Stayner earns All-Conference honors in the pentathlon
2/26/2026 5:47:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
The Big Sky Championship opened up on a positive note for the Montana track and field program as Brooke Stayner earned All-Conference honors with a third-place finish in the women's pentathlon.
Stayner earned a place on the podium with a score of 3,677 and her teammate Kensey Gault finished close behind in fourth place with a score of 3,606.
"I'm really pleased with the results of the multi today," head coach Doug Fraley said. "Both of our young ladies performed well and fought hard. It's great to get Brooke her first podium finish and Kensey really fought hard to work her way up through the standings as the day went on. We will definitely take a 3-4 finish to get the day started and put 11 points on the board."
Stayner jumped out to a fast start in the 60-meter hurdles, running in the same heat as Tait and Idaho State's Josie Settle. It was a PR time for Stayner at 8.74, finishing second to Tait by less than a tenth of a second.
The two athletes kept pace with each other into the second event as Stayner nearly recorded a personal best in the high jump as well. Stayner cleared 5-6 (1.68m) to earn 830 points in the second event and bring her total up to 1,795.
Tait matched her clearance to also earn 830 points in the high jump, and after two events the Idaho Vandal had a 19-point lead over Stayner. The two began to separate as Settle sat 132 points back in third.
Stayner lost ground in the next two events, but her teammate Kensey Gault started to make some up to get into the thick of things. Stayner finished 10th in the shot put and 12th in the long jump to fall to fourth place after four events.
Gault, who was 7th and 6th in the first two events, jumped up in the multi table after a strong throw in the shot put. Her mark of 35-5.25 was the 4th best of the 13 athletes and moved her up into 5th place overall.
In the long jump, Gault just missed a PR with a jump of 17-10.25. She was able to close the gap even more on the leaders with her jump. As they got set for the 800m, Stayner sat in 4th place just 7 points ahead of Gault.
Stayner trailed Settle by 20 points for a spot on the podium with Tait well clear in first place.
It was going to take a great run from Stayner to move up and that is just what the redshirt-junior from Missoula delivered. Stayner jumped out to the lead right away and set the pace for the rest of the field, flying past everyone to win by a full second in the 800m with a new personal best time of 2:20.18.
Stayner scored 821 points in the final event to bring her pentathlon total to 3,677 and earn a place on the podium in 3rd place. She receives All-Conference honors for the first time in her career after finishing 8th as a freshman and 6th as a sophomore.
She was agonizingly close to moving even higher in the final standings. She trailed Merle Weber by 124 points entering the 800m but beat her by nearly nine full seconds. Weber did just enough to hold on to second by just seven points over Stayner.
Gault, a sophomore, ran a time of 2:25.01 to move up into 4th place in the final table. She finished 5th last season in Flagstaff and improved upon that Thursday afternoon in Pocatello.
Tait finished in first with a score of 4,088 and Sacramento State's Weber was second with 3,684.
The duo of Stayner and Gault earned Montana 11 points on the first day of competition. The Grizzlies are in the lead after one event in Pocatello, a place that is familiar to a program with a rich history in the multis.
"That's one of the reasons that we emphasize the multis at Montana is because it is a great way to get conference championships started," Fraley said. "When you put points on the board early, the rest of the team feeds off that and it starts the process of our team getting locked in at the conference championship every year."
Oliver Simianer started off the men's competition for the Grizzlies with the first four events of the heptathlon. The sophomore from Missoula sits in 12th place entering the final three events on Friday morning.
Simianer's best event of the day was the high jump, where he cleared 5-9.75 to finish in a tie for 7th place. He was 8th in the long jump with a mark of 21-1.5. Simianer also had a PR in the 60m with a time of 7.38 seconds.
The full meet opens Friday morning at 10:00 with the men's weight throw. Track events begin at 3:00 p.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdle prelims.
WOMEN'S RESULTS
Pentathlon- Brooke Stayner (3,677, 3rd), Kensey Gault (3,606, 4th)
60mH- Stayner (8.74*, 2nd), Gault (9.07, 7th)
High Jump- Stayner (5-6, 1st), Gault (5-1.25, 6th)
Shot Put- Gault (35-5.25, 4th), Stayner (31-8.5, 10th)
Long Jump- Gault (17-10.25, 7th), Stayner (16-4.25, 12th)
800m- Stayner (2:20.18*, 1st), Gault (2:25.01, 6th)
MEN'S RESULTS
Heptathlon (thru 4 events)- Oliver Simianer (2,446, 12th)
60m- Simianer (7.38*, 12th)
Long Jump- Simianer (21-1.5, 8th)
Shot Put- Simianer (28-7, 13th)
High Jump- Simianer (5-9.75, 7th)
WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS
Brooke Stayner, 6 (pentathlon)
Kensey Gault, 5 (pentathlon)
Stayner earned a place on the podium with a score of 3,677 and her teammate Kensey Gault finished close behind in fourth place with a score of 3,606.
"I'm really pleased with the results of the multi today," head coach Doug Fraley said. "Both of our young ladies performed well and fought hard. It's great to get Brooke her first podium finish and Kensey really fought hard to work her way up through the standings as the day went on. We will definitely take a 3-4 finish to get the day started and put 11 points on the board."
🥉 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 🥉
— Montana Griz TF & XC (@MontanaGrizTFXC) February 26, 2026
Brooke Stayner's fantastic 800m moves her up into 3rd place and secures All-Conference honors for the redshirt junior from Missoula! #GrizTF | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/J7R8K2oQcU
Stayner jumped out to a fast start in the 60-meter hurdles, running in the same heat as Tait and Idaho State's Josie Settle. It was a PR time for Stayner at 8.74, finishing second to Tait by less than a tenth of a second.
The two athletes kept pace with each other into the second event as Stayner nearly recorded a personal best in the high jump as well. Stayner cleared 5-6 (1.68m) to earn 830 points in the second event and bring her total up to 1,795.
Tait matched her clearance to also earn 830 points in the high jump, and after two events the Idaho Vandal had a 19-point lead over Stayner. The two began to separate as Settle sat 132 points back in third.
Stayner lost ground in the next two events, but her teammate Kensey Gault started to make some up to get into the thick of things. Stayner finished 10th in the shot put and 12th in the long jump to fall to fourth place after four events.
Gault, who was 7th and 6th in the first two events, jumped up in the multi table after a strong throw in the shot put. Her mark of 35-5.25 was the 4th best of the 13 athletes and moved her up into 5th place overall.
In the long jump, Gault just missed a PR with a jump of 17-10.25. She was able to close the gap even more on the leaders with her jump. As they got set for the 800m, Stayner sat in 4th place just 7 points ahead of Gault.
Stayner trailed Settle by 20 points for a spot on the podium with Tait well clear in first place.
It was going to take a great run from Stayner to move up and that is just what the redshirt-junior from Missoula delivered. Stayner jumped out to the lead right away and set the pace for the rest of the field, flying past everyone to win by a full second in the 800m with a new personal best time of 2:20.18.
Stayner scored 821 points in the final event to bring her pentathlon total to 3,677 and earn a place on the podium in 3rd place. She receives All-Conference honors for the first time in her career after finishing 8th as a freshman and 6th as a sophomore.
Brooke Stayner wins the women's 800m to cap off the pentathlon in a new PR time of 2:20.18!#GrizTF | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/H0svT7TiKE
— Montana Griz TF & XC (@MontanaGrizTFXC) February 26, 2026
She was agonizingly close to moving even higher in the final standings. She trailed Merle Weber by 124 points entering the 800m but beat her by nearly nine full seconds. Weber did just enough to hold on to second by just seven points over Stayner.
Gault, a sophomore, ran a time of 2:25.01 to move up into 4th place in the final table. She finished 5th last season in Flagstaff and improved upon that Thursday afternoon in Pocatello.
Tait finished in first with a score of 4,088 and Sacramento State's Weber was second with 3,684.
The duo of Stayner and Gault earned Montana 11 points on the first day of competition. The Grizzlies are in the lead after one event in Pocatello, a place that is familiar to a program with a rich history in the multis.
"That's one of the reasons that we emphasize the multis at Montana is because it is a great way to get conference championships started," Fraley said. "When you put points on the board early, the rest of the team feeds off that and it starts the process of our team getting locked in at the conference championship every year."
Oliver Simianer started off the men's competition for the Grizzlies with the first four events of the heptathlon. The sophomore from Missoula sits in 12th place entering the final three events on Friday morning.
Simianer's best event of the day was the high jump, where he cleared 5-9.75 to finish in a tie for 7th place. He was 8th in the long jump with a mark of 21-1.5. Simianer also had a PR in the 60m with a time of 7.38 seconds.
The full meet opens Friday morning at 10:00 with the men's weight throw. Track events begin at 3:00 p.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdle prelims.
WOMEN'S RESULTS
Pentathlon- Brooke Stayner (3,677, 3rd), Kensey Gault (3,606, 4th)
60mH- Stayner (8.74*, 2nd), Gault (9.07, 7th)
High Jump- Stayner (5-6, 1st), Gault (5-1.25, 6th)
Shot Put- Gault (35-5.25, 4th), Stayner (31-8.5, 10th)
Long Jump- Gault (17-10.25, 7th), Stayner (16-4.25, 12th)
800m- Stayner (2:20.18*, 1st), Gault (2:25.01, 6th)
MEN'S RESULTS
Heptathlon (thru 4 events)- Oliver Simianer (2,446, 12th)
60m- Simianer (7.38*, 12th)
Long Jump- Simianer (21-1.5, 8th)
Shot Put- Simianer (28-7, 13th)
High Jump- Simianer (5-9.75, 7th)
WOMEN'S POINT SCORERS
Brooke Stayner, 6 (pentathlon)
Kensey Gault, 5 (pentathlon)
Players Mentioned
Hurdles
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Multi-events
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