BILLINGS — The field of runners for the 2024 edition of the Montana Mile, part of the Big Sky State Games’ opening ceremonies, was announced Friday via a news release from the Big Sky State Games.
This year’s race, contested between many of the state’s top high school, college and post-collegiate milers, will be held from 8:15 to 8:30 p.m. next Friday at Daylis Stadium. The concrete west stand of the stadium will be closed due to safety risks, per reporting from The Billings Gazette, with Big Sky State Games executive director Liana Susott noting that attendees should sit on the east bleachers while the stage will also move to the south end zone.
It will be the 33rd running of the Montana Mile for the men and the 25th for the women, with numerous participants in the race across its history having captured state or even national championships in their track and field/cross country careers.
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Runners take off at the start of the Montana Mile during the Big Sky State Games opening ceremony at Daylis Stadium in Billings on July 14, 2023.
Gates to the stadium will open beforehand at 5 p.m. Admission is free, and the event will additionally be livestreamed on the 406 Sports Facebook page.
Former Rocky Mountain College and Hardin standout Sydney Little Light (who competed last year at Eastern Kentucky) will be going for her third straight title in the women’s race, chasing the record time of 4:53.9 set by Manhattan Christian grad Lois Ricardi-Keller in 2011. Last year’s men’s champion, Bozeman native and now-Princeton runner Weston Brown, won’t run in this year’s race, meaning a new men’s winner will be crowned as all will be chasing ex-Montana State and Bozeman standout Duncan Hamilton’s record time of 4:06.23 set in 2022.
The men’s and women’s fields for the 2023 Montana Mile, along with their Montana connection(s) — with in-state school(s) attended listed — and number of appearances in the event following this year, are as follows:
Men: Ase Ackerman, Montana State Billings and Glendive, third appearance; Henry Ballinger, Montana and Helena, first appearance; Ben Bird, Hardin, first appearance; Riley Collins, Montana State and Bozeman, sixth appearance; Chase Drange, Miles City, first appearance; Shane Ketchum, Rocky Mountain College and Box Elder, first appearance; Grey Piseno, Billings Central, second appearance; Carson Steckelberg, Montana and Bozeman Gallatin, fourth appearance; Jaxon Straus, Billings West, third appearance; Peyton Summers, Wolf Point, first appearance.
Women: Karis Brightwings-Pease, Hardin, second appearance; Hayley Burns, Bozeman, third appearance; Natalie Hodgskiss, Choteau, first appearance; Ali Keith, Billings West, second appearance; Addison Kegel, Billings Ben Steele Middle School, first appearance; Sydney Little Light, Rocky Mountain College and Hardin, fourth appearance; Grace Timm, Rocky Mountain College and Laurel, second appearance; Natalie Wood, Montana State and Big Timber, second appearance; Odessa Zentz, Helena, fourth appearance.
