GRESHAM, Ore. — Montana State seniors Rob McManus and Jenavieve Lynch stood on the top step in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and hammer throw, respectively, in a strong Friday for the Bobcats at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships.
The Bobcat men tallied 44 points on Friday to increase their total to 49 through seven events, and the women collected 36 points after seven events. The men sit in second place after three days of competition, while the women are in fifth. In total, Montana State collected two individual titles, five All-Big Sky honors, 15 scoring performances and five program top-10 marks on Friday. Additionally, the Bobcat women collected 16 advancing times on the track, while the men added three.
The Bobcats tallied three scoring performances in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, led by McManus’ third straight Big Sky title with a time of 8:34.32. He earned the victory by 3.52 seconds to earn his fourth consecutive medal in the event, including a silver in 2023 and gold in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Ben Saelens earned a seventh-place result with a time of 8:59.29, finishing just three hundredths of a second shy of his own personal best. Eli Boppart claimed the eighth and final scoring position with a time of 9:07.42 as all three Bobcats entered in the event secured points for Montana State, which earned 13 points thanks to their efforts.
The women’s hammer throw trio of Lynch, Sydney Brewster and Sydney Mattfeldt all scored on Friday behind Lynch’s Big Sky title in the final field event of the day. Lynch recorded a mark of 55.67 meters/182 feet, 7 inches on her third attempt to sweep the 2026 Big Sky indoor and outdoor titles in the weight throw and hammer throw, respectively. She has earned All-Big Sky honors in those two events during each of the last two seasons.
Brewster placed fifth in the hammer on Friday with a mark of 53.31m/174-11, and Mattfeldt took eighth with a mark of 51.10m/167-8. Friday marked Mattfeldt’s second scoring performance in the hammer and Brewster’s first.
Tilde Bjerager earned Montana State’s first scoring performance of the weekend on the women’s side with a runner-up finish in the high jump to earn All-Big Sky honors. She cleared 1.74m/5-8.50 in her collegiate debut in the event to collect eight points for the Bobcats. The mark places her fifth in Montana State history in the outdoor high jump.
Bob Hartley and Jordan Lasher finished third and fourth, respectively in the pole vault to claim 11 points for the Bobcat men. Hartley vaulted to fifth in Montana State history with his personal-best mark of 5.24m/17-2.25 to take home bronze for the first time outdoors and the second time in his career following his third-place finish at the 2025 Big Sky Indoor Championships. Lasher posted a mark of 5.14m/16-10.25 to follow up his third-place finish indoors earlier this season with a fourth-place result in Gresham.
Matt Furdyk and Easton Hatleberg combined for 10 points in the hammer throw as Furdyk placed third for all-conference honors and Hatleberg took fifth place. Furdyk recorded a mark of 62.30m/204-4 on his final attempt for his second career All-Big Sky honor in the hammer throw. Hatleberg posted a mark of 59.92m/196-7 on his sixth and final attempt to earn four points for the Cats.
Claire Rutherford and Madi Siana clocked respective times of 34:25.66 and 34:38.35 in the women’s 10,000m to finish fourth and fifth. The duo combined for nine points for the Bobcat women, with Rutherford collecting her five points in her collegiate 10,000m debut.
Niamh Motley earned a fifth-place finish in the 3,000m steeplechase thanks to a pass on Northern Arizona’s Tess Hannigan in the final 100 meters of the race. She clocked a time of 10:15.52 to claim the No. 3 spot on Montana State’s all-time top-10 list, obliterating her own personal-best time by 26 seconds.
Trystin Chapel placed eighth in the long jump to claim one point for Montana State. He posted a mark of 6.87m/22-6.50 on his second attempt to score for the Bobcats.
Montana State advanced four runners to Saturday’s final in the women’s 200m. Caroline Hawkes clocked a 23.77 to post the fastest time in the prelims, Jaeden Wolff finished third with a 24.27, Brooke Reuter posted a 24.37 for sixth place and Peyton Garrison secured the eighth and final spot with a time of 24.57.
Three Bobcats will run in Saturday’s 400m hurdles final after clocking three of the five fastest times in the prelims on Friday. Bjerager led the pack with a time of 59.41, Olivia Lewis posted a 1:00.32 for the third-fastest time in the field and Giulia Gandolfi won her heat with a time of 1:00.74 to place fifth overall.
Bjerager and Millie Hubbell both earned qualifying times for Saturday’s 100m hurdles final, with Bjerager posting the fastest time in the prelims with a 13.59 and Hubbell clocking a 13.89 to finish second in her heat and sixth overall. Bjerager improved her own No. 3 time in program history by one hundredth of a second with her performance.
Hawkes clocked the fastest time in the 400m prelims to advance to Saturday’s final. She posted a time of 54.12 on Friday and will look to sweep the Big Sky indoor and outdoor 400m titles with a win on Saturday.
Harvey Cramb crossed the finish line first in the 800m prelims on Friday to punch his ticket to Saturday’s final. Cramb clocked a time of 1:48.84 to advance and provide a strong scoring opportunity for the Bobcats.
Jett Grundy advanced to the final in the 400m on the men’s side, winning his heat with a time of 47.19 to place second overall in the prelims.
Nash Coley finished third overall and first in his heat the 400m hurdles prelims with a time of 52.28 and will run in Saturday’s final.
Two Bobcats advanced to the final in the women’s 1,500m as Kalei Moravitz placed fifth and Annie Kaul took eighth in the prelims. Moravitz clocked a time of 4:34.00 to finish fifth in her heat and qualify based on time, and Kaul crossed the finish line in 4:40.28 to win her heat and earn an automatic qualification to Saturday’s final.
Later in the day, Kaul and Moravitz also clocked top-eight times in the 800m to advance to Saturday’s final. Kaul was the second overall finisher in the prelims with a time of 2:07.53, while Moravitz finished second in her heat and eighth overall with a 2:11.68.
Wolff and Reuter claimed the final two spots in the 100m final with their performances in the prelims on Friday. Both runners crossed the finish line in 11.88, with Wolff finishing seventh and Reuter taking eighth thanks to a tiebreaker that found them just one thousandth of a second apart. Reuter improved her No. 8 time in Montana State history with the result.
Full results from the Big Sky Outdoor Championships are available here.
Montana State will open its fourth and final day of competition in Oregon on Saturday at 11 a.m. MT. The men’s discus featuring Matt Furdyk and Talon Holmquist will kick off the field events, while running events will get underway at 12:30 p.m. with the women’s 4x100m relay, in which Garrison, Hawkes, Reuter and Wolff are expected to compete.
