ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Montana Tech's track & field teams enjoyed a strong start to the 2026 NAIA outdoor national championship meet Thursday, including one program record performance.
Senior
Morgan McClernan led the way for the Orediggers on the meet's opening day, besting the program record in the men's 400-meter hurdles at 52.53 to finish in 13th place. Junior
Adam Schrader also ran a personal-best, coming in 15th at 53.23.
The men's 4x100m relay of
Aidan Dorr,
Matthew Moreni, McClernan, and
Jaxon Allery took 23rd in the 29-team field, circling the track in 41.13 seconds.
On the women's side, sophomore
Ayla Janzen led the way in the women's heptathlon, checking in 13th through four of the seven facets of the combined event.
Janzen accrued more than 800 points each in the 110-meter hurdles and 200m dash, and she added 632 points in the high jump and 426 more in the shot put to end the opening day with 2,746. That puts her just 277 points out of All-America territory with the long jump, javelin, and 800m to go Thursday.
Senior
Jadyn Vermillion finished the women's long jump in 18th. Her 5.51m jump on her second attempt of the day was her top mark of the day.
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