Griz stay hot, break four more program records in Pocatello

Friday, February 13

Pocatello, Idaho

Montana

ISU Mountain State Games

Photo by: Torrey Vail

Griz stay hot, break four more program records in Pocatello

2/14/2026 6:24:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana track and field program got a first look at the Big Sky Conference Championship venue this weekend in Pocatello, Idaho. Safe to say, they like what they saw at the ICCU Arena two weeks in advance of the conference meet.

The Grizzlies maintained an incredible run of form this indoor season by breaking four more school records. Erin Wilde (high jump) and Mikenna Ells (400m) broke women's records while Cooper Henkle (weight throw) and Kevin Swindler (pole vault) broke records for the men.

The four new record holders add to a huge group for head coach Doug Fraley. The Grizzlies now have 10 new record marks this season, the most in a single season in program history.

The meet spanned two days for Montana with a prelims and finals format similar to what the Grizzlies will see at the conference championship meet. They took advantage with several big performances in addition to the school records.

"Overall, I thought we had a really productive weekend in Pocatello," Fraley said. "Obviously the highlights are the school records, but there was a lot of maturity and learning about the facility from our team which is going to be very important in two weeks when we got back for the Big Sky Championships. I thought our athletes navigated that very well."

Mikenna Ells started off the record-breaking in the women's 400m prelims on Friday. The Whitefish product ran a time of 53.76 to break Kourtney Danreuther's 14-year old program record.

Ells' time is also the 10^th best in the history of the Big Sky Conference. She had far and away the fastest qualifying time, but didn't run in Saturday's final as she focused on the 200m final, where she finished second.

"She's been ready to pop one for quite a while, and the way she ran that race she gave herself a chance to run fast and it was great to see her have the confidence to do that," Fraley said. "I think this will give her the confidence that she can run even faster."

It was another graduate of Whitefish High School that broke the next school record for Montana. Erin Wilde already owned the program mark in the women's high jump, but extended on her own personal best mark on Saturday to win her 11th straight indoor meet.

Wilde cleared 6-0.5 to improve her school record by a half-inch and move into a tie for 4^th in Big Sky Conference history.

"Erin was awesome today," Fraley said. "She made a PR and had a school record on a really awesome jump and then she had a good attempt at the next height. It was a stellar performance from her, especially at the location where the meet will be at in two weeks."

The men's records both came in the field on Saturday. The men's pole vaulting group has been highly competitive all season. Last week, Carson Hegele broke a 12-year old record in the event.

This week, it was Kevin Swindler who put his name in the history books. Swindler cleared 17-3, which broke Hegele's record. He didn't stop there, clearing 17-6.5 for a double PR, double record setting day.

Swindler moved in to a tie for 6^th all-time in the Big Sky Conference with his mark and is now inside the top 40 nationally this season.

"That's a competitive group and Kevin is a talented guy that we've been waiting for him to jump that high for a good while now," Fraley said. "It was great to see him do it not only once, but twice today. That's a group that's going to be moving forward and doing great things for us here in the future."

Cooper Henkle, a true freshman from Spokane, Wash., has been improving all season and had his best day in Pocatello. Henkle took second in the men's weight throw with a toss of 62-11.25. He broke Shawn Humphries' record from 2020.

He took advantage of the finals format in the event, uncorking the record throw in his 6^th and final attempt. It's always impressive when a freshman breaks a program record, but even more so in the weight throw, which isn't contested in high school.

"It was a really, really stout throw for Cooper today," Fraley said. "Breaking a weight throw record as a freshman is really one of the hardest things to do in our sport simply because the event isn't contested in high school. When you have a guy that's really just in his first year learning the event have the ability to break a good school record like that, it is a testament to the potential of that young man."

It was a great overall weekend for Montana with four event wins on the women's side and two on the men's side in competitive fields.

Callie Wilson continued her tremendous freshman season with wins in the 60m and 200m. She had the fastest time in qualifying in the 60m and was second in the 200m, but came back to win both with times of 7.37 and 23.85 in the finals.

She wasn't the only freshman to impress in multiple events. Sam Henderson of Butte had a tremendous day in the jumps for the Griz. Henderson set new PRs and entered the top 10 in program history in both the high jump and triple jump.

Henderson and Patrick Kremer tied for second in the men's high jump by clearing 6-10.25. The freshman won the men's triple jump with a distance of 49-2.5.

"He's been steady as she goes the whole indoor season, and it was great to see him get rewarded for that consistency," Fraley said. "It's that consistency that allowed him to hit two PRs today."

Jayel Dovichak was also in the winner's circle for the second week in a row in the women's 60-meter hurdles. She set the school record last week in the event and nearly improved on it in Saturday's final, running a time of 8.41 seconds for the win.

Montana had 18 women and 13 men run in finals on Saturday. There were several more that qualified, but didn't run in the finals. The experience inside the championship venue was valuable, as was the two-day format.

"You always find out a little bit about where the fitness and the emotional energy sit when you have to lace them up two days in a row and sometimes with multiple races in a day," Fraley said. "I thought we responded well to that. It's the championship schedule we will have in two weeks so you have to be able to not only blow and go in the prelims, but you have to come back the next day, sometimes on tired legs, and be better than you were the day before."

The bulk of Montana's roster finished up its regular season on Saturday in Pocatello. The Grizzlies will now have a two-week training block to keep improving into the Big Sky Championships from Feb. 26-28.

"I feel like our core of athletes are all in a good place. After the meet, we talked about the importance of getting into this facility and having a good meet, which we did," Fraley said. "We also talked about showing up for work on Monday because you have to recreate it every week. Don't ever take for granted what you did one week assuming that it will be there two weeks later at the championship.

"Our motto right now is to come to work every day and try to get better," Fraley continued. That's what is going to be required of us to get a great finish at the championships."

MONTANA ALL-TIME TOP 10 WATCH
The following athletes either moved into the top 10 or moved up within the top 10 in Montana program history on Friday night in Pocatello.

Mikenna Ells (200m / 24.20 (adj.) / 2^nd all-time)
Brooke Zetooney (60m / 7.57 (adj.) / t- 3^rd all-time)
Sam Henderson (Triple Jump / 49-2.5 / 3^rd all-time)
Sam Henderson (High Jump / 6-10.25 / 7^th all-time)
Calista Ousley (Weight Throw / 56-2.75 / 7^th all-time)
Hannah Moses (Pole Vault / 12-7.5 / 8^th all-time)
Bennett Bliven (200m / 21.75 (adj.) / 8^th all-time
Bennett Bliven (60m / 6.92 (adj.) / 10^th all-time)
Isabelle Berry (60mH / 8.73 (adj.) / 10^th all-time)

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
60m Prelims- Callie Wilson (7.37, 1q), Brooke Zetooney (7.55*, 2q), Tara Ohlwiler (7.59, 4q), Rileigh McGree (7.62, 5q)
60m Final- Callie Wilson (7.37, 1^st), Tara Ohlwiler (7.51, 2^nd), Brooke Zetooney (7.56, 3^rd), Rileigh McGree (7.59, 4^th)
200m Prelims- Mikenna Ells (24.13*, 1q), Callie Wilson (24.32, 2q), Tara Ohlwiler (24.63, 3q), Lily Meskers (24.64, 4q), Brooke Zetooney (24.68, 5q), Rileigh McGree (24.78*, 6q), Sophia Clark (25.30, 11q), Alivia Rinehart (25.37, 13^th)
200m Final- Callie Wilson (23.85, 1^st), Mikenna Ells (24.03, 2^nd), Tara Ohlwiler (24.47, 3^rd), Rileigh McGree (24.64, 4^th), Brooke Zetooney (24.66, 5^th)
400m Prelims- Mikenna Ells (53.76^, 1q), Lily Meskers (55.37, 3q), Sophia Clark (56.18, 5q), Claire Hutchison (56.87, 7q), Ally Sempf (57.13, 9q), Cosley Bruno (58.14, 15^th)
400m Final- Sophia Clark (55.92, 2^nd), Claire Hutchison (56.62, 4^th), Ally Sempf (57.05*, 5^th)
Mile- Iris McKean (5:11.07, 20^th), Libby Hartz (5:18.61*, 27^th)
60mH Prelims- Jayel Dovichak (8.46, 1q), Ainsley Shipman (8.79, 4q), Isabelle Berry (8.84, 7q), Brooke Stayner (8.87, 8q), Alivia Rinehart (8.91, 11q), Kensey Gault (9.03, 12q)
60mH Final- Jayel Dovichak (8.41, 1^st), Isabelle Berry (8.71, 3^rd), Ainsley Shipman (8.88, 9^th), Brooke Stayner (8.91, 10^th), Alivia Rinehart (8.97, 11^th), Kensey Gault (9.17, 12^th)
DMR- McKean, Hutchison, Hartz, Ingram (12:31.93, 4^th)
High Jump- Erin Wilde (6-0.5^, 1^st), Jaidyn Pevey (5-3.25, 7^th), Brooke Stayner (5-3.25, 8^th), Kensey Gault (5-1.25, 12^th)
Pole Vault- Hannah Moses (12-7.5*, t2nd), Kate Suemnick (12-1.5*, 5^th), Grace MacHarg (11-1.75*, 7^th)
Long Jump- Ainsley Shipman (18-1.75, 2^nd), Kensey Gault (17-11.75, 5^th), Brooke Stayner (16-0.5, 14^th)
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau (45-4.5, 5^th), Lillian White (44-0.5, 6^th), Avery DeVincenzi (42-8.25, 8^th), Cathlene Van Zyl (41-8, 10^th)
Weight Throw- Calista Ousley (56-2.75, 4^th), Morgan Thomas (55-0.25, 7^th), Scout Nadeau (54-10.75, 8^th), Avery DeVincenzi (50-5.25, 16^th), Lillian White (50-2.75, 18^th)

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
60m Prelim- Karsen Beitz (6.81, 3q), Bennett Bliven (6.90*, 9q), Malaki Simpson (6.93, 10q), Brody Thornsberry (6.99, 13^th), Evan Barnes (7.00*, 14^th)
60m Final- Karsen Beitz (6.75, 3^rd), Malaki Simpson (6.94, 9^th), Bennett Bliven (6.95, 10^th)
200m Prelim- Bennett Bliven (21.81, 2q), Karsen Beitz (21.99, 6q), Malaki Simpson (22.19, 13^th), Cadence Waller (22.25, 14^th), Brody Thornsberry (22.27, 15^th), Braden Ankeny (22.45, 17^th)
200m Final- Karsen Beitz (21.61, 4^th), Bennett Bliven (21.68, 5^th),
400m Prelim- Taylor Johnson (48.51, 2q), Ben Antley (48.65, 3q), Garrett Dahlke (49.22, 7q), Braden Ankeny (49.24, 8q), Cadence Waller (49.96, 11q)
400m Final- Cadence Waller (48.66, 3^rd), Taylor Johnson (48.72, 4^th), Garrett Dahlke (48.88, 5^th), Ben Antley (48.99, 7^th), Braden Ankeny (49.17, 9^th)
800m Prelim- Truman Thompson (1:54.07, 8q), Henry Ballinger (1:54.20, 9q), Will Sandnes (1:57.34, 21^st), Morgan Amano (2:01.51, 32^nd)
800m Final- Henry Ballinger (1:53.56, 4^th), Truman Thompson (1:53.66, 6^th)
Mile- Will Sandnes (4:22.52*, 24^th)
5,000m- Luke Mest (14:47.28, 2^nd)
60mH Prelims- Evan Barnes (8.29, 4q), Easton Brotherson (8.43, 5q)
60mH Final- Easton Brotherson (8.44, 4^th)
Shot Put- Astin Brown (50-0.75, 7^th), Titus Jeffrey (Foul)
High Jump- Sam Henderson (6-10.25, 2^nd), Patrick Kremer (6-10.25, 2^nd)
Pole Vault- Kevin Swindler (17-6.5^, 1^st), Corbin Luce (16-4.75, 2^nd), Carson Hegele (16-4.75, 3^rd), Michael Cullen (16-4.75*, 5^th)
Long Jump- Patrick Kremer (23-2.75, 2^nd)
Triple Jump- Sam Henderson (49-2.5*, 1^st), Joseph Kitonsa (45-7.75, 2^nd)
Shot Put- Astin Brown (50-0.75, 7^th)
Weight Throw- Cooper Henkle (62-11.25^, 2^nd), Donaven Humphries (58-9.25, 4^th), Tyler Bates (56-9.5, 5^th), Titus Jeffrey (46-4.75, 14^th), Astin Brown (45-10.5, 15^th)
Heptathlon- Oliver Simianer (3,831, 7^th)
Hep 60m- Simianer (7.38, 5^th)
Hep LJ- 20-5.25, 5^th
Hep SP- 32-2, 7^th
Hep HJ- 5-9.75, 5^th
Hep 60mH- 8.74, 4^th
Hep PV- 12-5.5, 6^th
Hep 1,000m- DNF

^ - Montana School Record
* - Personal Record
Q – Qualified for final