Five more records fall for Griz Track & Field

Friday, February 6

Bozeman, Mont.

Montana

MSU Carignan Classic

Scenes from the Spokane Indoor Challenge on January 17, 2026 at The Podium.

Photo by: Torrey Vail

2/6/2026 10:34:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The record-breaking season showed no signs of slowing down for Montana track and field on Friday night. The Grizzlies set five new program marks, had 15 athletes break into or move up in the program's all-time top 10 list, and totaled 11 event wins at the Carignan Classic in Bozeman.

"I'm really happy with the way we traveled up this morning and get off the bus ready to go," head coach Doug Fraley said. "Our theme was to get February off to a good start after a good January, and I'm just really pleased with how the kids in all event areas delivered on that today."

Several records had already gone down this season, and several athletes either bettered their own marks or broke records in new events on Friday night. There were also two new record breakers in Bozeman.

One of the bigger stories of the night was the performance of senior pole vaulter Carson Hegele. The All-Conference athlete outdoors had never jumped higher than 16-feet indoors.

Hegele matched his PR on his 4^th jump of the day. He broke it two jumps later. He set a double PR on his very next attempt. Finally, on his third attempt at a 5.25m bar, Hegele went up and over to break Keith Webber's 12-year old program record.

"What an awesome performance by Carson with a giant PR to break the school record," Fraley said. "What a great story he is being a walk-on kid who was one of the first to come in my office when I got hired to ask if he could walk on."

Hegele may not have had a spot on the team back in 2022 if not for one important detail that he proved to Fraley.

"I initially told him what he jumped in high school wasn't enough to walk on, but he told me that he didn't start pole vaulting until after football his senior year in high school," Fraley said. "We let him on the team to see what he could do and now he's the school record holder. It's a tremendous story."

Hegele didn't have the only tremendous story on Friday night. Jayel Dovichak also etched her name into the Montana record book in the women's 60-meter hurdles. All it took was one-upping her own coach, Lindsey Hall.

Hall's record of 8.48 seconds had stood since 2012. Dovichak had come close in the past, nearly broke it in the prelims, and then finally eclipsed her own coach by winning the event with a time of 8.39 seconds.

"It's so special any time a coach tutors and coaches and mentors an athlete to the level where they can break their own school record," Fraley said. "It is so special for Jayel, so special for Lindsey, and just a hell of a performance for our program."

The oldest record to fall came on the track in the men's 4x400-meter relay to end the night. Montana competed against a slim field as Montana State and Utah State, the other D-I programs in Bozeman, didn't field an A team at the event.

It didn't stop the Grizzlies from history. The team of Ben Antley, Taylor Johnson, Cadence Waller, and Braden Ankeny ran a time of 3:12.18 to break a record that had stood since 1984.

Johnson has been part of many great relay teams in recent history and Ankeny was last year's outdoor Freshman of the Year in the Big Sky. The two paired with newcomers Antley and Waller for a tremendous run.

"We came into this meet knowing that no other schools were going to enter their really good relays this week. We talked midweek about whether we wanted to give it a shot basically as a time trial," Fraley said. "The guys got really excited about the task. It's so difficult to run without good competition, and that just makes it all the sweeter to do it basically on your own in a time trial. Tremendous effort by those four guys."

Montana had a couple of athletes add on to already impressive resumes in Bozeman. Callie Wilson has had about as good of a start to a collegiate career as you could dream up, breaking program marks in the 60m and 200m in her first meets.

The freshman backed it up again on Friday night, running a time of 7.35 in both the prelim and final of the women's 60m to break her own school record and win the event.

"It is a very difficult thing to have your breakout meet and then come back two weeks later with so much expectation, not only that you've put on yourself as an athlete but also that everyone has of you after a performance like she had," Fraley said. "To come and run 7.35 twice and better her school record and also run a really fast 200 at the end of the meet is something that we are very proud of."

Karsen Beitz has already improved on his own 200m school record this season, but he joined Wilson as a double record holder in Bozeman. Beitz ran a time of 6.72 in the men's 60m final to tie former teammate Cooper Hewett in the Grizzly record book.

"Karsen had two really good runs and came by in the final and set a new PR and tied one of his best buddies in the world in Cooper Hewett," Fraley said. "It's great for those guys to be co-record holders and was a great accomplishment for Karsen."

There were plenty of other standout performances for Montana on a night that saw them gain ground in the Big Sky Conference. Lily Meskers ran the 2^nd fastest 200m time in program history, trailing only Wilson, at 24.28.

It was just the start of the historical performances inside the Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center. Truman Thompson won the men's 800m and narrowly defeated teammate Morgan Amano, who ran the 3^rd fastest indoor 800 in program history.

The men had several other impressive performances on the track. Waller was part of the record setting relay team and also ran a 47.90 in the 400 to move into 6^th on Montana's top 10 list.

Evan Barnes won the men's 60-meter hurdles with the 7^th fastest time in program history at 8.21. Brody Thornsberry reached the 60m final alongside Beitz with a top 10 time of 6.89. Bennett Bliven had the 10^th fastest 200m in program history at 21.77.

The women had a great day on the track as well with a notable performance from Brooke Zetooney. The sophomore cracked the top 10 in Griz history in both the 60m and 200m with times of 7.56 and 24.57. The women's sprint groups continues to impress as five of the 10 fastest 200m runners in UM history are currently on the roster.

Cosley Bruno also had a top 10 performance by running a time of 56.56 in the women's 400m to finish 4^th.

The throws group had a great day as well with several huge improvements. Scout Nadeau moved into 4^th in program history in the women's weight throw with a mark of 57-0.75. Teammate Lillian White entered the top 10 in the shot put at 44-8.25. Both athletes finished 3^rd in Bozeman.

Cooper Henkle had the 4^th best throw of all time in the men's weight throw at 60-6.5 and his teammate Tyler Bates had a throw of 57-5.75 to finish 6^th.

Montana's men also picked up an event win from Patrick Kremer in the men's high jump with a mark of 6-6.75. The women had a win from Sophia Clark, who is already inside the top 10 in the women's 400m, as she ran a time of 55.78

It's a tremendous continuation of what has already been an impressive start to the season for Fraley and hist team. They will look to keep marching forward when they head to Pocatello, Idaho next week.

The Bengals will also be hosting the Big Sky Conference Championships this season, giving the Grizzlies a great opportunity to get a first look at the venue they will see again at the end of February.

"Our goal is to progress through the regular season and we've done that in all three meets since we've started in mid-January," Fraley said. "It's the next step towards the championship and as we always talk about, you better be getting better in February. Our team took that seriously today and had some great performances. It sets us up for the next regular season challenge which is next week in Pocatello."

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
60m Prelim- Karsen Beitz (6.75, 1Q), Brody Thornsberry (6.89, 6Q), Malaki Simpson (6.93, 8^th), Bennett Bliven (6.97, 9^th), Romin Saleki (6.98, 10^th), Evan Barnes (7.03*, 14^th)
60m Final- Karsen Beitz (6.72^, 2^nd), Brody Thornsberry (6.93, 6^th)
200m- Bennett Bliven (21.77*, 3^rd), Malaki Simpson (21.86, 5^th), Romin Saleki (22.41*, 7^th), Adam Maxwell (23.30, 16^th)
400m- Cadence Waller (47.90*, 1^st), Taylor Johnson (48.22, 2^nd), Ben Antley (48.38*, 3^rd), Garrett Dahlke (48.48*, 4^th), Braden Ankeny (48.89, 5^th), Landon Shilhanek (49.09*, 6^th)
800m- Truman Thompson (1:51.98, 1^st), Morgan Amano (1:52.00*, 2^nd), Henry Ballinger (1:52.58*, 3^rd), Will Sandnes (1:54.84, 7^th), Samuel Jagodzinski (1:57.63, 10^th)
Mile- Colin Shaules (4:34.27, 14^th)
3,000m- Luke Mest (8:42.99, 2^nd), Carson Steckelberg (9:01.26, 6^th), Lane Krautschun (9:06.77, 10^th)
60mH Prelim- Evan Barnes (8.40, 1q), Easton Brotherson (8.47, 2q)
60mH Final- Evan Barnes (8.21*, 1^st), Easton Brotherson (8.40, 2^nd)
4x400m- Antley, Johnson, Waller, Ankeny (3:12.18^, 1^st), Shilhanek, Amano, Bliven, Dahlke (3:19.90, 2^nd), Ballinger, Sandnes, Jagodzinski, Thompson (3:23.79, 3^rd)
High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-6.75, 1^st), Sam Henderson (6-6.75, 2^nd), Adam Maxwell (6-0.75, 4^th), Oliver Simianer (6-0.75*, 5^th)
Pole Vault- Carson Hegele (17-2.75^, 1^st), Kevin Swindler (16-6.75, 2^nd), Michael Cullen (16-0.75*, 3^rd), Carter Petersen (14-7.25, 10^th)
Triple Jump- Sam Henderson (48-0, 2^nd), Joseph Kitonsa (45-7*, 3^rd)
Shot Put- Titus Jeffrey (55-0.75*, 2^nd), Astin Brown (52-2.75, 6^th), Oliver Simianer (30-4.25, 26^th)
Weight Throw- Cooper Henkle (60-6.5*, 3^rd), Tyler Bates (57-5.75*, 6^th), Titus Jeffrey (48-8.25*, 15^th), Astin Brown (44-7.5, 20^th)

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
60m Prelim- Callie Wilson (7.35, 1q), Brooke Zetooney (7.56*, 3q), Tara Ohlwiler (7.59, 5q), Rileigh McGree (7.63, 7^th), Mikenna Ells (7.64, 8^th), Lily Meskers (7.67*, 9^th), Kaydance Reiter (7.95, 19^th), Kaitlyn Dantic (8.02, 20^th)
60m Final- Callie Wilson (7.35^, 1^st), Brooke Zetooney (7.59, 5^th), Tara Ohlwiler (7.60, 6^th)
200m- Callie Wilson (23.66, 1^st), Lily Meskers (24.28*, 2^nd), Tara Ohlwiler (24.50, 3^rd), Mikenna Ells (24.52, 4^th), Brooke Zetooney (24.57*, 5^th), Rileigh McGree (24.99, 8^th), Alivia Rinehart (25.00, 9^th), Kaydance Reiter (25.56, 11^th), Kaitlyn Dantic (26.40, 14^th)
400m- Sophia Clark (55.78, 1^st), Cosley Bruno (56.56*, 4^th), Claire Hutchison (56.74*, 5^th), Ally Sempf (57.16, 6^th)
800m- Libby Hartz (2:19.96, 9^th),
Mile- Iris McKean (5:09.62*, 6^th), Olivia Coll (5:19.83*, 9^th), Heidi Olson (5:21.51*, 11^th), Lucy Thompson (5:40.61, 18^th)
3,000m- Abigail Case (11:24.76, 9^th),
60mH Prelim- Jayel Dovichak (8.51, 1q), Ainsley Shipman (8.76*, 4q), Isabelle Berry (8.79*, 5q), Brooke Stayner (8.86, 7^th), Alivia Rinehart (8.91, 8^th), Kensey Gault (9.08, 9^th)
60mH Final- Jayel Dovichak (8.39^, 1^st), Isabelle Berry (8.86, 5^th), Ainsley Shipman (8.89, 6^th)
4x400m- Clark, Ells, Bruno, Meskers (3:40.86, 1^st), Hutchison, Sempf, Gault, Stayner (3:49.20, 3^rd)
High Jump- Brooke Stayner (5-3, 3^rd), Jaidyn Pevey (5-1, 4^th)
Pole Vault- Hannah Moses (12-0.75*, 7^th), Reghan Skogen (12-0.75, 8^th), Kate Suemnick (11-7, 9^th), Grace MacHarg (11-1*, 10^th)
Long Jump- Kensey Gault (17-3.5, 6^th), Emily Maughan (16-10.5, 9^th)
Shot Put- Lillian White (44-8.25, 3^rd), Scout Nadeau (44-4, 5^th), Cathlene Van Zyl (42-10.25, 8^th), Avery DeVincenzi (42-10.25, 9^th), Calista Ousley (38-9.5, 12^th)
Weight Throw- Scout Nadeau (57-0.75*, 3^rd), Morgan Thomas (56-2.6, 4^th), Calista Ousley (52-4, 9^th), Avery DeVincenzi (51-2.25*, 11^th), Lillian White (50-5.25, 12^th), Mary Mickelson (47-7.75, 15^th)

^Montana School Record
*Personal Record