Bozeman, MT — Idaho State Track and Field continued their indoor campaign with a trip up north to Bozeman for the 2026 Bobcat Challenge, hosted at the Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center. Lining up against rival Big Sky teams in Montana and Montana State proved valuable, as seven all-time marks were recorded over the weekend, including two school records.
Women's Highlights
The women's throws took the spotlight on day one of the meet, as Megan Moore led the Bengals in the shot put. Megan recorded a career-best performance in the indoor shot put with a mark of 14.68m (48' 2") which broke the 25-year old record held by Coach Hillary Merkley. Senior Laura Young also recorded a career-best in the event, moving herself from 10th to 5th all-time in the shot put.
On the track, Kamber Scott recorded another top mark in ISU history as she dipped under the 5-minute barrier for the first time, running 4:58.99 over the distance, tying her for 9th all-time. Ashley Reeck followed close behind, running a PB of 5:03.84 to finish 5th at the meet. In the hurdles, Kaylin Caruso and Chelsea Uba led the team over the 60m distance, with times of 8.99 and 9.01 respectively. Finishing off the meet, the Bengals ran three different 4x400m teams to have an idea of where the athletes are in the season, with the team consisting of Ysanne Peart, Oaklie Hebdon, Natalya Babcock, and Josie Settle.
In the field, Mya Hutchings recorded a PB of 1.70m (5' 7") in the high jump, which led the Bengals in the event. Brielle Ricks placed second at the meet in the Pole Vault, with a jump of 3.95m (12' 11.5"). Maddie Romberg closed out the field events with a team-leading throw of 16.53m (54' 2.75") in the weight throw.
Men's Highlights
The highlight of the meet for the men's team was undoubtably Sunny Gunn in the mile, as he ran a massive PB and cemented himself in ISU history with the fastest time at the distance in 41 years. He ran 4:05.06 at 4,700 feet of elevation to secure #2 in school history, and the altitude conversion for this time puts him under the 4-minute barrier.
Continuing on the track, Alex Connor had a breakout performance in both sprint events, as he recorded top 10 marks in the 60m and 200m. On the first day of the meet, Alex stormed to a 21.46 second time in the 200m, which was the second fastest at the meet and puts him #7 in school history. He then doubled back on Saturday to run 6.79 seconds in the 60m final, just getting beat at the line for the win but putting himself tied for third with his brother in ISU history. Wrapping up the meet, Tegon Lords won the 60mH for ISU with a time of 8.37.
On the men's side of the field events, Axel Tirado-Sanchez recorded yet another massive PB in the weight throw, as for the third consecutive time he resets his own school record with a throw of 20.44m (67' 0.75") and moves himself to #44 in the NCAA in the event. Kaiden Lee also led the Bengals in the triple jump, recording a mark of 14.19m (46' 6.75")
The Bobcat Challenge showed that the Bengals can stack up well against other Big Sky competitors and push the record books to new heights. Idaho State will return home to compete in the Stacy Dragila Open next week at the ICCU Dome. (Jan 30-31)
