Griz eager to compete in Missoula

For the first time in more than a year, Griz fans will have the opportunity to see Montana's cross country team compete in Missoula. The Grizzlies will host the Montana Open, set for Friday afternoon at the UM Golf Course.

Montana's men will run an 8k race, while the women will compete in a 5k course. The Grizzlies will run against competitors from MSU-Billings and Providence (Great Falls).

"We're very excited because it's the one opportunity we get to compete in Missoula," head coach Doug Fraley said. "We'll have a lot of family and friends and teammates who will be able to come out and support. We've set up the course to be a fast course, and we're expecting great weather, so I think the athletes will have an opportunity to improve their times from the first two meets."

Montana's men will have nine runners compete: Nathan Carter, Lane Cole, Casey Crouch, Will Dauenhauer, Josh Haynes, Rogelio Mares, Cooper Morris, Colin Shaules and Brady Woods. Nine Grizzlies will also compete on the women's side: Bridget Boyle, Beatrix Frissell, Leah Gath, Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Annie Hill, Kayla Ingraham, Iris McKean, Shay Pederson and Abby Sherwood.

The women essentially ran the same distance from its first meet (5k) to its second (3 mile), so it was easy to see the progress the Grizzlies had made in two short weeks. Four Grizzlies ran lifetime bests in the 3-mile course (McKean, Boyle, Hallgrimson and Sherwood), while Frissell (17:59.40, 15^th) and Hill (18:07.80, 20^th) led the pack, finishing in the upper-quarter of all runners. For Hill, a Kalispell native who began her collegiate career in the Pac-12 at Colorado, it was her Griz debut.

"We had some of the young ladies really step up and improve their times," Fraley said. "We were able to improve pretty objectively and were excited about those results."

On the men's side, it was a little more difficult to make a direct comparison, as the men went from a 5k race on Sept. 2 to 5-mile course on Sept. 17. Still Fraley saw things that excited him.

Carter (25:52.00) and Mares (25:56.70) paced the Grizzlies with top-20 finishes. Carter, a junior, and Mares, a redshirt senior, have recorded PRs in both races so far this fall.

Woods (27:09.6), Morris (27:25.6) and Shaules (27:41.6) also hit PRs in Montana's most-recent meet.

"Comparing our times to previous seasons on that course, we had some good improvements," Fraley said. "For some of our young guys, it was really valuable for them to get their first 8k race in."

Friday's objective will be similar to what it has been through the first month of the season. With just one more meet leading up to the Big Sky Conference Championships, Fraley wants to see steady progression so that the Grizzlies are hitting their stride in late October in Spokane, Washington.

"AJ (Eckmann) and Erin (Clark) are doing a really good job as volunteer coaches, and the kids are really buying into what they're coaching," Fraley said. "We're seeing the young kids improving so far, which is super key, and the more experienced kids really buying into the philosophy and the training and the preparation that we're teaching.

"We're doing some nice things and are just looking to add another layer of improvement this week as we get closer to the final push leading up to the Big Sky Championships."

Results from Friday's meet can be accessed online through Competitive Timing.

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Players Mentioned

Bridget Boyle

Nathan Carter

Lane Cole

Casey Crouch

Will Dauenhauer

Beatrix Frissell

Leah Gath

Jaylyn Hallgrimson

Josh Haynes

Annie Hill

Kayla Ingraham

Rogelio Mares

Iris McKean

Cooper Morris

Shay Pederson

Colin Shaules

Abby Sherwood

Brady Woods

University of Montana Athletics