BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — There were travel delays, poor conditions and interruptions to the action because of lightning, but a trio of Montana Grizzlies were able to weather the storm to take the field at the NCAA West First Round on Wednesday.

Matthew Hockett, Kyle Iorg and Carson Weeden all competed in their final events of the season for Montana against the 48 best athletes west of the Mississippi. It brings to an end the careers of Hockett and Weeden, while Iorg is only getting his first taste of the regional meet as a true freshman.

It’s a difficult meet with high levels of pressure weighing on all the athletes, and while the performances on the day may not have been what the Grizzlies were hoping, they still were able to represent Montana with pride at the end of a great season.

“Although the three men that competed today are disappointed in their results, I’m proud of the way they competed and represented the Griz,” head coach Doug Fraley said.

Weeden had the strongest performance of the day in the men’s pole vault. The competition was fierce, leading to an opening bar of 16-5.5. Weeden was able to clear it on his first attempt.

The progressions are large at the regional meet with the bar going up six inches to 16-11.5 for the second attempts. Weeden came close, but wasn’t able to clear in his three attempts. His first-attempt clearance still earned him a tie for 26th.

The pressure in the javelin comes with opportunity as all the athletes get just three attempts with no finals. Hockett’s first attempt would prove to be his best as he finished with the mark of 202-6.

Hockett, in his third appearance at the regional meet in his redshirt-senior season, finished in 35th place.

“We celebrate the many accomplishments Carson and Matt have achieved over the last five years,” Fraley said. “We all appreciate their tremendous contributions to our program.”

Iorg had a fantastic true freshman season, living up to the hype that accompanied him from high school in Bothell, Wash. He entered the meet fresh off a third-place finish at the Big Sky Conference championships with all-conference honors.

He finished seventh in the event among freshman throwers and 40th overall with a mark of 193-10.

It’s the first of what Iorg and the Grizzlies hope will be many appearances at this meet as he continues to long legacy of javelin at the University of Montana.

“This experience for Kyle as a freshman will be really valuable when he returns to this competition in the future,” Fraley said.

Montana will have one athlete in action on Thursday. Ashley Carroll will kick things off for the Grizzly women with the javelin competition beginning at 1:30 p.m. (MT).

NCAA WEST FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Men’s Pole Vault- Carson Weeden (16-5.5, 26th)

Men’s Javelin- Matthew Hockett (202-6, 35th), Kyle Iorg (193-10, 40th)

MANHATTAN BEACH — For the second time in eight days, Huntington Beach matched up with top-ranked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in a high-stakes fight.

And for the second time in those bouts, the Mustangs walked away with the prize, this time securing a spot in the inaugural CIF State Division I championship match for boys’ volleyball.

Cooper Keane had 18 kills to lead Mira Costa over visiting Huntington Beach 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 on Saturday in a Southern California regional final, bringing an end to an otherwise remarkable season for the Oilers.

Huntington Beach’s Aiden Atencio (1) receives a serve against Mira Costa on Saturday.

(James Carbone)

“In any given year, we could have been CIF champs and state champs,” Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. “We were the second best team in our section, second best team in Southern California, we’ve been one of the top teams in the country all year long, and just give these guys credit. These guys have busted their butts all year long.”

Huntington Beach (36-5) took three of its losses against Mira Costa (36-2), including a five-set defeat in the Southern Section Division 1 final on Friday, May 16. The Mustangs will be heavily favored against San Jose Archbishop Mitty (40-2) in the Division I state final on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College.

“I feel completely lucky to be a part of it,” Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder said of his team advancing to the state finals. “To have the team that we have in the first year that it’s in existence, I feel like Mira Costa is set up to take it. I have complete respect for [Archbishop Mitty], but I feel like this team is hungry for that win.

“I’ve been dangling that carrot in front of them the entire season, and now that it’s close, I just see this team coming together, gelling and peaking just at the right time. A coach couldn’t ask for anymore.”

Huntington Beach’s Kaegan Ramdhani (0) spikes the ball against Mira Costa on Saturday.

(James Carbone)

Grayson Bradford had seven kills and seven block assists for Mira Costa. Mateo Fuerbringer added eight kills, Alex Heins provided six kills and four block assists, and Wyatt Davis chipped in with six kills and three block assists. Andrew Chapin spread the ball around for 36 assists, adding two kills and a service ace.

The Oilers went undefeated in the Sunset League, delivering the program’s first league championship since 2016. Pazanti also noted that Huntington Beach played 21 matches against the top 10 teams in the Southern Section and went 17-4.

“We don’t duck anybody,” Pazanti said. “Year to year, we’re going to play against the best competition, and that’s how we get better. It would have been nice to get one more match, but can’t be disappointed when you have that kind of a season.”

The Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball team poses for a picture with the CIF State Southern California Division I regional finalist plaque.

(James Carbone)

Huntington Beach was off to the races in the first set. Snyder utilized his two timeouts after the Mustangs had fallen into deficits of 9-4 and 17-8, respectively. A late run closed the gap, and when outside hitter Colin Choi (five kills) aggravated an ankle injury upon landing after a swing, Mira Costa capitalized by taking eight of the last 11 points to claim the extended set.

Mira Costa then won the last six points of the second set to take a commanding lead in the match.

“I thought through two sets, we had probably outplayed them for about 90% of the match,” Pazanti said. “But they went on a run late in set two, and they went on a run late in set one, and that was the difference. We lose our best passer [Choi] at the end of set one. Who knows — would of, should of, could of — but I’m guessing he doesn’t get hurt, we win set one and maybe it’s a different mental approach to the rest of the match.”

The Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball team celebrates a point against Mira Costa on Saturday.

(James Carbone)

Logan Hutnick had a team-leading 17 kills to go with two block assists and an ace for Huntington Beach. Ben Arguello added nine kills and two block assists. Kai Gan distributed 28 assists.

The Oilers played the match without Nick Ganier Jr. available at middle blocker, due to illness. Kaegan Ramdhani stepped up with two kills and four block assists.

“It’s just tough,” said Choi, who returned to the action in the second set after having the injury taped. “I think we just ran out of gas, but I think we put our best foot forward today, and I can’t really complain.”

Huntington Beach’s Kai Gan (7) sets the ball, as Logan Hutnick (11) and Kaegan Ramdhani (0) look on against Mira Costa.

(James Carbone)

Also in the CIF State Southern California regional finals:

Sage Hill 3, San Diego Clairemont 0: The top-seeded Lightning earned a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 win at home on Saturday to advance to the CIF State Division III final.

Jackson Cryst had 32 kills to lead Sage Hill (22-11), which has won a dozen matches in a row. The Lightning will face San Francisco International (27-7) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the state championship match at Fresno City College.

Day One Results

A trio of Northern Arizona track and field athletes have punched their tickets to the NCAA Division I National Championships in Eugene, Ore., on the first day of the NCAA West Preliminary Round in College Station, Texas.
 
Drew Bosley and David Mullarkey advanced in the 10,000-meters, while Trevor Hook qualified in the javelin.
 
Hook is the first-ever men’s javelin thrower from Northern Arizona to advance to the NCAA Division I National Championships. He threw a near personal best of 68.62-meters on his first attempt to place 11th overall after coming in ranked 24^th.
 
Bosley, who was competing in his first West Preliminary Round since 2022, qualified for his first career NCAA Outdoor Championship meet. He finished sixth in the 10,000-meters with a time of 28:19.60.
 
Mullarkey, who advanced to two-straight outdoor National Championship meets when he competed at Florida State in the 5,000-meters, finished right behind Bosley in seventh place with a time of 28:19.73 to punch his ticket.
 
Both Bosley and Mullarkey are entered in Friday night’s semifinal of the 5,000-meters as well.
 
Colin Sahlman auto-qualified for Friday’s 1,500-meter quarterfinals by finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 3:56.02. Sahlman is looking to punch his ticket to the national meet in the 1,500-meters for the third-straight year.
 
Also moving on to Friday is freshman Josiah Johnson in the 400-meter hurdles. He clocked 51.09 in the first round, finishing 21^st overall after coming into the event ranked 31^st. Johnson just missed auto-qualifying, placing fourth in his heat.
 
Desmond Lott placed 29^th in the hammer throw with a mark of 62.08-meters. He’ll be back to compete in the discus on Friday, May 30 at 11 a.m. Mountain Standard time.
 
In the 10,000-meters, Santiago Prosser improved on his 31^st-place ranking and finished 27^th overall with a time of 29:12.96. Justin Keyes finished 44^th with a time of 30:33.10. The duo will also race in the 5,000-meters on Friday night.
 
Also competing in the javelin was Clay Carbajal who placed 44^th with a toss of 57.24-meters, improving from his 48^th-place ranking in his first event since April.
 
The women are in action tomorrow, beginning with the field events at 8 a.m. MST and the track events at 4:30 p.m. MST. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live results available here.
 

The IHSA boys water polo state quarterfinals proved to be a tough one for Journal-area teams Friday, May 23 at Stevenson.
Here’s a look at how it went for the Journal-area:
Whitney Young Co-op 12, Palatine 10: Palatine (26-8) saw their record season come to an end in the state quarterfinals for the seventh time in program history. Before this year, Palatine reached the state quarterfinals in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2014 and 2022, but lost each time. This was the closest they ever got to a win. P…