POCATELLO, Idaho -- Ava Epler knocked off a pair of Montana Tech track & field records Friday as the Orediggers kicked off 2026 at Idaho State University's Snake River Open.
The sophomore from Bozeman toppled Oredigger records in both the women's indoor shot put and weight throw Friday. Epler hurled the weight 15.79 meters to finish eighth in her event, breaking
Abby Clark's mark from 2024. That toss ranks 16th in the NAIA so far this season.
Epler also broke the Orediggers' record in the shot put with a 11.72m toss, placing 12th and moving to 56th on the NAIA leaderboard.
A trio of Montana Tech's running marks also saw improvements to the program's all-time leaderboard.
Peyton Walker raced the 400m dash in 62.56 seconds, putting the Kalispell native 21st in the event and improving her own fourth-place program mark. Freshman
Terryn Chirrick was 22nd in the 800m run, clocking in at 2:26.35 for another fourth-place program time, and senior
Kamryn Comba was 21st in the 1-mile run, crossing the line in 5:19.92.
On the men's side, sophomore
Bode Hipple took seventh in the weight throw with a 15.77m toss. That mark put him second all-time.
Freshman
Jaxon Allery sprinted to second all-time in the 60m dash at 6.96 seconds, putting him 13th in the event and 74th on the NAIA's season leaderboard.
Fellow freshman
Ricky Williams was fifth in the high jump, clearing 1.92m to move to fourth on the Orediggers' all-time list and 39th this season in the NAIA.
Keefer McGree, another freshman, placed eighth in the 60m hurdles at 8.89 seconds, moving up to fifth on Tech's program list.
Freshman
Michael Marlow was 15th in the 800m run at 2:01.23, a time that moved him to fourth on Montana Tech's leaderboard and 71st in the NAIA this season, while graduate student
Justin Morgan took 21st in the 3,000m run at 8:49.74, topping his own third-place mark on the program-best list.
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.
###
