Griz track and field get things started in California

Thursday, April 17

Long Beach, Calif.

Montana

Pacific Coast Invitational

Montana hosts the Al Manuel Invitational on March 28, 2035, in Missoula, Mont.

Photo by: Ella Palulis/University of Montana

Griz track and field get things started in California

4/17/2025 9:29:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The Grizzly track and field team finished up day one on the California road trip with good results at both the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. Thursday was the start of three straight days of competition for Montana.

The highlight of the day for Montana was the freshman Kyle Iorg in the men's javelin. Iorg, competing in his third collegiate event in the men's javelin, finished 3^rd with a throw of 207-3. It was an improvement of nearly 10 feet from his previous best. It's the 45^th best in the region so far and has him in the conversation for a regional appearance.

"The highlight of the day was Kyle Iorg's javelin throw. He got third place in the javelin with a lifetime best. It's a throw that will get him in the mix for regional qualifications," head coach Doug Fraley said. "That was a very high caliber effort for a true freshman."

Over at Azusa Pacific, Truman Thompson put together an impressive 800 time in the men's open field. The Grizzly sophomore ran a PR time of 1:51.19 to finish 4^th overall in the 138-man open field.

Lane Cole ran a 1:53.88 in the event. The duo will run again on Friday in the 1,500m.

"I thought that Truman's result out at Azusa, running a huge PR of 1:51 to put him in the upper end of things in our conference was a very, very good performance from Truman," Fraley said. "He's coming off a bone fracture in his leg, we held him out of the indoor season, and he has really worked hard to come back and did a great job so far in the outdoor season."

Sophomore sprinter Tara Ohlwiler, who returned to her California roots for the meet, had one of the better days of all Grizzly athletes. Ohlwiler is from Mission Viejo, just inside of 50 miles away from Long Beach.

She ran a fantastic race in the women's 100-meter, finishing 2^nd in her heat and 9^th overall with a time of 11.86 seconds. It's a new personal best time for Ohlwiler as she continues to climb closer and closer to the Grizzly program record of 11.80.

Ohlwiler followed it up with another PR in the women's 200m. The Grizzly sophomore once again competed well in a very deep field, finishing in 8^th place with a new personal record of 24.04 seconds.

The event was a good one for Montana overall as Lily Meskers (24.41) and Jayel Dovichak (25.04) both set PRs.

Braden Ankeny also finished top 10 in the men's 400m, running a time of 48.57.

The women's vertical jumps crew had some top 10 finishes as well. Erin Wilde finished 4^th in the women's high jump with a mark of 5-7.75. Samantha Serex and Shealyne McGee both cleared 12-5.25 in the women's pole vault, but it was Serex that placed 9^th on misses while McGee slid to 12^th.

Ashley Carroll built on a great throw in the women's javelin in her last event with another solid mark of 144-6. She placed 5^th in the event.

"Overall we got off to a solid start. We made some progress in some areas and the great thing about this trip is that some of the kids that are frustrated by not doing as] well as they wanted to today get another crack it at it tomorrow or Saturday," Fraley said. "Whether you did well or not as well as you wanted, you get another chance to make corrections and get right back at it the next couple of days."

Montana returns to action on Friday with several events in the Beach Invitational back at Long Beach State. The Beach Invitational is a two-day event with a majority of Montana's athletes competing on Saturday. Cole and Thompson will run again on Friday evening at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL RESULTS
Men's 800m- Truman Thompson (1:51.19, 4^th), Lane Cole (1:53.88, 73^rd)

PACIFIC COAST INTERCOLEGIATE RESULTS

MEN'S RESULTS
100m- Cooper Hewett (10.66, 27^th), Karsen Beitz (10.69, 33^rd)
200m- Karsen Beitz (21.55, 20^th), Malaki Simpson (21.71, 28^th)
400m- Braden Ankeny (48.57, 9^th), Ty Ferguson (48.76, 11^th)
4x100m- Montana (DNF)
High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-5.5, 10^th)
Pole Vault- Carson Weeden (16-4, ), Kevin Swindler (15-10, )
Long Jump- Caiden Sekuterski (22-6.5, 17^th), Gordon McMillion (21-5.25, 28^th)
Shot Put- Alex Shields (54-0, 17^th)
Javelin- Kyle Iorg (207-3*, 3^rd)

WOMEN'S RESULTS
100m- Tara Ohlwiler (11.86*, 9^th), Lily Meskers (12.05, 21^st), Rileigh McGree (12.16, 29^th)
200m- Tara Ohlwiler (24.04, 8^th), Lily Meskers (24.41*, 17^th), Jayel Dovichak (25.04*, 37^th)
400m- Sophia Clark (56.38, 11^th), Claire Hutchison (57.12, 13^th)
100mH- Jayel Dovichak (14.00, 16^th), Ainsley Shipman (14.49, 28^th)
4x100m- Montana (46.16, 3^rd)
High Jump- Erin Wilde (5-7.75, 4^th)
Long Jump- Ainsley Shipman (17-5.5, 37^th)
Pole Vault- Samantha Serex (12-5.25, 9^th), Shealyne McGee (12-5.25, 12^th), Molly Chambers (11-11.25, 24^th)
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau (44-4*, 24^th), Morgan Thomas (41-4.5, 39^th)
Javelin- Ashley Carroll (144-6, 5^th), Ella Moodry (117-4, 14^th)

*PR