Griz open indoor season in Bozeman

Thursday, December 4

Bozeman, Mont.

Montana

MSU Bobcat Preview

Photo by: Torrey Vail

12/3/2025 4:04:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Live Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field season will begin this week when the team heads to Bozeman for the Bobcat Preview Meet in the Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center. It's the first of four trips to Bozeman this indoor season for the Grizzlies.

Head coach Doug Fraley, now in his 4^th season at Montana, and his team have been working diligently through the fall to prepare for the 2025-26 season after a banner year for the program last season.

The Grizzlies finished third on the men's side and fourth on the women's at the Indoor Big Sky Championship last February in Flagstaff, Ariz. They are ready to back up those impressive finishes in 2026.

"I think everybody is really excited," Fraley said. "We've been practicing since September 8, so it will be an exciting time for our team to get on a bus and actually go see people that aren't on our team that we are seeing every day. I think all the athletes are excited to get there and see where we are at on December 4."

The first meet of the indoor season always serves as a bit of an outlier to the rest of the year. Montana's student-athletes are preparing for finals next week while wrapping up the fall semester. This meet precedes the rest of the indoor season by more than a month.

The Grizzlies won't return to action until the Spokane Indoor Challenge on Jan. 16-17. As a result, this week's competition is more about seeing where the Grizzlies stand heading into the semester break.

"This is basically a preseason checkpoint for us. We're going to be gathering data on exactly where we are at in the events that we do before we break for winter," Fraley said. "As a coaching staff, this gives us valuable information about where we're really at."

There is a good contingent of returners for Fraley's team that features Big Sky Champions, school record holders, and All-Big Sky performers. The most notable of the returners is women's high jumper Erin Wilde.

The Montana school record holder both indoors and outdoors is seeking an unprecedented 6^th straight Big Sky title in the event this indoor season. She's a three-time outdoor champion and two-time indoor champion.

The top returner on the men's side may also compete in the same event as Patrick Kremer is looking to reach the top of the podium for the first time in his career this season. He's been an All-Conference performer four times in his career and has never finished outside the top five in the event indoors.

The women's sprint champion of the Big Sky is also back this year as Tara Ohlwiler looks to shift her outdoor success to the shorter track indoors. She already holds the program's 60m school record at 7.53 seconds but missed out on a podium finish by one place last year indoors.

Karsen Beitz holds Montana's school record in the indoor 200m after running a 21.42 last season. The Missoula native finished as the runner-up at the Big Sky Championships in Flagstaff.

The Grizzly men had All-Conference teams in the 4x400m and the distance medley relay last year. There are also several outdoor All-Big Sky performers from last year that will look to match that same level of success indoors.

Jayel Dovichak finished 3^rd outdoors in the 100mH and is back for her junior season. Braden Ankeny was the Freshman of the Year in the Big Sky outdoors after runner-up finishes in the 200m and 400m. There are also five athletes total that earned All-Conference honors as part of relay teams that are back in 2025-26 for Fraley.

The returners are exciting, but this meet is also about meeting the new faces and seeing what the freshmen can do in their first collegiate meet. Montana has nine true freshmen on the women's side and 14 on the men's side.

"We look forward to watching our newcomers in a Griz uniform for the first time and just seeing how they react to a competitive, collegiate experience for the first time," Fraley said. "It gives us information on every individual that's going to compete that we can be able to process that and have an idea of where we're at in the depth charts and really how fall training has gone up to this point."

The meet will be hosted in Montana State's new Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center. The facility features a six-lane, 300-meter oval track.

Montana will run a variety of different distances on the new track, some of which that Montana won't run again for the rest of the season.

"We will place people where we think they are ready to compete at. On the track, it will just depend on what we're trying to see out of certain athletes," Fraley said. "Field events never change, they are always the same events you will have in a real season. We're excited to get on a bus and go somewhere and see some people from other teams and really just look at this like a really stimulated practice session at this time of the year."

MONTANA WOMEN'S ENTRIES
60m- Ainsley Shipman, Ally Sempf, Kaydance Reiter, Sophia Clark, Cosley Bruno, Kaitlyn Dantic, Mikenna Ells, Lily Meskers, Callie Wilson, Brooke Zetooney, Tara Ohlwiler, Rileigh McGree
600m- Brooke Stayner
Mile- Lucy Thompson
5,000m- Abigail Case
60mH- Jayel Dovichak, Kensey Gault, Brooke Stayner, Isabelle Berry, Callie Wilson, Ainsley Shipman, Alivia Rinehart
4x300m- Four squads
Long Jump- Ainsley Shipman, Kensey Gault, Brooke Stayner, Emily Maughan, Kara Mattson
High Jump- Erin Wilde, Jaidyn Pevey
Pole Vault- Grace MacHarg, Kate Suemnick, Hannah Moses, Reghan Skogen
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau, Lilian White, Cathlene Van Zyl, Avery DeVincenzi, Calista Ousley
Weight Throw- Calista Ousley, Morgan Thomas, Lillian White, Scout Nadeau, Mary Mickelson, Avery DeVincenzi

MONTANA MEN'S ENTRIES
60m- Karsen Beitz, Malaki Simpson, Romin Saleki, Braden Ankeny, Brody Thornsberry, Ben Bliven, Taylor Johnson, Ben Antley, Evan Barnes, Cadence Waller
200m- Evan Barnes, Easton Brotherson, Landon Shilhanek, Garrett Dahlke
600m- Oliver Simianer, Adam Maxwell
Mile- Henry Ballinger, Truman Thompson
60mH- Easton Brotherson, Oliver Simianer, Evan Barnes
4x300m- Three squads
Long Jump- Patrick Kremer, Oliver Simianer
Triple Jump- Sam Henderson, Joseph Kitonsa
High Jump- Patrick Kremer, Zachary Travis, Sam Henderson, Oliver Simianer, Adam Maxwell
Pole Vault- Kevin Swindler, Corbin Luce, Michael Cullen, Carter Petersen, Ryan Auble, Carson Hegele, Oliver Simianer
Shot Put- Donaven Humphries, Astin Brown, Titus Jeffrey
Weight Throw- Titus Jeffrey, Cooper Henkle, Tyler Bates, Donaven Humphries, Astin Brown