The Montana State track and field team broke three school records at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, according to an April 19 announcement from the program. The team concluded a four-meet weekend with standout performances in the women’s 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles, and the women’s 4×400-meter relay.
These achievements highlight significant progress for Montana State’s athletes as they continue their outdoor season. The new records reflect both individual and team improvements across multiple events.
Caroline Hawkes set a new school record in the women’s 400 meters with a time of 52.64 seconds, surpassing Christine Otte’s previous mark that had stood since 1997 by nearly eight-tenths of a second. Hawkes also broke additional program records earlier in the week during competition at the Pacific Coast Invitational, adding her name to top marks in both the 200 meters and as part of the 4×100 meter relay before breaking further records at Mt. SAC.
Tilde Bjerager improved her own record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles by finishing sixth with a time of 57.12 seconds and moved up to twenty-first nationally this season in that event. Bjerager joined Peyton Garrison, Giulia Gandolfi, and Hawkes on Montana State’s women’s relay squad that set another school record—beating their previous best from two weeks prior—with a finish of 3:33.25 for fifth place.
On the men’s side, Noah Barbery, Jett Grundy, Peyton Nelson, and Nash Coley ran what is now Montana State’s third-fastest ever men’s relay time (3:09.63) for fifth place at Mt. SAC Relays.
Other notable performances included Tatum Richards improving her No.2 all-time pole vault mark for Montana State with a clearance of 4.22 meters at Beach Invitational; Libby Hansen also advanced her position among program leaders in pole vault; Sydney Brewster placed second in shot put with an opening throw of nearly seventeen meters; Kalei Moravitz became ninth-fastest all-time for MSU women’s runners over fifteen hundred meters; Rob McManus led Bobcat men over that distance as well.
The Bobcats will take next weekend off before competing again May first and second at Idaho State University’s Bengal Invitational.
