Newcomers impress in season opening meet

Thursday, December 4

Bozeman, Mont.

Montana

MSU Bobcat Preview

Scenes from the Spokane Indoor Challenge (11.18.25).

Photo by: Torrey Vail

12/4/2025 10:01:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field program opened up the 2025-26 indoor season on Thursday evening in Bozeman at the Bobcat Preview. It was a solid start to the year for the Grizzlies with several freshmen showing great potential in their collegiate debuts.

Montana won four events on the women's side and two on the men's side as they got back into the competitive spirit for the first time after a long fall of training.

"I thought we had some really good performances for December 4," head coach Doug Fraley said. "Some were surprises, some were not surprises, but all in all a fairly high level through most indications for this checkpoint. I think as a staff we are pleased with where the majority of our team is at right now and we're looking forward to the regular season starting in mid-January."

The women's sprint group has been a strength for Montana under DeCuire and this year should be no exception. Montana has the defending 100m and 200m outdoor champion and the indoor 60m school record holder in Tara Ohlwiler.

The junior got her year off to a fantastic start with a time of 7.53 to place 4^th. The Grizzlies took seven of the top 10 spots in the event, but it wasn't Ohlwiler that had the fastest time on the Montana roster.

True freshman Callie Wilson nearly broke the Grizzly program record in her first collegiate race, running a time of 7.52 to finish 3^rd overall.

Wilson wasn't the only Grizzly freshman that impressed in their debut. Sam Henderson on the men's side had a great opening meet in the jumps. The Butte product was one of two event winners on the men's side, claiming the high jump title with a mark of 6-6.75. He also finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 47-3.0.

Freshman Astin Brown also led Montana in his respective event, finishing 4^th in the men's shot put with a throw of 52-10.25.

While not a freshman, newcomer Reghan Skogen also impressed in her Grizzly debut. The transfer from Eastern Washington won the women's pole vault with a mark of 12-9.5.

"One of the things that you are always interested to find out is what happens with your freshmen when the lights come on for the first time," Fraley said. "I thought that we had a great many of ours that really performed well and acted like they had been there before. That's a good indicator of the kind of young people that we are recruiting. They are talented, but they are also not afraid to mix it up in the competition arena so we were very pleased with the majority of our newcomers today."

Erin Wilde started off her senior season with yet another meet win, claiming the title in the women's high jump with a mark of 5-7. The Grizzly women also got event wins in the mile with Lucy Thompson and the 5,000m with Abigail Case.

Henry Ballinger won the mile on the men's side with a time of 4:22.54.

There were plenty of other PRs and impressive performances for the Grizzlies, which is an encouraging sign for Fraley this early on in the season. Montana will have over a month off before returning to competition at the Spokane Indoor Challenge.

"It's great coming off of a meet like this because everybody on our roster that competed today knows exactly where they are at," Fraley said. "It helps sharpen the focus with the majority of our team getting ready to go home for winter break, everybody now has a clear picture of where they are at and what they need to work on when they go home."

When Montana returns, Fraley is hopeful that the team will be ready for the first week of the regular season in Spokane.

"I think this gives everyone into the mindset that when they go home, they need to take care of business during the break and when they come back the regular season starts the week they get back," Fraley said. "There is real value in a meet like this to sharpen the focus on what you did well, what you need to improve on, and it helps the coaches be able to program the next month of training based on what we were able to see today. It's a very valuable meet for us every December, and this year was certainly no different."

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
60m- Callie Wilson (7.52, 3^rd), Tara Ohlwiler (7.53, 4^th), Mikenna Ells (7.60*, 6^th), Brooke Zetooney (7.64, 7^th), Rileigh McGree (7.70, 8^th), Lily Meskers (7.73, 9^th), Sophia Clark (7.78, 10^th), Cosley Bruno (7.83*, 11^th), Ally Sempf (7.86, 12^th), Kaydance Reiter (7.89, 15^th), Ainsley Shipman (7.99*, 19^th)
600m- Brooke Stayner (1:35.89, 4^th)
Mile- Lucy Thompson (5:37.01, 1^st)
5,000m- Abigail Case (19:38.41, 1^st)
60mH- Jayel Dovichak (8.59*, 2^nd), Brooke Stayner (8.80, 4^th), Isabelle Berry (8.88*, 5^th), Alivia Rinehart (8.90, 6^th), Ainsley Shipman (9.18, 10^th)
4x300m- Clark, Ells, Ohlwiler, Meskers (2:36.24, 2^nd), Bruno, Wilson, Sempf, Zetooney (2:38.13, 3^rd), Berry, Gault, Rinehart, Dovichak (2:42.66, 4^th), Dantic, McGree, Reiter, Shipman (2:45.77, 6^th)
Long Jump- Ainsley Shipman (18-5, 3^rd), Emily Maughan (17-8, 6^th), Brooke Stayner (16-10.5, 13^th), Kensey Gault (16-9.25, 14^th)
High Jump- Erin Wilde (5-7, 1^st), Jaidyn Pevey (4-11, 5^th)
Pole Vault- Reghan Skogen (12-9.5, 1^st), Kate Suemnick (11-3.75, 6^th), Hannah Moses (11-3.75, 7^th), Grace MacHarg (10-10, 8^th)
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau (45-3.5, 3^rd), Avery DeVincenzi (44-0.75, 4^th), Lillian White (43-10.75, 5^th)
Weight Throw- Morgan Thomas (55-11.75*, 2^nd), Calista Ousley (55-6.5, 3^rd), Scout Nadeau (52-2, 6^th), Mary Mickelson (47-2.5*, 10^th), Lillian White (46-6.75, 11^th), Avery DeVincenzi (43-11.25, 13^th)

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
60m- Karsen Beitz (6.86, 3^rd), Malaki Simpson (6.88, 6^th), Brody Thornsberry (6.99, 12^th), Ben Bliven (7.04, 13^th), Romin Saleki (7.05, 14^th), Evan Barnes (7.05, 15^th), Cadence Waller (7.13, 18^th), Braden Ankeny (7.13, 19^th), Taylor Johnson (7.16, 20^th), Ben Antley (7.23, 25^th)
200m- Garrett Dahlke (22.77*, 3^rd), Landon Shilhanek (22.99, 7^th)
600m- Oliver Simianer (1:25.68, 7^th), Adam Maxwell (1:26.99, 10^th)
Mile- Henry Ballinger (4:22.54, 1^st)
60mH- Evan Barnes (8.48*, 3^rd), Oliver Simianer (8.71, 5^th)
4x300m- Antley, Johnson, Waller, Ankeny (2:16.87, 2^nd), Shilhanek, Simpson, Bliven, Maxwell (2:20.23, 3^rd), Dahlke, Beitz, Thornsberry, Simianer (2:20.68, 4^th)
Long Jump- Patrick Kremer (22-10, 3^rd), Oliver Simianer (21-4.75, 10^th)
Triple Jump- Sam Henderson (47-3.0, 2^nd), Joseph Kitonsa (43-10, 3^rd)
High Jump- Sam Henderson (6-6.75, 1^st), Patrick Kremer (6-6.75, 2^nd), Zachary Travis (6-4.75, 3^rd), Adam Maxwell (6-0.75, 5^th), Oliver Simianer (5-10.75, 8^th)
Pole Vault- Kevin Swindler (16-6.75, 4^th), Corbin Luce (16-0.75, 6^th), Carson Hegele (15-7, 7^th), Michael Cullen (14-7.25, 10^th), Carter Petersen (14-7.25, 11^th)
Shot Put- Astin Brown (52-10.25, 4^th), Titus Jeffrey (52-6.75, 5^th), Donaven Humphries (51-10.5, 6^th)
Weight Throw- Donaven Humphries (61-11*, 3^rd), Tyler Bates (56-4*, 5^th), Cooper Henkle (50-0.5, 13^th), Astin Brown (45-7.75, 17^th), Titus Jeffrey (43-1, 21^st)