’s pentathlon, winning the first event in the 60-meter hurdles to take the early lead. Gault matched her career best time by finishing in 8.69 seconds.
Morrison, running in the same heat, finished close behind at 8.78 seconds. It was her worst finish in the standings all day at fourth place, but she still sat just 20 points off the overall lead through one event.
The women’s high jump is where she made her biggest gain on the day. Morrison cleared her first four bars, which brought her to a height of 5-5. After missing on the first two attempts, Morrison cleared the bar to set a new PR in the event.
On her very next attempt, Morrison cleared 5-6, smashing her previous best height.
“Whitney had a solid hurdles, but the catalyst was her high jump today,” Fraley said. “She really got going and got a lifetime best, and then got another lifetime best in making 1.65m (5-5) and 1.68m (5-6). It really got the momentum going for her and she was able to continue that by getting a PR in the shot put and a good solid long jump.
She tied for second in the high jump with defending champion Shelby Schweyen and moved into third in the multi table. Morrison then set another PR in the shot put, using her final throw to record a distance of 38-6.25. The mark kept her in third place, just 50 points behind Schweyen.
Morrison made a big jump in the long jump. Once again, she saved her best for last and flew to a distance of 17-9.75 on her final effort. She placed second in the event, but passed up Schweyen and Idaho State’s Kylee Dimick to enter the final event with a slim nine-point lead.
Dimick needed to beat Morrison, and Schweyen needed to win by several seconds to overcome the deficit. Morrison ran a perfect 800, going stride-for-stride with Schweyen through the first 600m or so before pulling away down the final stretch to win the race, and the Big Sky title, with a time of 2:24.25.
“When it comes down to the 800, our girls our awfully tough,” Fraley said. “She was able to finish it off and win the Big Sky Championships.”
Morrison is the first pentathlon champion for Montana since Erika McLeod took the title in 2019. The event has been a strength for the Grizzlies in the past decade-plus as Morrison’s title is the eighth for Montana since 2010, which includes a trio of crowns for her coach Lindsey Hall.
