Big dreams, big jumps

Sammy Evans never doubted she could jump. And while she dreamed big, and continues to dream big, she never knew she would jump this far.

Evans, the former Havre Blue Pony, has made jumping a way of life, and she's jumped from small-town Class A track and field, right into the University of Montana's record books.

Now however, she's on the verge of jumping into a place she's never been - the NCAA national championships. Evans will head to her third consecutive NCAA West Regional this weekend, where, one last time, she'll have three jumps to make a big dream come true - reaching Oregon's famed Heyward Field, and the 2017 NCAA track and field championships.

"Last year, I missed making nationals by four centimeters," Evans, a senior for the Lady Griz said before she and the rest of the Griz qualifiers flew to Austin, Texas, for the West Regional. "That was a devastating blow. It really sucked to watch all the names pass me by that day. So it would be huge for me to get there with this being my last chance. It would be everything."

Getting to, and doing well at the NCAA championships is the last check mark Evans has on an incredible track and field career at Montana. In the triple jump, the event she's competing in this Saturday at the NCAA West Regional, she holds the UM outdoor record at 42-1/4 and the indoor record at just over 42-0. She says she's consistently broken those marks over and over as the years have gone by, meaning, she has built up to becoming one of the greatest jumpers in the history of the Big Sky Conference.

And while Evans has certainly been one of the most decorated jumpers in UM women's track and field history, the same can be said for her performances in the Big Sky Conference. In six seasons, including a couple of red-shirt years, Evans has won six Big Sky outdoor and indoor championships, five in the triple jump and one in the long jump. That one came last spring.

But getting to be a decorated Big Sky champion, and one of the best to every fly down the runway for the Griz, didn't come easy. While Evans was a standout jumper in Class A track and field for the Blue Ponies, stepping up to the NCAA Division I level was something she dreamed of, but was also a transition that took time and change.

"I never really thought I'd be able to do the things I've done here," Evans said. "In high school I thought jumping 37 or 38 (feet) was really good. For Havre High, and high school track, that's huge. But once I got here and started hitting the 40-foot mark, I started changing my expectations and my goals."

Change was a big part of Evans' transition to college track. In fact, she says, over the course of her career at UM, there were many things she had to learn and change, including her entire jumping style.

"I think the biggest things you have to get used to as a Division I athlete is just time management," she said. "Trying to do school and track, that's something you really have to figure out. Because you have to be devoted to both. The other big thing I had to get used to was lifting weights. I had never really lifted before, so that was another big change for me."

But the biggest change came with the long jump and triple jump itself. Evans was a star jumper for the Blue Ponies and yet, she says, today, her jumping looks absolutely nothing like it did when she was flying towards the pit at the Havre Middle School Track.

"I realized right away when I got here, I knew very little about jumping," Evans said with a laugh. "So little by little (Griz head coach) Brian (Schweyen) started to change things. My approach is different now. I used to just sprint down the runway as hard as I could. Now, I build up to the board, so I'm not tired at the end of the runway. I pretty much changed everything. I changed how I use my arms, I changed my technique off the board, pretty much everything. I haven't seen any video of my jumps in high school, but I'm sure they would look nothing like they do now."

Evans credits Schweyen, but also Griz' assistant Adam Bork not only for helping her change her technique, but also for mastering it.

"Brian worked with me a lot my freshman year," Evans said. "But he pretty much turned the jumps over to Adam. And we've gotten really close ever since. He deserves a ton of credit for where I am today. He's helped me so much."

And where Evans will be Saturday is in Austin, at the University of Texas, with three jumps to land herself a spot in the 2017 NCAA outdoor championships. Three jumps, one of which must land her in the Top 12 to get to Eugene, Oregon, the holy grail of track and field. Currently, Evans is No. 18 in the West Region, out of 48 triple jumpers. She'll need to knock that down a couple of spots in order to get past the regional level.

"I feel good about it," she said. "Because I've been jumping really consistently this whole outdoor season. I've been hitting 42-3 the last few meets, and if I can go out and hit that mark right away, I should be good. The competition is probably a little tougher than it was there last year, but I feel good about the way I have been jumping the last few meets."

And while Evans' dream has always been to compete in the NCAA championships, she says there's even more riding on her three jumps in Texas. Evans is leaving Montana with her degree, but her ultimate goal is to continue her track and field career professionally. And she says to do that, competing in the NCAA championships is not only a big step in that direction, but a must.

"I have a job when college is over, but I want to compete at the professional level," Evans said. "And to do that, to get noticed by sponsors and things like that, you really need to compete at nationals. So really, my whole future is riding on these three jumps. I want to show people I can continue to jump after college."

The future may be riding on her three triple jumps in Texas Saturday, but Evans has made the most out of her past and present. She always wanted to be a Division I track athlete, and even though many told her she might not make it at Montana, she's made all those people eat their words by becoming one of the most decorated track and field athletes to ever come out of Havre High, and the University of Montana.

And those things have meant the world to her, and no matter how she does at the West Regional this weekend, she'll always know, she made her dreams come true.

"I always wanted to go DI, and I really always wanted to be a Griz," Evans said. "Coming from a small town, a lot of people said I might not be able to succeed at a Division I program. But it was a dream of mine, and I owe a lot to the University of Montana for helping me get to where I am. I love this school, I love Griz Nation. All the support I've gotten, from my coaches, my teammates, the trainers, my family, it just means so much to me. To not only get to wear the maroon and silver, and compete as a Griz, but to succeed, and to score points for them (Griz) every year, that has meant the world to me.

"Being a Griz, getting to accomplish all these things," she added. "It's really a high school dream come true."