Montana gets season-best performance at LC Invitational

Saturday, October 14

Lewiston, Idaho

10:30 AM (MT)

Montana

LC Invitational

Montana cross country at the Lewis-Clark Invitational on Oct. 14, 2023.

Photo by: Lewis-Clark State

Montana gets season-best performance at LC Invitational

10/14/2023 4:58:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana cross country team finished off the regular season with an exclamation point on Saturday morning in Lewiston, Idaho. The men finished second in the field and as the top Big Sky team while the women were fourth. Both teams had career-best times across the board as the young Grizzlies continue to improve.

The finish for the men is particularly impressive in a field that featured a regionally ranked Idaho team. The Grizzlies also defeated Eastern Washington behind season or career bests by seven of the 10 runners. The women showed dramatic improvement across the entire roster with seven of the eight runners recording career-best times at Montana.

It is the perfect cap to the season for the Griz, who now have a week off before hosting some of the nation's best runners at the Big Sky Championships in Missoula on Oct. 27.

"This was a great way for us to wrap up the regular season because you can't ask for more than having your best race in creating momentum going into the championships, which we get to host," head coach Doug Fraley said.

The day was highlighted by some drastic improvements from Montana's younger runners. Freshmen Layne Lathrop (fourth) on the women's side and Zachary Giesch (fifth) for the men each ran significant career-bests to enter scoring range for Montana.

The rest of the young freshmen class joined them on both sides, as all four women and three of the men ran season-best times. The group has come along way and progressed steadily this year, which Fraley credited to the work of assistant AJ Eckmann.

"It's really exciting for us as a staff to see these younger athletes breaking through into our scoring positions," Fraley said. "We felt good about the recruiting class that we were bringing in and to actually see some of these young athletes contributing into the top five, top seven, this soon is very encouraging. Coach Eckmann has done a great job bringing these youngsters along at a pace that they can tolerate and yet make progress."

Gallery: (10-14-2023) XC: at Lewis-Clark Invitational

The women's effort was once again led by the Hallgrimson twins, but this time it was Jaylyn Hallgrimson edging out her sister Jade Hallgrimson for the top time on Montana.

Jaylyn entered the meet with a previous record-time of 18:21 at the 5,000-meter distance, a mark she obliterated on Saturday. A trio of runners separated themselves from the field, but Jaylyn was able to keep with the next pack of runners and finish in 17:37. It's more than 40 seconds better than her previous record at the distance.

The pack that she ran with included her sister Jade, who had finished first on Montana in the opening three races of the season. Jade also set her best-ever mark in a Grizzly uniform, running her first sub-18 minute time. She finished 12^th overall in the event with a time of 17:48.

Iris McKean maintained the consistency that has made her a great No. 3 runner for Montana, but also made some impressive improvements for a top 25 finish. McKean finished in 18:07, cutting nearly 20 seconds off her previous career-best.

"It was great because our top three women have been steady on the entire season," Fraley said. "It didn't change today, they just ran faster and that's what you want. They all ran really fast times. It's perfect coming off a two-and-a-half week training block because it gives you confidence moving into the Big Sky meet."

Freshman Layne Lathrop finished fourth for the Grizzlies in a time of 18:24. In her third collegiate race, the Deer Park, Wash. native improved by nearly a full minute from her previous best of 19:21 in Missoula last month.

The Grizzlies were without Kayla Ingraham, who has been the No. 4 runner all year long, with a slight injury. The fact that Lathrop could rise up when they were a runner down was a huge moment for Fraley.

"It's a key thing when your number four runner has to sit out because of a little injury that Layne steps up," Fraley said. "She's beginning to solidify her position on our team. A young lady who was a walk-on who just continues to get better and better and proves she is going to have a good future in our program."

Bridget Boyle and Kaden Leverenz also finished in under 19 minutes, which for Leverenz was a dramatic improvement. She ran 21:31 in her first collegiate race, shaved 81 seconds off that in her second race, and cut another 72 seconds off on Saturday with her 18:58 time. The progress of Leverenz and Lathrop are great signs for the future.

"For freshmen like Layne and Kaden to come in and take chunks like that off of their PR's, it shows you that they are integrating well into the training program and getting used to being a college cross country runner," Fraley said. "It bodes well for our team."

Ella Rubel and Ashtyn Wagner rounded out the results for Montana with times of 19:38 and 20:03, respectively. The times were both season bests for the freshmen.

The men had the performance of the season to finish second, and Maxwell Scott proved that he's a big-race runner. He finished third overall to help Montana beat both Big Sky rivals that participated in the meet.

Scott has now set a PR in every single 8K race this season, improving as the year goes along. The progress should set him up to be competitive against the high-level competition that will be in Missoula in two weeks.

"Great job from the men's team," Fraley said. "Those were really fast times that they ran and for Max to come through and get third and just solidify the year that he's having. He's so consistent and running faster races as we go through the season. He's starting to compete in the front of the pack in races like this, and it was a really, really strong effort from him."

Cooper Morris had the second-best time on the team and finished 11^th overall with a 24:35 time. Similar to Scott, Morris has improved his time in every single race this year. His time on Saturday was 15 seconds better than his previous best.

Nathan Carter finished third for the Griz and 14^th overall in the meet with his second straight sub-25 minute time. He ran in 24:41.

"Cooper has been our steady number three this year but today he took a big chunk off his PR and ran the number two spot," Fraley said. "He is one that every race this season has gotten better and that's what you want at this time of year is to be on a linear progression going upward, and I think Max, Cooper, and Nathan are definitely on that progression right now."

Rogelio Mares finished fourth with a time of 25:03 and freshman Zachary Giesch ran a 25:21 time to round out the top five for Montana. It's the best time of the year for Mares. For Giesch, who had battled some minor injuries to start the year, he ran over a minute faster than his previous best.

Fraley has been pleased with the performance of the top three runners all season, but the fact that Mares and Giesch closed the gap on Saturday was a huge point of emphasis for the coach.

"I was really happy to see Rogelio (Mares) close the gap a little bit in that four spot and then a freshman Zach Giesch who was hampered a little bit early in the year with a knee injury is now running more toward full health and what a breakthrough for him," Fraley said. "He had not been in the conversation thus far in the cross country season and today he came up and ran a massive PR and was our number five scorer."

The Grizzlies also got PR times from Truman Thompson, Lane Cole, Henry Ballinger and Colin Shaules.

The fast times were exactly what Fraley was hoping to see after an extended break from action. The season is trending in the right direction, and distance coach AJ Eckmann has put together a good training program that has generated good results.

It's exactly what you want to see, a team peaking at the most important time of the year. The next time Montana takes the course will be back at home for the Big Sky Championships on Oct. 27.

"In any sport momentum is key, and it's exactly what we hoped would happen by going two weeks in a row at our home meet, then Oregon, then a longer training block," Fraley said. "Coach AJ (Eckmann) has gotten these teams to improve considerably from the last race to this race so a lot of credit to him."

Montana Women's Results
1. Jaylyn Hallgrimson (17:37*, 9^th)
2. Jade Hallgrimson (17:48*, 12^th)
3. Iris McKean (18:07*, 22^nd)
4. Layne Lathrop (18:24*, 32^nd)
5. Bridget Boyle (18:52, 40^th)
6. Kaden Leverenz (18:58*, 44^th)
7. Ella Rubel (19:38*, 64^th)
8. Ashtyn Wagner (20:03*, 70^th)

Women's Team Results
1. Idaho (26)
2. Gonzaga (37)
3. Eastern Washington (73)
4. Montana (97)
5. Lewis-Clark (138)
6. Rocky Mountain (171)
7. Spokane CC (206)
8. Northwest U. (242)

Montana Men's Results
1. Maxwell Scott (24:09*, 3^rd)
2. Cooper Morris (24:35*, 11^th)
3. Nathan Carter (24:41, 14^th)
4. Rogelio Mares (25:03, 30^th)
5. Zachary Giesch (25:21*, 43^rd)
6. Truman Thompson (25:25*, 46^th)
7. Lane Cole (25:37*, 53^rd)
8. Carson Steckelberg (25:44, 60^th)
9. Henry Ballinger (25:56*, 67^th)
10. Colin Shaules (26:39*, 99^th)

Men's Team Results
1. Gonzaga (64)
2. Montana (88)
3. Idaho (94)
4. Eastern Washington (98)
5. Eastern Oregon (109)
6. Corban (169)
7. Lewis-Clark (190)
8. Rocky Mountain (196)
9. Northwest U. (217)
10. Washington St. (220)
11. Spokane CC (350)
12. College of Idaho (363)

*denotes career-best time, or season-best for freshmen