GREAT FALLS, Mont. – After the University of Providence track and field team was rained out last weekend in Billings, the team responded with a dominant performance on Thursday at the Providence Open.

Competing in the best weather the team has had all season, the Argo men finished in second place with 39 points, trailing only Carroll College's 110 points. Montana Tech took third place on the men's side, finishing with 24 points while MSU-Northern finished fourth with five points.

On the women's side, the Argos finished in third place with 30 points. Carroll College won the women's side with 89 points, while Montana Tech took second with 55. The Skylights recorded five points.

"It was a great day for Argo track and field," head coach Tony Arntson said. "It was a beautiful day. You don't get days in Montana track like that. The weather had a big influence on it. Our kids just competed really, really well today. If you look at the results you can tell. I was very happy for them."

Allyson Conner was the headliner of the day, becoming the fourth Argo to qualify for the NAIA National Outdoor Championships. The sophomore from Orange, California recorded a mark of 49.00 meters in the women's hammer throw, passing the B standard. Conner finished second in the event, trailing only teammate Jillian Sanchez, who broke her own school record in the hammer throw with a mark of 50.93 meters. Tatiana Martinez, who qualified for Nationals in the discus, finished third in the event with a mark of 41.62 meters.

McKenzie Clark, who had also previously qualified for Nationals, also had a solid day, winning the javelin throw with a mark of 35.97 meters. Sanchez also finished second in the hammer throw, recording a mark of 12.64 meters. Kathryn Evans finished right behind her at third place with a 11.44 meter mark. Martinez finished second in the discus throw with a mark of 40.55 meters.

"We had a good feeling today that today was the day Allyson was going to breakthrough and qualify for Nationals," Arntson said. "I'm really happy for her. She has worked so hard. Jillian also broke another school record. Our throwers are just on another level right now."

On the men's side, Joe McMillan had the standout performance, breaking the school record in the pole vault recording a mark of 4.14 meters, good for second place in the event. McMillan had tied the school record last weekend before the meet in Billings was rained out.

"That's been a big goal of his," Arntson said. "He was just short of breaking it last weekend. He's been working hard at it and has put the time in. I'm proud of him."

Justin Krabbenhoft had a solid day as well. The sophomore from Metaline Falls, Washington finished in the top three in four different events. He finished 2^nd in the 100 m dash (11.54 seconds), 2^nd in the 400 meter hurdles (1:01.71), 2^nd in the high jump (1.95 meters) and was the anchor of the 4x100 team that finished third place.

Dawson Fowler also had a successful day for the squad, placing second in the triple jump (13.68 meters) and third in the high jump (1.90 meters). Ciaran Molloy not only finished second in the 5,000 meter, but cut over a minute and a half of his personal best, finishing in 16:51.39.

Rico Pryor had a dominant day on the thrower's side, winning the hammer throw and setting a new personal record with a mark of 49.13 meters, finishing second in the discus (40.56 meters) and third in the shot put (40.56 meters). Decker Anderson finished second in the hammer throw with a mark of 2847 meters.

"I'm just happy for the kids," Arntson said. "They work so hard and spend so much time at it. For them to have a disappointing day on Saturday and then come out here and compete so well, I'm just so happy for them. They had an opportunity to display their stuff today. We made some good strides going into these final couple of weeks. I was really excited about it."

Jessica Lozano also had a solid performance for the Argos, finishing second in the 400 meter hurdles. The sophomore from Redlands, California, who hadn't competed in either of the last two seasons with the team, was a second off from breaking the program record, finishing with a time of 1:08.29.

"One of the most exciting things of the day today was Jessica in the 400 meter hurdles," Arntson said. "She just competed so well. From where she came the last couple of years, I mean she's basically competing for the first time. I'm just so happy for her. She was excited about it so that was fun to see."

The team will hope to use the performances today as momentum as they prepare for their next competition next Thursday, when they travel to Spokane for the Whitworth Twilight Meet. The competition will begin at 3:00 p.m. MTN.

"We had some great performances today," Arntson said. "We're going to focus on recovery going forward. We're still nicked up. We have a lot of kids who haven't had a chance to compete yet. We're hoping to get them out here in the next few weeks and keep the rest of these guys healthy. That's the big thing right now."