BILLINGS — Odessa Zentz competing in the Big Sky State Games’ Montana Mile is nothing new as she’s set to make her fourth appearance in the prestigious race Friday at Daylis Stadium.
Her actually training for it is.
The timeline just hasn’t lined up in other years for Zentz, a former seven-time individual state champion at Helena and current runner at Northern Arizona, to really devote her time to running at her best at the annual event, which usually comes around two months after her college track season ends in mid-to-late May.
But instead of popping into the Montana Mile in the middle of her summer break, Zentz’ 2024 season extended into June as she participated in the Portland Track Festival, competing in the open division of the women’s 800-meter run June 8.
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By that point, especially after she missed the indoor season at NAU due to injury, she was thinking one thing.
“Well, why not?” Zentz said in a phone interview with The Billings Gazette and 406 MT Sports of opting to train for the Montana Mile this year.
“Just keep training for another month and keep the fitness that I have … basically, my season really only started this spring, like (actually) competing. So this year I’m especially excited, because I feel like I’m a little more prepared to run fast and I definitely am wanting to be super competitive this year.”
It could help make the difference for Zentz in what should be a tightly-contested field (with a new champion guaranteed) in the 25th women’s edition of the Montana Mile, which will be held from 8:15-8:30 p.m. on the Daylis track and be streamed live on the 406 MT Sports Facebook page.
Gates open at 5 p.m. and admission is free. The concrete west stand of the stadium will be closed due to safety risks, per Gazette reporting, 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.
Zentz, who has ran outdoor personal bests of 57.41 in the 400 and 2:10.64 in the 800 at NAU, will be among those gunning for the now wide-open women’s Montana Mile title following news that two-time defending champion Sydney Little Light — a former Hardin and Rocky Mountain College standout who ran last season at Eastern Kentucky — would be dropping out of the field this year.
Though Zentz noted that she was “disappointed” that Little Light wouldn’t be running as she enjoys the challenge her and other elite runners give her during her events, she’s also welcoming the opportunity to practice her race skills (and shoot for her goal of a podium finish) against other top milers from her home state.
“I’m really, really excited for the field,” Zentz said. “I’m always in support of running against people who are fast, because I know it will make me faster. Ever since I got to NAU, my coach and the program really preaches just competing in the moment and not really paying attention to what time you want to run … I would like to be on the podium this year. I think that would be a cool thing to strive for.”
Zentz also enjoys competing in the mile whenever she can as the event and Big Sky State Games as a whole are ingrained in her family.
Father Jesse Zentz, the head girls cross country and track and field coach at Helena, is a Billings West grad and former Montana Mile competitor, having raced in the men’s event when he was a cross country and track athlete himself with the Montana Grizzlies.
Odessa never saw dad run in the Montana Mile, but they’re always at the event “no matter what,” she said, as Jesse is on the Board of Directors with the Big Sky State Games. She’s been inspired by the many Big Sky Country running legends who have gone before her in the mile, and views being invited to the event herself as an honor every time.
“I’ve been watching the Mile for awhile,” Odessa said. “I remember watching Christina Aragon in the Mile a long time ago — I can’t remember when it was — but I just remember being kind of inspired by them and kind of wanting to run it one day.
“I take it as the community still paying attention to me, even after high school, because I’m not even in the state anymore and clearly they’re still paying attention to me, which means a lot.”
One of two NAU women’s runners from Montana in the field as Lumberjacks teammate Hayley Burns, a Bozeman native, will also race Friday, Zentz is primed and ready to try for what could be her best shot yet at a Montana Mile title, echoing an achievement that her dad pulled off when he won the men’s race in 1998.
And as she attacks training like she’s mid-college season, it could very well be the year that a Zentz stands atop the Montana Mile podium once again.
“I’ve definitely been doing mile workouts a little bit different than what I was doing during the season,” Zentz said. “I was training for the 800, primarily, but I’ve been running like 30 miles a week and a few workouts a week.
“I’ve always liked to run, no matter what, my whole life. And it’s fun to share a passion with someone else. … My dad and grandpa are always there watching, because my grandpa lives in Laurel, so he’s always there (and) we stay with them. I guess I’ve never really lost my love for it, and they’ve always been super supportive of everything that I want to do.”
