The Montana 100 Meter male and female races, sponsored by Rocky Vista University, will be a highlight event and complement the popular Montana Mile, which will be held for the 34th time for the men and 26th for the women during Opening Ceremonies at Lockwood High School Stadium Friday, July 18, at 7 p.m.

“Every year we do the Montana Mile and people are like, ‘Why don’t you highlight the sprinters?’ And so, that’s been a comment we’ve heard for, I don’t know, as long as I’ve been here, you know? For 20 years,” said Big Sky State Games executive director Liana Susott. “And it just hasn’t worked out time-wise and we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to see what the interest is out there, to see if the sprinters want to come out and participate in the Montana 100.”

Like the Montana Mile, the Montana 100 is an invitational race and will feature some of the Treasure State’s fastest high school, college and post-collegiate sprinters. 

When scouring results for fast times, BSSG sports management intern and Montana Mile/Montana 100 Meter organizer Ben Ralston said the cutoff time was 11.2 seconds for males and 12.6 seconds for females; which are “both fairly fast times,” he noted. 

Overall, 10 males are entered and eight females.

“We went down our list and emailed the people, like, ‘You’re fast enough. We want you to run.’ And they would email back, trying to confirm or deny us,” said Ralston of the process. “And we would go down our list to get our 10 fastest guys that were available to run during Opening Ceremonies.”

Ralston said that when BSSG officials contacted possible entrants, most were stoked to have the offer to race in the event.

“Word got out about the Montana 100 and we had people emailing us, like, ‘Hey, I heard this would happen. I’d love to run in it,'” Ralston explained. “And, unfortunately, we had to turn a few people down just because they weren’t fast enough. But people were really excited for the Montana 100, this being the first year it’s available.” 

The Montana 100 won’t feature heats leading into the separate male and female races. It’s a simple playground formula of one male and one female 100-meter “winner-takes-all” race Ralston said. 

The Montana 100 is slated to occur before the Montana Mile and will begin at approximately 8-8:30 p.m. during the BSSG Opening Ceremonies on Friday, July 18, at the Lockwood High School track. Ralston, who competed collegiately in track and field at Montana State Billings before finishing his Yellowjacket career this past school year, is also entered in the Montana 100.

“I’m excited for it. It’ll be a fun time,” he said. “It’ll be my last official race, because I just graduated college. So, it’s a good way to send off my career.”

There will be a third race during Opening Ceremonies involving mascots from local businesses and various Montana colleges. Torchy, the BSSG mascot, will compete. 

“We’re going to do a mascot race, too,” said Susott. “We brought that last year and it was really fun for the mascots to go out there. They’ll probably only run a 50 meter, but it will be fun.” 

The Montana 100 male and female fields are listed below with biographical information for each runner provided by the Big Sky State Games. 

Allen just finished a successful high school athletic career at Billings West, competing in track and field and cross country. He will be attending Brigham Young University in Idaho in the fall. During his time at West, Allen received the Captains Award (cross country), Coaches Award (cross country), Boys Top Pole Vaulter (track and field), the Mike Patrick Award (track and field), and placed fifth in the pole vault at the State AA meet.

Grenier will be a sophomore in the fall at Montana State University Billings. Grenier attended high school in Livingston where he earned the designations of one-time all-state and three-time all-conference. During his freshman year at MSUB, Tyler was a two-time GNAC Conference qualifier in indoor and outdoor track.

Gibson will be going into his junior year at Billings West. Gibson has had a successful track career, marking personal bests this last season in the 100, 200, and 400. He placed first in the 200 at the SCAD Track meet.

Hammond will be a senior at Malta in the fall. He holds the school record for the 100 and 4x100M relay. While in high school, Hammond was named most valuable runner twice, team captain, and achieved all-state in track. In 2025, Hammond placed fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 in at the Class B state track meet.

Herbert will be a Senior at Montana State University Billings in the fall, where he is studying athletic training. He was named NCAA Great Northwest Athletic Conference athlete of the week. Herbert attended Wind River High School in Pavillion, Wyoming, where he was a three-time all-state performer in track and field, including the 100 and 200 state champion. He also ranks second in MSUB history in the 100, second in the 60, and third overall in the 200.

LaMere will be a sophomore at Rocky Mountain College this fall studying education. LaMere went to Billings Senior, where he was a two-time all-conference, one-time all state in the 100, team captain and most improved Bronc. He also won the 2025 Frontier Conference Championship Track Meet in the 100.

This fall, Merrifield will be entering his sophomore year at Montana Tech. Merrifield attended Butte High School, where he competed in track and field. He placed seventh in the 60 at the Whitworth Indoor Invitational Track Meet.

Mow will be a junior at Helena Capital this fall. He is a Capital school record holder for the 110-meter hurdles. Mow was all-state in 2024 and 2025. He competed at the Nike Outdoor Nationals Track Meet, where he ran the 110 hurdles. He plans to attend the University of Washington.

Ralston just finished up his career at Montana State University Billings. Ralston went to Cole Valley Christian High School in Boise, Idaho. Ralston holds the MSU Billings school record in both the indoor and outdoor 400, ranks third in school history in the 100 and second overall in the 200. While in high school, Ralston was a part of the three-time Class 2A state championship 4x200M relay team as well as placing second in the 400 and fifth in the 200.

Skillicorn attended Polson High School before going to Rocky Mountain College, where he will be a junior this fall. While in high school, Drifter earned Class A all-State one year and earned the Polson High School MVP award two years. During his time at Rocky, Drifter has earned the 200 school record for outdoor track and earned the designation of five-time all-conference and one time NAIA athlete of the week.

Allen will be a junior at Billings West in the fall. She was a state track AA 4×100 champion this last year. During her time at West, she was named most inspiring track member on the team. Allen marked personal bests in the 100, 200, and 400 this last season.

Boyd will be entering her final year at Billings West in the fall. Boyd was a State AA champion in 4×100 and 4×400 during the 2025 season. She was named West High sprinter of the year. She has competed at state all three years of high school.

Brandon will be a senior at Havre High School in the fall. She holds the high school record for the 400 with a time of 57.94. Brandon has been named most valuable runner, is three-time all-state track and field, 4x100M Class A state champion, and third place in the 100, 200, and 400 during the 2025 State A track meet. Her dream is to run track at the collegiate level and pursue a pharmacy career.

Dalke will be finishing off her high school athletic career during the 2025-26 school year at Shepherd. Dalke won the 2025 Class B State Track Meet in the 100 and 200. Dahlke also marked personal bests this last season in the 100, 200 and 4×100.

Gerdes will be completing her final year at Huntley Project beginning in the fall. Gerdes holds the school record for the 200, 400, 800, high jump, and triple jump. Gerdes is a three-time 400 Class B state champion, three-time 800 Class B state champion, and two-time triple jump Class B state champion. Gerdes is an eight-time Class B state champion and 18-time all-state honoree in track and field.

Szollosi will be a senior in the fall at Missoula Hellgate. This year she was crowned the Class AA state champion for the 100. She also holds the Hellgate school records in the 100, 200, and 4×100. Szollosi is a three-time academic all-state/all-conference honoree. She signed to attend Davidson College (North Carolina) on a track and field scholarship.

Torgerson will be a junior at Shelby in the fall. Torgerson holds the school record at Shelby for the 100, 200, and 400. She took second place in the 100, 200, and 400 at the 2025 State B track meet. Torgerson is a three-time athlete of the week on the KSEN radio station.

Wahl finished her final year at Rocky Mountain College with two degrees in psychology and sociology. Wahl went to Billings Central, where she was designated three-time all-state in Class A and in 2021 she placed fourth in the 100, third in the 200, and fifth in the 400. Wahl was a Class A state champion in 2019 in the 200. During her collegiate years at Rocky, she set school records in the indoor 60, 100, 200 and outdoor 100, 200, and 4×100.

NOTES: The Athlete Fun Zone at Lockwood High School opens at 5 p.m. for Opening Ceremonies on July 18. The parade of athletes is at 7:15 p.m. Admission is free to the Opening Ceremonies. For information, call 406-254-7426 or go to bigskygames.org. … Opening Ceremonies is sponsored by Wendy’s. Major Sponsors of the State Games are Kampgrounds of America, First Interstate Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, and Rebel River Creative.