MISSOULA — The Montana track and field program advanced 14 athletes in 16 events to the First Round of the NCAA Track & Field Championships to be held next week in Fayetteville, Ark., at John McDonnell Field.
It’s the largest group of Grizzly athletes to qualify for a regional meet since the NCAA moved to the East-West format in 2009. The previous high was 11 athletes in 2013.
There is a wide representation across event areas for the Griz with men and women from both the track and the field competing. The Grizzlies will have two races on the track in both genders, seven total throwers, and four vertical jumpers.
“We’re really pleased to have 14 individuals qualify for the First Round of the NCAA Championships,” head coach Doug Fraley said. “It’s a big increase for our program and the most the Griz have ever had since the switch to two regionals, so we’re proud of that and proud of the groups we are taking to Fayetteville.”
Erin Wilde will be making her fourth appearance at the NCAA Regional meet fresh off her fourth straight outdoor Big Sky title in the women’s high jump. Wilde’s school record mark of 6-0 ranks 17th in the West this season.
Wilde is one of four Grizzlies making a return trip to regionals. Kyle Iorg (javelin), Ashley Carroll (javelin), and Shealyne McGee (pole vault) are all making their second trips to the meet.
Iorg is Montana’s highest ranked athlete going into the event. His throw of 240 feet at the Bengal Invitational on May 1 ranks 11th in the West. Freshman thrower Hunter Loesch, who earned All-Conference honors last week in Oregon, is ranked 13th in the event with a throw of 233-10.
Cooper Henkle joins the duo in the men’s javelin after his throw of 213 feet, 10 inches at the Pacific Coast Invitational on April 16. Henkle ranks 34th in the region.
Carroll made it in for the second straight year in the women’s javelin competition. She snuck into the field with a big throw of 156-5 that earned her a silver medal at the Big Sky Championship meet.
The Big Sky Champion in the event, Montana’s Brynn Fuller, will also be in Fayetteville. Fuller’s title-winning throw of 160-4 moved her up to fourth in Montana history and earned her a ticket to regionals as the 38th ranked women’s javelin thrower in the West Region.
Shealyne McGee is making her second career appearance at the regional meet having qualified for the 2023 First Round meet in Sacramento, Calif. McGee tied the Montana school record at the Tom Gage Classic on May 8 with her jump of 13-7¼ and is ranked 38th in the West.
The Grizzlies also have two men’s pole vaulters heading to Arkansas in Kevin Swindler and Carson Hegele. Swindler broke the program record this year with a jump of 17-7¼ at the Bengal Invitational on May 1 and ranks 22nd in the West.
Hegele had his best jump of the season at the Big Sky Championship meet, clearing 17-2¼ to earn All-Conference honors as the runner-up. His mark ranks 34th in the West.
Montana will have two more throwers competing on the men’s side in Alex Shields and Titus Jeffrey. Shields, Montana’s school record holder in the shot put with a throw of 60-8, is ranked 26th. He’s the Grizzly to qualify in the men’s shot put since Brent Yeakey in 2019.
Freshman Titus Jeffrey broke Montana’s discus record this year with his throw of 182-3 at the Whitworth Peace Meet on April 3. Jeffrey enters the regionals ranked 46th in the event.
The Grizzlies made some history on the track this season and are continuing that into the postseason. Karsen Beitz and Callie Wilson both will compete in the 100 meters. They become the first Grizzlies to compete in the event at the West Regional meet in program history.
Beitz will be competing in both the 100 and 200 in Arkansas. The junior from Missoula set the program record in both events, breaking a record from 1982 in the 100 and 1968 in the 200. He ranks 27th in the 100 and 35th in the 200 entering the regional.
Wilson broke the Montana school record and Dornblaser Field record this year in the 100 with her time of 11.49 in the season opener. Her season-best time of 11.37 (adj.) was run in Pocatello at the Bengal Invitational on May 1. The time was outside of the wind requirements for a school record, but it did book her ticket to Fayetteville.
The freshman will also run in the women’s 200, qualifying in the 47th spot with a time of 23.43 that also would have broken the school record if not for the wind reading.
Lily Meskers will represent Montana in the women’s 400 meters. The Montana record holder is the first female Grizzly to qualify in that event since Kourtney Danreuther did it in 2012. Meskers ran a time of 52.91 this season to qualify 43rd.
The meet begins on Wednesday, May 27 and will be streamed on ESPN+ with live results available.
Montana NCAA first-round qualifiers
Karsen Beitz (100m and 200m)
Ashley Carroll (Javelin)
Brynn Fuller (Javelin)
Carson Hegele (Pole Vault)
Cooper Henkle (Javelin)
Kyle Iorg (Javelin)
Titus Jeffrey (Discus)
Hunter Loesch (Javelin)
Shealyne McGee (Pole Vault)
Lily Meskers (400m)
Alex Shields (Shot Put)
Kevin Swindler (Pole Vault)
Callie Wilson (100m and 200m)
Erin Wilde (High Jump)
