EUGENE, Ore. — A historic season for the Montana State women’s track and field program came to a close on Thursday, with multiple All-American honors earned during action at the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Hailey Coey placed 20th in the long jump, while the 4×400 meter relay team of Peyton Garrison, Caroline Hawkes, Olivia Lewis, and Giulia Gandolfi placed 21st.
“Today was a great finish to a historic year for our women’s track and field program,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “Having five athletes out there competing at the NCAA Championships is pretty special, and having our first relay ever compete at the NCAA Championships and our first long jumper was also pretty special.”
Coey, a junior from Billings, was representing the Bobcats as the first man or woman to ever compete at the national meet in the long jump, and did so brilliantly to cap one of the best seasons by a women’s field athlete in school history.
All three of Coey’s attempts on Thursday went over 19-02.50, with her best jump coming on her third and last try to measure at 19-08.25.
Coey’s year ends after winning the indoor Big Sky title, setting the Big Sky Conference and school records indoors, and setting the school record outdoors with the second-best outdoor jump in Big Sky history.
The Billings product then placed eighth at the NCAA West Regional to earn a spot in Eugene, and now has a top-20 finish in the nation to back up a special season with an honorable mention All-American nod.
“Hailey has come so far over the last three years and especially this year,” Weese said. “It was fun seeing her compete against the best in the NCAA, and she looked like she belonged out there. It seemed to be maybe the first of a couple more NCAA Championships that she’ll get to compete in.”
In the final event of the night, the women’s 4×400 meter relay team upset three teams to come away finishing 21st in the country with a hard-fought effort.
Peyton Garrison, a junior from New Castle, Colorado, ran the leadoff leg before handing the baton to Caroline Hawkes, a junior from San Clemente, California. Hawkes, a ten-time All-Big Sky honoree, split the fastest lap in 52.11 seconds then handed it off to Olivia Lewis, a freshman from Corvallis, Montana, before Giulia Gandolfi, a junior from Faenza, Italy, ran the anchor leg.
The Cats crossed the line in 3:36.70, taking down Arizona, TCU, and Baylor to finish 21st and earn honorable mention All-American honors.
The squad was the first-ever relay to compete at the national championships.
“With our women’s 4×400, they obviously took a gigantic step forward this year, but you can look into the future and say they could do even more in future years, so that’s also exciting with all of those athletes coming back,” Weese said.
Combined with Coey’s heroics in the long jump this year, the Montana State relay’s presence meant the Bobcats had multiple entries at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on the women’s side for just the fourth time in school history.
During the outdoor season alone, the Montana State women set an astounding nine school records, including two conference records, and tallied more points at the conference championship meet than they have in over 20 years.
UP NEXT
Rob McManus races in the 3,000 meter steeplechase national final on Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene.
‘Steeple U’ has now had a man in the national final in the steeplechase in each of the last five years, one of only three schools to accomplish that (BYU, Eastern Kentucky).
The national final is scheduled for 5:24 p.m. PT/6:24 p.m. MT and will be televised on ESPN2.
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