BILLINGS, Mont. -- Montana Tech's men's and women's track & field teams began the 2025 outdoor season in top form Thursday, winning a trio of events and knocking off four school records at MSU Billings' Yellowjacket Open at Lockwood High School. 

All three victories belonged to the Oredigger men. Sophomore Nicolo Lancini highlighted those wins with a 14.71-meter triple jump, setting a new program record in the event and leaping to No. 8 on the NAIA leaderboard on the young season. 

The men's 4x100-meter relay also bested a program mark on its way to victory. Jakob Webinger, Will Wagner, Matthew Moreni, and Drake Schlacter combined to complete a lap in 41.78 seconds to best the previous Tech record by more than half a second. Tech's second relay — Jacob Dolezal, Caden Caywood, Max Cianflone, and Dom Maricelli — came in just after in second at 41.90, tied for 18th in the nation.

Adam Schrader also notched a win. The senior covered the 110m hurdles in 15.28, the 15th-fastest time in the NAIA and the second-fastest in Montana Tech history. 

Wagner and Moreni also knocked off program records. Wagner won the 100m dash in 10.92 seconds to place fifth, while Moreni was fifth in the 200m at 21.24. 

Moreni's 200m led a list of great Oredigger performances in the event; Maricelli was 11th at 22.04, and Wagner took 14th at 22.34, putting the pair second and third on the Tech all-time leaderboard, respectively. Maricelli also moved up to second on the 100m leaderboard, coming in sixth in the event at 10.99. 

The Montana Tech women weren't short on their own terrific marks. Freshman Ayla Janzen led the way with a trio of top-three program performances. The Twin Bridges product was third in the triple jump (11.01m) and 100m hurdles (15.46) and sixth in the 100m dash (12.44), all three of which were also top-50 NAIA marks. 

Abby Clark also had a great debut to the outdoor season. The senior put up the eighth-best mark in the NAIA in the long jump, covering 5.71m to place third. She was also sixth in the 100m hurdles (15.65) and 11th in the 200m (25.59). 

Grace Ekness also had a great day in the sprints. The freshman was ninth in the 100m dash (12.72) and 15th in the 200m (26.31), both top-four times on the program's leaderboard. 

Montana Tech's track & field team will conclude its busy first week of the outdoor season Friday and Saturday at University of Montana's Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula. 

Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.