Six Griz reach the podium, 12 advance to Saturday's finals

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Six Griz reach the podium, 12 advance to Saturday's finals

5/16/2025 11:11:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field program saw six athletes earn All-Conference honors and 12 more reach track finals on the first full day of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif. on Friday.

The Grizzlies are in third place on the men's side and fourth place on the women's side. The men scored 42 points, bolstered by runner-up finishes from Matthew Hockett (javelin) and Patrick Kremer (high jump). Northern Arizona leads the men's competition with 65.5 points.

Montana's women scored 34 points on the first day, led by Ashley Carroll (8, javelin) and Samantha Serex (6, pole vault).

"Very successful first day with the amount of point scorers that we had and the amount of podium finishes we had," head coach Doug Fraley said. "It was a really strong day for us. We moved a lot of people through to the finals so we have plenty of bullets left in our gun between the running events and field events we have tomorrow, and so we feel good about the position we're in going into championship Saturday."

The day got off to a fantastic start for Montana with two of the strongest event groups opening the meet up. The men's javelin and high jump started two hours before the rest of the events and led to 31 total Grizzly points.

Matthew Hockett and Kyle Iorg both earned All-Conference honors in the men's javelin. Hockett's second throw of the day earned him the silver medal with a distance of 213-2. Iorg, a true freshman, recorded a mark of 209-4 to earn a place on the podium in third.

The duo will both be heading to the NCAA First Rounds in two weeks in College Station, Texas.

The high jump competition was extended due to issues with the standards, but Kremer and Travis were able to fight through the delays to great performances. Kremer cleared his first three bars up to 6-7.5 before going out at 6-9.75.

He and Miles Grant had the same results, which led to a jump-off for the Big Sky title. The pair missed at 6-9.75 and then again at 6-9. Grant was able to clear at 6-8.25 and Kremer clipped the bar, leading to a second-place finish.

It's the fourth time that Kremer has earned All-Conference honors at a Big Sky Championship and his third runner-up finish in the event.

Travis tied for the final spot on the podium with a mark of 6-5.5.

"Fantastic two events for us to begin the meet with on the men's side with two of our stronger events," Fraley said. "Those athletes in the javelin and the high jump really delivered. We were able to hit projections and add a couple of bonus points here and there today. If feel like those events gave us momentum today and set a great tone for our teams."

The All-Conference honors continued for Montana in the next field event. Ashley Carroll, who finished 4^th in the javelin last year at the conference meet, improved upon that with a runner-up finish. Carroll led the field after the first three throws, but Idaho State's Katelyn Dickemore's fourth throw would be the winner.

Later in the day, Samantha Serex, Montana's school record holder in the pole vault, earned more All-Conference honors for the Grizzlies. Serex went 3-for-3 on her first attempts before going out at 13-7, which was just shy of her own record.

She finished 3^rd in the event, trailing two athletes that both broke the meet record on Friday.

"Both of those events are strengths for us and we basically held serve. It's always awesome when you get athletes on the podium, it's not an easy thing to do in the Big Sky," Fraley said. "Ashley was seeded third and finished second, Sam held serve in the vault, so a very successful day in those events."

On the track, the Grizzlies had seven women and five men reach the finals in their respective events. Tara Ohlwiler had a fantastic day in the sprints. She reached the finals in both the 100m and the 200m, qualifying with the best time in the 200 (23.79) and fourth best time in the 100 (11.76).

Ohlwiler is joined in the 100m final by Rileigh McGree. McGree ran a 12.01 time to qualify in the 8^th and final spot and guarantee a point for the Grizzlies in Saturday's final.

"Tara had a really successful day. Our goal for her was to go in and win both of her heats and get the automatic qualifier, and she delivered on that," Fraley said. "She continues to run well and I know we are really looking forward to those finals tomorrow."

The biggest group to advance to the finals was in the women's 400m where Montana sent three athletes through to Saturday. Lily Meskers ran a lifetime best time of 54.15 to qualify in third while Sophia Clark (55.42) and Mikenna Ells (55.56) finished 6-7.

"To have three out of the eight wearing Griz uniforms in the finals is a big deal," Fraley said. "That was an area that we thought would be a strength coming in and those three ran really well in the prelims to punch their tickets."

Jayel Dovichak is also headed to Saturday's final in the women's 100-meter hurdles after a time of 13.79. Dovichak qualified in third and will have a chance at the podium tomorrow.

The time is just one-hundredth of a second behind her personal best, which she set in her last race of the regular season in Pocatello.

"I thought Jayel was fantastic today. She basically a PR against a headwind and qualified third after the prelims," Fraley said. "She's been on an upward trend in the last few weeks and we're really excited about her opportunity in the hurdle final because she's really coming on at the right time."

The men had two runners go through in the 200m, and both runners are in their first year of collegiate athletics. Malaki Simpson ran a lifetime best of 21.38 to qualify in 5^th place and Braden Ankeny ran a time of 21.55, advancing to the final in the 8^th spot by one-thousandth of a second.

It was a good first day for the freshman Ankeny. He also advanced to the 400m final with a time of 47.61.

"Great job by those two freshman," Fraley said. "Braden had a tough double with the 400 and 200, especially as a true freshman, and he came through very well in both of those races and get to be in two finals tomorrow."

Simpson's better event during the regular season was the 100m. He entered the meet ranked 4^th in the 100 and 16^th in the 200. After a disappointing result in the 100, he was able to bounce back with a great run to reach the 200m final.

"He was really disappointed after the 100m because he was tabbed to have a chance to make that final and did not," Fraley said. "He came back and what a great race he ran in that 200. It was a really good job of bouncing back. It's not an easy thing to do, particularly as a freshman, but he showed a lot of athletic maturity there."

Truman Thompson and Keagen Crosby both reached the final in the men's 800m to guarantee points for the Grizzlies. Thompson had an impressive kick to the finish line to win his heat and qualify automatically with a time of 1:51.05.

Crosby advanced through on time, running a 1:51.27 to snag the 8^th and final spot.

"Truman and Keagen did exactly what they did last week up in Bozeman and ran to the level of the competition," Fraley said. "We're really excited to have two guys in the middle distance in the finals tomorrow. That's a big boost for our program in a conference as tough as this is."

Montana also had a big boost in the final event of the night, the men's long jump. The Grizzlies were projected to get just two points out of the event, but had a pair of athletes reach the final and score.

Freshman Caiden Sekuterski hit a big jump on his third attempt of the day, going 23-3.5 to jump from 7^th in the seeds to 4^th in the event. He earned five points for the Grizzlies.

Patrick Kremer, who endured over two and a half hours at the high jump, was able to take only two jumps. It proved to be enough as his mark of 22-4.5 earned him a point with an 8^th place finish.

"Caiden jumping up from his seed was a huge boost for us and is just such a great job by a freshman," Fraley said. "And then Patrick coming after a really exhausting competition was able to come over and score a point."

Sekuterski's performance was just one of several boosts for Montana during the day. Every time that they had a slight slip-up, they were able to find points in another area to stay on pace with their projection and in the hunt for a top three finish.

"In a meet like this, you're going to have ebbs and flows. I feel like every time we slipped in either not making a final or in a field event, there was a bump in another area," Fraley said. "That's what good teams tend to do, and I was really pleased to see that."

The Grizzlies will have plenty more scoring opportunities on Saturday both in the field and on the track. The meet begins at 11:00 a.m. (MT) with the men's hammer throw. Track events begin at 1:00 p.m. with the women's 4x100m relay.

"I feel really good about the finals that we're in tomorrow on the track and I feel good about the field finals," Fraley said. "Those are some of the stronger areas of our team that haven't gone yet. It's a great championship so far and our goal is to go out and finish the deal strong tomorrow."

MEN'S RESULTS
100m- Karsen Beitz (10.65, 12^th), Malaki Simpson (10.71, 15^th), Cooper Hewett (10.74, 17^th), Brody Thornsberry (10.83, 24^th)
200m- Malaki Simpson (21.38, 5Q), Braden Ankeny (21.55, 8Q)
400m- Braden Ankeny (47.61, 4Q), Jay Beagle (48.55, 11^th), Ty Ferguson (48.61, 13^th), Taylor Johnson (48.65, 15^th)
800m- Truman Thompson (1:51.05, 7Q), Keagen Crosby (1:51.27, 8Q)
1,500m- Lane Cole (3:56.77, 14^th)
110mH- Oliver Simianer (15.05, 10^th)
400mH- Adam Maxwell (54.60, 9^th)
High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-8.75, 2^nd), Zachary Travis (6-5.5, t-3^rd), Adam Maxwell (6-3.5, t-8^th)
Long Jump- Caiden Sekuterski (23-3.5, 4^th), Patrick Kremer (22-4.5, 8^th), Gordon McMillion (22-1.75, 10^th), Brody Thornsberry (20-8.5, 18^th)
Discus- Donaven Humphries (147-11, 12^th)
Javelin- Matthew Hockett (213-2, 2^nd), Kyle Iorg (209-4, 3^rd), Ethan Grimm (187-0, 6^th)

WOMEN'S RESULTS
100m- Tara Ohlwiler (11.76, 4Q), Rileigh McGree (12.01, 8Q), Brooke Zetooney (12.31, 20^th)
200m- Tara Ohlwiler (23.79, 1Q), Lily Meskers (24.52, 9^th), Brooke Zetooney (25.46, 16^th)
400m- Lily Meskers (54.15, 3Q), Sophia Clark (55.42, 6Q), Mikenna Ells (55.56, 7Q), Claire Hutchison (56.51, 9^th)
100mH- Jayel Dovichak (13.79, 3Q), Ainsley Shipman (14.49, 10^th), Isabelle Berry (15.41, 15^th)
Pole Vault- Samantha Serex (13-3, 3^rd), Emma Zimmerman-Weeden (12-5.25, t-7^th), Shealyne McGee (12-5.25, t-7^th), Molly Chambers (12-5.25, 10^th), Hannah Moses (11-11.25, 11^th)
Long Jump- Ainsley Shipman (18-7, 7^th), Whitney Morrison (18-4.5, 9^th)
Discus- Morgan Thomas (138-6, 12^th), Mary Mickelson (128-0, 18^th), Cathlene Van Zyl (117-6, 23^rd)
Javelin- Ashley Carroll (141-10, 2^nd), Ella Moodry (127-3, 7^th)

Q – Qualified for Saturday's final

MEN'S POINT SCORERS
8 - Patrick Kremer, high jump
8 – Matthew Hockett, javelin
6 – Kyle Iorg, javelin
5.5 – Zachary Travis, high jump
5 – Caiden Sekuterski, long jump
3 – Ethan Grimm, javelin
3 – Porter Coffield, decathlon
2 – Oliver Simianer, decathlon
1 – Patrick Kremer, long jump
0.5 – Adam Maxwell, high jump

WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS
8 – Ashley Carroll, javelin
6 – Samantha Serex, pole vault
2 – Ella Moodry, javelin
2 – Ainsley Shipman, long jump
1.5 – Emma Zimmerman-Weeden, pole vault
1.5 – Shealyne McGee, pole vault

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Northern Arizona - 65.5
2. Montana State – 43
3. Montana – 42
4. Weber State – 30
5. Idaho State – 28
6. Sacramento State – 27
7. Idaho – 21
8. Eastern Washington – 11.5
9. Portland State – 5
10. Northern Colorado – 0

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Montana State – 72.5
2. Idaho State – 46.5
3. Northern Arizona – 37
4. Montana – 34
T5. Eastern Washington – 23
T5. Weber State – 23
7. Idaho – 16
8. Sacramento State – 15
9. Northern Colorado – 6
10. Portland State – 0