DICKINSON, N.D. -- Light the V! 

For the third time in the past four seasons, Montana Tech laid claim to the Frontier Conference's outdoor track & field championship. 

The Orediggers did it in comeback fashion, picking up 46 points over the final four events on the track to best Dickinson State by four, 154-150. The 4x400-meter relay finished the job as Adam Schrader, Carter Henke, Konnor Gregerson, and Morgan McClernan rolled to second place, earning eight points to the Blue Hawks' two (for their fifth-place finish). 

It was the end of a banner meet for McClernan. The senior won the 110m hurdles in a program-record 13.97 seconds (the No. 2 time in the NAIA this season) and teamed up with Aidan Dorr, Matthew Moreni, and Jaxon Allery to win the 4x100m relay in 41.21 seconds. He was also second in the 400m hurdles (53.07) and, on Saturday, fourth in the 400m dash (49.75). 

All that earned the Butte native the Frontier's men's track athlete of the meet award for his 41 points scored. 

McClernan was by no means the Orediggers' only star of the day. Allery, a freshman, stormed to win the 100m dash in a blazing 10.14 seconds, breaking teammate Zach Merrifield's record from the day before. The time would have ranked tops in the NAIA this season if it were wind legal. Merrifield took eighth in finals to earn Tech another point. 

The Orediggers continued to rack up points in other events. Moreni was third and Allery fifth in the 200m dash; Schrader joined McClernan on the podium in the 400m hurdles, taking third; Ben Zerr was fourth in the 3,000m Steeplechase; and Tyler Inabnit took fifth in the 1,500m. 

In field events, a couple of freshman landed all-conference honors. Ricky Williams was second in the high jump, and Lane Voermans took third in the discus to add to Tech's point total. Junior Cameron Tobiness added a sixth-place finish in the triple jump. 

But with all that, the Orediggers were still sitting in third place with two events to go. Dickinson State held a commanding lead with 148 points to second-place Carroll's 132.5. Tech sat half a point behind the Saints. 

Then came the 5,000m run. Zerr and Bryon Fanning raced to second and third in the event, gaining 14 points for the Orediggers and leapfrogging them into second with only the 4x400m relay remaining. The seasoned quartet of Schrader, Henke, Gregerson, and McClernan — the same foursome that placed 26th at NAIA indoor nationals — took care of the rest and brought the conference trophy back to Butte. 

Those efforts won Orediggers' head coach Chuck Merrifield the league's Pepsi Coach of the Year award. 

The Oredigger women had several highlights as well en route to a fifth-place finish in the 11-team field. 

Ayla Janzen's huge meet continued with a third-place finish in the 200m dash (25.45, second in Montana Tech history), fourth in the 100m hurdles (a program-record 14.33), fifth in the 100m dash (12.04), and seventh in the triple jump (11.13m). 

Alayna Hurd reached the podium in the 100m dash, taking third in a school-record 12.00 seconds. The freshman was also seventh in the 200m. 

Kamryn Comba (fourth, 1,500m), Mya Green (fourth, 5,000m), Alyssa Jany (fifth, 12:19.11), and Piper Jette (seventh, high jump) added points for the Orediggers, and the 4x400m relay of Peyton Walker, Terryn Chirrick, Ryleigh Kleinke, and Comba finished the meet with a third-place finish. 

The Orediggers finished safely in fifth with 86 points, 39 clear of sixth-place Rocky Mountain. Dakota State won the women's title with a total of 167. 

Montana Tech's teams won't take long to celebrate their postseason success. The Orediggers will head to Bozeman on Friday to take one last crack at NAIA qualifying marks at Montana State's Tom Gage Classic. 

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