Grizzlies off to Portland for Big Sky Championship

Wednesday, May 13

Portland, Ore.

Montana

Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships

Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of Montana

5/12/2026 11:11:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Performance List Watch Live Results

By: Montana Sports Information

2026 BIG SKY OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Portland, Ore. / May 13-16 / Watch / Live Results / Meet Schedule

PREVIEW
The Montana track and field program has had a banner year in 2026 and take the momentum they've built up over the last few months to Portland this week for the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championship.

The action begins with the women's heptathlon on Wednesday and Thursday with the full meet opening Friday morning. Field events begin at 11:00 a.m. (MT) both days with the first running event at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

All four days will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Akamian and Chris Clayton calling the action.

"We're excited and glad that this week is finally here," head coach Doug Fraley said. "It seems like it's a long way away and then all of a sudden it's the week of. We're excited about that, we feel like we've created a lot of momentum through the regular season, but as I always say, that's just a dress rehearsal. Now it's time for the show."

The Grizzlies have broken 14 school records this outdoor season with tremendous performances in all event areas for both the men and the women. They have progressed well throughout the season, culminating with a strong outing at the Bengal Invitational two weeks ago.

Montana was picked to finish 3^rd in the league's Coaches' Poll following up 3^rd place finishes last year outdoors and this winter indoors.

There is added attention when it comes to the Big Sky Championship meet, but Fraley's team is prepared to go to Portland and compete with the same intensity and focus that has led them to this point in the season.

"It's all business as usual. Our goal is to do what we've been doing through the regular season," Fraley said. "You don't want to have a different mindset going into championships, you just want to do what has gotten us to the point that we're at in the regular season. You want to do the same thing and just let the championship environment bring more excitement to that."

The record-setting season has put Montana in good position going into the championships with several athletes entering with the top time/mark in the Big Sky this year. The Grizzlies have three individuals on the women's side and four events on the men's side with the top time entering.

While the performance list reflects the strong season Montana has been able to compile up to this point, the rankings mean nothing once the meet starts.

"It's great to have highly ranked athletes. It's a testament to the level of kids that we've brought into the program and a testament to their ability to improve over the course of their college careers," Fraley said. "At the end of the day, it means nothing because you have to go and execute on the day. If you're a favorite, that means there's a lot of people trying to beat you."

Several Grizzlies will be going to Portland with dreams of Big Sky titles, but for many the goal will be to score points for the team by finishing inside the top eight. There are 23 women and 23 men that are ranked inside the top eight on the championship performance list.

But just going to the meet ranked doesn't mean you are guaranteed points. The Grizzlies will need strong performances from those ranked to stay inside the top eight, but also have plenty of talented athletes sitting just outside scoring position that would love to jump up and make a final.

The amount of times Montana can outperform the rankings going in will be a big factor in determining where the team finishes when it's all said and done Saturday evening.

"We have a lot of people that are in the mid-scoring to just outside of scoring range in the rankings," Fraley said. "At a conference meet, those are the things that determine how well you do. If you're ranked inside the top eight, you have to hold ground and get through to finals and score points. Teams that do well tend to have people going in ranked outside the top eight that find a way into the finals and score when they're not supposed to."

Montana will hope to build plenty of momentum early in the meet. Brooke Stayner and Kensey Gault will be competing in the heptathlon after finishing 3^rd and 4^th, respectively, indoors in the multis.

The first two field events on Friday will also be strengths for Montana with the men's javelin and women's high jump kicking everything off. Montana has three men in the top five of the league rankings in the javelin and Erin Wilde will be looking for her 7^th title in the high jump.

The Grizzlies will hope to ride a good start the rest of the weekend as Friday will feature mostly prelims on the track with eight field event finals. On Saturday, there will be eight more field events and finals in every race on the track.

The Big Sky is a very competitive track and field conference with a Northern Arizona team that won both the men's and women's titles indoors as the heavy favorite to once again lift the trophy in Bozeman. Montana State and Montana have finished 2-3 in the previous two championships dating back to last year's outdoor meet.

The margins were thin indoors this year with 2-5 separated by 25 points on the men's side and the top four similarly tight on the women's side.

"I think the big thing is that we're going to have to go and compete well and have a good meet," Fraley said. "We have great competition ahead of us in NAU and Montana State as far as rankings are concerned, but we've also got really good teams in the 3-5 range so we're really going to have to compete well to hold serve."

MONTANA OUTDOOR SCHOOL RECORDS IN 2026
The following school records have been broken this outdoor season.