Ohlwiler's record highlights impressive Montana Open

Friday, April 25

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Montana Open

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

Ohlwiler's record highlights impressive Montana Open

4/26/2025 8:10:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The thunderstorm that rolled in late Saturday couldn't dampen the spirits of the Montana track and field program after the Grizzlies saw a school record fall and a large number of personal best performances at the Montana Open.

Sophomore sprinter Tara Ohlwiler electrified the grandstand by breaking the Montana school record in the women's 100-meter. Ohlwiler, who set the indoor 60-meter record this year, had been close to the record already this season.

She did more than just break it on Saturday, she obliterated the previous mark. Ohlwiler led a pack of Grizzlies across the finish line in a time of 11.61 seconds. The previous record, set by Catie Buck in 2022, was 11.80.

"When I first crossed the line, I just had my fingers crossed because all I wanted today was the school record," Ohlwiler said. "I was just so happy for both myself and my teammates because we were all trying to have a good race in our last home meet."

Ohlwiler ran an 11.86 time in the first outdoor meet of the year in Missoula, coming close to the school record back in March. She matched that time again last week in her first race in California, but slipped back above 12 seconds in her last outing.

She wanted to work on her start after that race, and spent the week at practice training the first steps. The work paid off on Saturday.

"I got out of my blocks and thought, 'Yep, this is going to be a good race.' I felt like I was really working on my starts at practice because that can really make or break a race," Ohlwiler said. "As soon as I got out and started my stride cycle, I knew it was going to be a good one."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Montana Griz TF & XC (@montanagriztfxc)

It was one of two race wins for Ohlwiler on the day. She also claimed victory in the 200m with a new PR time of 23.95 seconds, breaking the 24-second mark for the first time in her career.

She has climbed up the Big Sky rankings as a result, moving into 2^nd in the 100m and 4^th in the 200m.

"She had a fantastic weekend continuing what has been a great year for her," head coach Doug Fraley said. "We knew she was really getting ready to pop a 100 based on her running out in California even with some mistakes. She was able to work on those, clean it up throughout the week, and came out and hit the best race she's had obviously with a huge school record not just breaking it, but breaking it by a lot."

The school record was the highlight of the weekend, but Montana had fantastic efforts in all event areas at the Montana Open. There were 31 PRs for the men and women over the weekend, a massive number that couldn't come at a better time as they hit the home stretch of the season.

"I'm really, really proud of both squads today for the progress we made in a lot of different event areas," Fraley said. "We talked to the team this week about taking advantage of a home meet at Dornblaser on a great weather weekend and really moving forward with our performances. Our kids really answered to that this week. I'm pleased with the progress, we took some steps forward in the Big Sky Conference in a lot of different events so I'm just really thrilled with the teamwide effort."

The big meet got started with a fantastic Friday for the hammer and javelin groups. Montana had five athletes PR in the hammer in the afternoon, and then they hit some big marks in the javelin.

True freshman Kyle Iorg had the biggest throw of them all, winning the men's javelin competition with a mark of 216-3. It's tied for 27^th in the West Region and is second in the Big Sky, trailing only his teammate Matthew Hockett.

"Kyle's performance in the javelin was outstanding. To come in and hit a throw of nearly 66 meters, that's really getting the job done for a true freshman," Fraley said. "I'm really fired up about the way he competed and the series that he had. That was one of the top performances of the meet."

Hockett finished second with a throw of 204-1. Fellow freshman Ethan Grimm finished third, breaking the 60-meter mark for the first time in his career with a toss of 198-4.

Ashley Caroll won the women's javelin competition, which featured the two of the top three throwers in the league, with a mark of 146-8.

Friday's results got things going for the whole squad, and the rest of the Grizzlies kept the momentum rolling early on Saturday.

"We always talk about momentum," Fraley said. "We got the ball rolling on Friday with a bunch of PRs in the hammer and some big throws in the javelin, and then things got going early on Saturday and the team starts to feel it and they start saying, 'Why not me?' The next thing you know you have as many PRs and really good performances as we had today."

The Grizzlies honored 19 seniors before the races started on Saturday. The class then delivered with some outstanding performances in their final appearances at Dornblaser Field.

It's been a storybook senior season for Whitney Morrison, and that continued on Saturday. Morrison won two competitions and finished runner-up in a third, setting PRs in all three events that she competed in.

Morrison won the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:01.06 and also won the triple jump with a mark of 39-7.25. She was the runner-up in long jump with a distance of 19-5.25. The Big Sky's leader in the heptathlon continues to excel in all areas.

"Whitney's last meet here at Dornblaser was phenomenal getting an eight inch PR in the long jump, a big PR in the triple jump, and then finishing it off with a 400-meter hurdle PR shows the level of athlete that she's become," Fraley said. "It was an awesome way for a great athlete to finish their career in their last home meet. I'm really proud of her."

Ohlwiler may have stolen the show on the track, but her teammates kept pace very well in some fast sprint races. Rileigh McGree and Lily Meskers finished second and third behind her and both broke the 12-second mark in the 100m.

In the 200m, Meskers finished second, McGree third, and Claire Hutchison fourth. The top four Grizzlies all ran PR times.

On the men's side, Cooper Hewett won the 100m with a time of 10.58 seconds. It's the best time of the season for the Grizzly senior and moves him into the thick of the Big Sky Conference at 7^th.

Freshman Braden Ankeny ran a blazing fast 200m, winning the event in 21.11 seconds. His time is the fastest recorded in the Big Sky Conference this season and the fastest by a Grizzly since 2016.

"I was really pleased with the progress that we made in that area today, especially getting three women under 12 seconds in the 100," Fraley said. "Cooper Hewett ran a really good final race at Dornblaser to win. Braden's run was really a high level run in the 200. That group made good progress this week."

The Grizzlies had good performances in all four vertical jump events. Samantha Serex won the women's pole vault with a mark of 13-3, and nearly broke her own school record on her next bar.

The men's pole vault, which was the only event that resumed following the early evening thunderstorm, saw Kevin Swindler and Carson Weeden both clear 16-8.25. It was a PR for Swindler, who moves into a second-place tie with Weeden in the league's performance list.

Zachary Travis was third in the men's high jump with a PR jump of 6-8.25 that brings him all the way up to fourth in the conference, and Maddie Kremer won the women's high jump with a mark of 5-3.75.

"The vertical jumps were really good again. We've got some guys that are inching closer to those regional standards and moving up in the Big Sky conference list," Fraley said. "Another excellent outing for that group."

There were more wins on the board for Montana as senior Gordon McMillion claimed the title in the men's long jump with a mark of 22-8.5. Sophia Clark won the women's 400m in 56.33 seconds.

Jayel Dovichak ran a time of 14.03 seconds to win the women's 100-meter hurdles, and Ainsley Shipman and Isabelle Berry finished 2^nd and 4^th in that race.

"The women's short hurdles were really good today," Fraley said. "Every area of the team was firing well this weekend and that's what we need being on the home stretch of the season."

The Grizzlies have concluded the home portion of their schedule and now get set for the most important week of the regular season. They will travel to Pocatello, Idaho next weekend for the Bengal Invitational.

The multi-day meet will have prelims and finals on the track, and feature plenty of Big Sky competition. It should provide Montana with a perfect tune-up for the Big Sky Championships in May.

"It's time to move on to Pocatello next week. It's going to be great Big Sky competition in a meet that is structured very similar to the Big Sky Championships," Fraley said. "It will be another stern test for us. I feel like after this weekend, we have put ourselves in good position to continue that momentum in Pocatello and keep improving as a men's and women's track program."

Gallery: (4-26-2025) TF: Montana Open (4.26.25)

MEN'S RESULTS
100m- Cooper Hewett (10.58, 1^st), Malaki Simpson (10.64, 3^rd), Brody Thornsberry (10.76*, 5^th), Caiden Sekuterski (11.06, 13^th), Cody Lease (11.13, 14^th), Oliver Simianer (11.31, 18^th), Porter Coffield (11.49, 21^st)
200m- Braden Ankeny (21.11*, 1^st), Malaki Simpson (21.66, 3^rd), Brody Thornsberry (21.80*, 4^th), Ty Ferguson (21.96, 6^th), Cody Lease (22.60, 13^th)
400m- Taylor Johnson (48.18, 2^nd), Jay Beagle (48.40, 3^rd), Garrett Dahlke (49.36, 4^th), Cutter Thatcher (49.65, 5^th), Landon Shilhanek (49.76, 6^th), Logan Tate (52.30, 11^th)
800m- Truman Thompson (1:51.53, 1^st), Lane Cole (1:53.25, 4^th), Keagen Crosby (1:53.35*, 5^th), Michael Jump (1:58.35, 9^th), Colin Shaules (1:58.99, 12^th), Morgan Amano (1:59.27, 14^th)
1,500m- Zachary Giesch (4:01.64, 2^nd), Luke Mest (4:01.88*, 3^rd)
400mH- Oliver Simianer (56.28, 3^rd), Adam Maxwell (56.80, 4^th)
Steeple- Kanoa Blake (9:44.29, 4^th)
High Jump- Zachary Travis (6-8.25*, 3^rd), Adam Maxwell (6-4, 4^th)
Pole Vault- Carson Weeden (16-8.25, 1^st), Kevin Swindler (16-8.25*, 2^nd), Carson Hegele (16-2.5, 3^rd), Oliver Simianer (11-11.25*, 15^th), Porter Coffield (11-3.5, 16^th)
Long Jump- Gordon McMillion (22-8.5, 1^st), Caiden Sekuterski (22-7, 2^nd), Brody Thornsberry (22-4.25*, 3^rd), Porter Coffield (20-3.5, 8^th)
Hammer- Donaven Humphries (184-10*, 5^th), Tyler Bates (173-8, 8^th), Wade Rykal (172-2*, 9^th), Memphis Black (151-0, 15^th), Alex Shields (146-1, 16^th),
Discus- Donaven Humphries (145-2, 8^th), Tyler Bates (143-0, 9^th), Porter Coffield (113-10, 15^th), Oliver Simianer (89-4*, 18^th)
Shot Put- Alex Shields (54-9.25, 6^th), Wade Rykal (53-7.5, 7^th), Donaven Humphries (50-0.5, 9^th)
Javelin- Kyle Iorg (216-3*, 1^st), Matthew Hockett (204-1, 2^nd), Ethan Grimm (198-4*, 3^rd), Porter Coffield (166-5, 6^th), Oliver Simianer (122-6*, 10^th)

WOMEN'S RESULTS
100m- Tara Ohlwiler (11.61^, 1^st), Rileigh McGree (11.89*, 2^nd), Lily Meskers (11.92*, 3^rd), Claire Hutchison (12.17*, 5^th), Audrey Smith (12.51, 9^th), Destiny Santiago (12.63*, 11^th)
200m- Tara Ohlwiler (23.95*, 1^st), Lily Meskers (24.15*, 2^nd), Rileigh McGree (24.79*, 3^rd), Claire Hutchison (25.01*, 4^th), Sophia Clark (25.20, 6^th), Cosley Bruno (25.34*, 8^th), Brooke Zetooney (25.83, 12^th), Isabelle Berry (26.22, 14^th), Audrey Smith (26.34, 15^th), Destiny Santiago (26.55, 16^th)
400m- Sophia Clark (56.33, 1^st), Cosley Bruno (57.26*, 3^rd)
800m- Mackenzie Morgan (2:18.24, 4^th), Libby Hartz (2:27.96, 9^th)
1,500m- Heidi Olson (4:50.27*, 4^th), Shay Pederson (4:55.06, 5^th), Olivia Coll (5:00.41, 6^th)
5,000m- Kayla Ingraham (18:34.93, 2^nd)
100mH- Jayel Dovichak (14.03, 1^st), Ainsley Shipman (14.27, 2^nd), Isabelle Berry (15.23, 4^th),
400mH- Whitney Morrison (1:01.06*, 1^st)
Steeple- Abigail Kotran (12:04.93, 3^rd), Ashtyn Wagner (12:36.39, 7^th)
4x100m- Smith, Hutchison, Bruno, Santiago (47.13, 1^st)
High Jump- Maddie Kremer (5-3.75, 1^st), Kensey Gault (5-1.75, 2^nd), Josie Blazina (4-11.75, 4^th), Halle Walker (4-9.75, 6^th)
Pole Vault- Samantha Serex (13-3, 1^st), Molly Chambers (12-3.25, 4^th), Shealyne McGee (12-3.25, 5^th), Hannah Moses (11-9.25, 7^th), Emma Zimmerman-Weeden (11-9.25, 8^th)
Long Jump- Whitney Morrison (19-5.25*, 2^nd), Kensey Gault (17-7.5*, 6^th), Emily Maughan (17-4.25, 7^th)
Triple Jump- Whitney Morrison (39-7.25*, 1^st)
Hammer- Savana Ramirez (173-11, 3^rd), Mary Mickelson (162-5*, 5^th), Morgan Thomas (159-2*, 6^th), Scout Nadeau (157-10*, 7^th)
Discus- Morgan Thomas (140-3, 5^th), Mary Mickelson (133-2, 7^th), Cathlene Van Zyl (120-11, 10^th)
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau (46-6.75*, 3^rd), Cathlene Van Zyl (43-7, 4^th), Morgan Thomas (42-4.75, 6^th), Calista Ousley (37-10, 10^th)
Javelin- Ashley Carroll (146-8, 1^st), Ella Moodry (132-0, 4^th), Kensey Gault (88-7, 16^th)

^School Record
*PR