Grizzlies rewrite record book again in Pocatello

Friday, May 1

Pocatello, Idaho

Montana

Bengal Invitational

The University of Montana hosts the Al Manuel Invitational track and field meet on March 27, 2026 at Dornblaser Field in Missoula, MT.

Photo by: Coral Scoles-Coburn/University of Montana

5/2/2026 4:02:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Head coach Doug Fraley knew that this weekend could be a big one for his team. The Bengal Invitational promised good weather, good competition, and a good facility for a meet with just two weeks to go until the Big Sky Championship.

The ingredients were all there for a potential big weekend for a team that he hoped would be peaking as they prepared for the postseason. His Grizzlies didn't let him down. Montana broke four school records on Saturday to bring the total up to six for the weekend in a dominant performance in Pocatello.

"I'm super proud of the squad in every single area," Fraley said. "We made progress and created momentum and we're two weeks out from the big show which is exactly when you want to hit stride. I felt like we did that team-wide in so many areas this weekend."

The record breaking started early and went all day for the Grizzlies. Alex Shields broke his own men's shot put record in the first event of the day and the women's 4x100-meter relay team started the racing off with a record.

Lily Meskers went sub-53 in the 400m to break a 14-year old record and then ran the closing leg on the women's 4x400-meter relay as they also made history for the Griz.

They weren't the only Grizzlies that had great days as four more athletes entered the top 10 in respective events and plenty more made moves in the league and regional standings with great times and marks.

"It felt like we created momentum early in the meet with the shot put and women's 4x100 records and it just kind of snowballed from there," Fraley said. "That's the thing with young athletes, they see their teammates doing well and they start to get a greater purpose and more energy. Sports are momentum-driven and track and field is no different than any other sport in that regard."

Shields entered the week in the top 30 in the West and the leader in the Big Sky in the men's shot put. He reached the finals, but did so in 7^th place. The Missoula native waited until his final throw of the day to leave his mark.

He was in 6^th place entering his final throw, but unloaded a bomb that carried over 60 feet to win the event and break his own record. Shields extends his league lead in the event and moves into 16^th in the West, nearly guaranteeing himself a spot at the NCAA First Round meet.

"We're talking about a guy that three years ago threw 54 feet with a 12-pound high school shot. Now he's throwing 60-feet with a college 16-pound shot. That is tremendous progress," Fraley said. "He's the captain of the throws squad and it means so much to our program to have him doing as well as he's doing. That was a massive record today."

The women's team has the four fastest runners in program history all on the same team and already set the program record earlier this season. Fraley tweaked his lineup a bit on Saturday and it paid off with another remarkable time.

The team of Brooke Zetooney, Rileigh McGree, Lily Meskers, and Callie Wilson ran a time of 44.66 with Wilson burning down the final straightaway. The time is inside the top 40 in the region overall and close to the top 20 if you remove duplicate times from the same school.

They weren't the only relay team to set a record, and a couple of the same women made history at the end of the meet with the 4x400-meter relay. The Grizzlies were running virtually unopposed after Montana State sat out their top team.

It didn't matter for Montana. The Grizzlies finished 17 seconds ahead of Idaho State and broke a program record from last season with a time of 3:36.25. Zetooney and Meskers returned from the short relay team with the addition of Sophia Clark and Mikenna Ells this time around.

The time is also a top 40 regional mark entering the week.

"I was so proud of the women's 4x400 because they had to run it solo because some teams scratched late in the meet," Fraley said. "Our goal has been to run around 3:36 to move up in the regional rankings and we did that basically in a time trial today. It just tells you how much heart and fight that those ladies have because there is nothing harder at the end of a two-day meet than running a 4x400 by yourself. They went out, laid it on the line, and got it done."

Meskers made it a triple school record day in the women's 400m. She went sub-54 earlier this season in California and was primed for another breakthrough. On Saturday, Meskers ran a 52.80 time to break Kourtney Danreuther's 2012 program record.

The time is tied for the 31^st fastest in the West entering the weekend and will put Meskers in contention for an NCAA First Round bid.

"Lily is an unbelievable student-athlete at the University of Montana. She means so much to our program and has just gotten better by the year," Fraley said. "We knew after the California trip that she was ready to pop one and we knew that she would need about 53-low to get to regionals. She knew exactly what she had to do and her and the rest of the women's 400-crew just went out and had a tremendous day."

Danreuther's time was beaten twice on Saturday as Mikenna Ells nearly broke the 53-second mark as well. Ells and Meskers pushed each other down the final stretch as Ells ran the second-best time in program history at 53.08 seconds.

The men's middle-distance group had a great day behind the duo of Truman Thompson and Henry Ballinger, who finished 1-2 in the men's 800m. Thompson ran a 1:49.87, the third fastest time in program history, to win the Bengal Invitational.

Ballinger finished right behind at 1:50.22, the fourth fastest time for a Grizzly, as they both moved into the top eight in the Big Sky Conference.

"It was awesome to see a sub-1:50 800 and basically a 1:50 flat from Truman and Henry," Fraley said. "That moves them way up the conference list and was just a great run from those guys. They have been preparing for that and it was great to see it happen two weeks before the conference meet."

Shealyne McGee picked up a big outdoor PR in the women's pole vault, clearing 13-4.25 to finish second on Saturday. The jump moves her into the top 40 in the West Region and into the thick of things in a talented group in the Big Sky Conference.

"She has been consistent but hadn't really hit a big jump yet this season," Fraley said. "Today she really put it together. It's the second-best jump of her career and moves her into the regional list. Fantastic job for Shealyne at the right time of the year."

The wind once again interfered with a record-breaking run from Callie Wilson. The freshman sensation won the women's 100m with a time of 11.34, the fastest of her young career.

Wilson's time would have been a school record but came with a wind of 2.2 m/s. In order to qualify for a school record, the wind needs to be below 2.0. It does qualify for the regional performance list, where it would sit at 30^th entering the weekend.

"Callie ran another PR in the 100 and anchored our record relay team," Fraley said. "Unfortunately, just barely missed the school record with the wind, but more progress from her and a big-time performance this weekend."

Wilson wasn't the only sprinter to win on Saturday. Karsen Beitz claimed the top spot in the men's 100m with a time of 10.33 in a race where he slowed up before the finish. The Missoula product will head to Portland as one of the favorites in the men's sprint group.

Montana had additional wins in the field events on the men's side in the high jump and triple jump. Patrick Kremer capped off a well-rounded weekend with a season-best jump of 6-8.25 to win the men's high jump. He also won the long jump on Friday.

Sam Henderson matched his height at 6-8.25 but on more misses to finish in 3^rd place. Henderson was able to get a win in the triple jump where he went 47-3 for first.

Erin Wilde was steady as ever in the women's high jump, winning the event on her opening mark and clearing a couple bars up to 5-9.25. In her 50^th career overall meet at Montana, Wilde won for the 28^th time.

Montana now enters the final week of the regular season with the Tom Gage Classic in Bozeman next Friday wrapping things up. They have put themselves in great position to head to Portland the following week for the Big Sky Championships with plenty of momentum.

"Overall, I feel like we started to fire more on all cylinders today," Fraley said. "Now we're into the final prep to go to Portland in two weeks and throw our hat in the ring at the Big Sky Championships."

MONTANA SCHOOL RECORDS IN POCATELLO
Saturday's school records.

Brooke Zetooney, Rileigh McGree, Lily Meskers, Callie Wilson, 4x100m (44.66)
Alex Shields, shot put (60-8)
Lily Meskers, 400m (52.80)
Sophia Clark, Mikenna Ells, Brooke Zetooney, Lily Meskers, 4x400m (3:36.25)

Friday's school records.

Kevin Swindler, pole vault (17-7.25)
Karsen Beitz, 100m (10.25)

TOP 10 WATCH
The following athletes entered or moved up in the Montana all-time top 10 lists on Saturday.

Shealyne McGee, pole vault (13-4.25, 2^nd)
Mikenna Ells, 400m (53.08, 2^nd)
Truman Thompson, 800m (1:49.37 adj., 3^rd)
Henry Ballinger, 800m (1:49.72 adj., 4^th)

And Friday's top 10 movement.

Kyle Iorg, javelin (240-0, 2^nd)
Hunter Loesch, javelin (233-10, 3^rd)
Patrick Kremer, long jump (24-5, 4^th)
Ben Bliven, 100m (10.48, 5^th)
Ainsley Shipman, 100mH (13.83, 6^th)
Brooke Zetooney, 200m (23.87, 6^th)
Romin Saleki, 100m (10.61, 9^th)
Brody Thornsberry, 100m (10.61, 9^th)

MEN'S RESULTS
100m- Karsen Beitz (10.33, 1^st), Ben Bliven (10.52, 5^th)
400m- Cadence Waller (47.21, 2^nd), Taylor Johnson (47.52, 3^rd), Braden Ankeny (48.52, 6^th)
800m- Truman Thompson (1:49.87*, 1^st), Henry Ballinger (1:50.22*, 2^nd), Henry Sund (1:55.47*, 6^th), Morgan Amano (1:56.58, 7^th)
5,000m- Albert Turner (15:36.87, 4^th)
4x100m- Saleki, Thornberry, Bliven, Beitz (DQ)
High Jump- Patrick Kremer (6-8.25, 1^st), Sam Henderson (6-8.25*, 3^rd), Zachary Travis (6-6.25, 5^th)
Triple Jump- Sam Henderson (47-3, 1^st), Joseph Kitonsa (46-0.5, 3^rd)
Shot Put- Alex Shields (60-8^, 1^st), Astin Brown (56-7.25, 6^th), Titus Jeffrey (52-4.75, 8^th)
Discus- Titus Jeffrey (180-5, 2^nd), Cooper Henkle (170-3, 4^th), Astin Brown (143-10, 11^th)

WOMEN'S RESULTS
100m- Callie Wilson (11.34*, 1^st), Tara Ohlwiler (11.54, 2^nd), Brooke Zetooney (11.58, 3^rd), Rileigh McGree (11.72, 6^th)
400m- Lily Meskers (52.80^, 1^st), Mikenna Ells (53.08*, 2^nd), Sophia Clark (54.52, 4^th), Claire Hutchison (54.70*, 5^th), Cosley Bruno (55.19*, 7^th), Ally Sempf (55.90*, 8^th)
5,000m- Iris McKean (18:37.24, 3^rd), Olivia Coll (19:03.73, 5^th)
4x100m- Zetooney, McGree, Meskers, Wilson (44.66^, 1^st), Ohlwiler, Clark, Hutchison, Bruno (45.96, 2^nd)
4x400m- Clark, Ells, Zetooney, Meskers (3:36.25^, 1^st), Bruno, Sempf, Gault, Hutchison (3:46.20, 2^nd)
High Jump- Erin Wilde (5-9.25, 1^st), Jaidyn Pevey (5-3.25, 5^th), Brooke Stayner (4-11.5, 9^th)
Pole Vault- Shealyne McGee (13-4.25*, 2^nd), Hannah Moses (12-4.5*, 5^th), Reghan Skogen (11-10.5, 6^th), Mae Roth (10-10.75, 8^th), Grace MacHarg (NH)
Shot Put- Scout Nadeau (46-3.25, 4^th), Avery DeVincenzi (43-1, 7^th), Kensey Gault (35-6.75, 10^th), Brooke Stayner (32-4.75, 11^th)
Discus- Morgan Thomas (142-1, 5^th), Lillian White (139-1, 7^th)

^Montana School Record
*Personal Record