Montana heads to NCAA Mountain Regional

2023 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGIONAL
Women's 6K - 9 a.m. (MT) / Men's 10K – 10 a.m. (MT)
Lubbock, Texas / Nov. 10 / Live Results

The last time the Montana cross country teams took to the course, they did so on the snowy and frozen University of Montana Golf Course in winter conditions. This week will be a slightly different environment as they head south to Lubbock, Texas for the NCAA Mountain Regional on Friday, Nov. 10.

It's the final race of the season for the Grizzlies, who have improved in the second year of head coach Doug Fraley's tenure. They are looking to take the progress they made at the conference meet and put it towards one last good run in Lubbock.

"We felt like the conference championships were a success here for us and we have to put that in the rearview mirror because we have one more competition left," Fraley said. "The way we look at this is a chance to go out and really lay it on the line with some of the very best teams in the nation. The Mountain Region is probably a top three region in the country and will have several teams qualify for nationals, so for our team in the position we are in this is another opportunity to compete at the highest level."

They will once again race against the No. 1 teams in the country in the Northern Arizona men and women, but there are several highly ranked teams that are part of the region as well. BYU will be there and are currently ranked No. 3 in both the men's and women's polls, along with a host of other fast teams.

It's a chance for a young Montana team to get a look at the best of the best in the country at this sport. Montana will run seven runners on each side, and eight of the 14 are underclassmen. There will be four true freshmen running for the Grizzlies in a big-time event.

The experience that they can gain will be crucial to the development of the program under Fraley.

"With us having so many underclassmen that we're trying to develop right now, you need to expose them to that level of competition so that they know what it's all about when they are training for track season and training next summer for cross season," Fraley said. "It exposes them to the highest level in our sport."

It also shows Montana where they stack up against the rest of the Mountain region. There will be 20 women's teams and 19 mens' teams competing on Friday with representatives from the Big 12, Mountain West, and Big Sky amongst others.

The high level of competition and improved running conditions will hopefully bring out the best in the Grizzly runners, and give them an idea of where they stack up.

"It's a good measuring stick for us as we end the cross country season to see where we are at compared to where we want to be," Fraley said. "Going to a competition like this will tell you exactly where you are. It's why we use this meet as a gauge of progress and I think it's a really valuable way for us to end the season."

Maxwell Scott became the first male Grizzly runner to place in the top 25 at the Big Sky meet in an impressive cold-weather run in Missoula. The senior has been Montana's top runner in four of the five meets this season, and ran second in the other.

Fellow senior Nathan Carter has been running well for the previous two months, finishing in the top three for Montana in the previous four races including a 32^nd overall finish at the Big Sky Championship.

Cooper Morris is a bright young runner for the Grizzlies, having finished second or third for Montana in all five races as just a sophomore. He cracked the top 30 at the Big Sky Championship with a time of 25:13.80.

The top trio on the women's side is also composed out of a pair of seniors and an underclassmen. Jade Hallgrimson and Jaylyn Hallgrimson have been top three in every race this year for Montana. Jade has been the top runner three times, while Jaylyn has picked up steam late with back-to-back top finishes for Montana.

Sophomore Iris McKean has had a breakout season, highlighted by a top 50 finish at the Big Sky Championships where she was the second Grizzly across the finish line. She's been in the top three for Montana all year.

"We're looking for Max, Cooper and Nate to run strong as they have all year, and the same thing with Jade, Jaylyn and Iris," Fraley said. "We expect those kids to lead us like they have all year."

Lane Cole, Rogelio Mares, Carson Steckelberg, and Truman Thompson will make up the rest of the seven-person lineup for the men. The women will run with Bridget Boyle, Layne Lathrop, Kaden Leverenz, and Shay Pederson.

The races will be longer distances than what Montana has grown accustomed to during the regular season. The Big Sky Championships run at 8K for the men and 5K for the women. Those will get bumped up to 10K and 6K at the NCAA Regional meet.

It throws in an added wrinkle to the final race of the year. The Grizzlies will have to adapt to the different distance while also managing the fast pace that will be set by a talented field.

"You add the 1K for the women and 2K for the men and it's a change to your pacing and your strategy," Fraley said. "But at the same time, it's such a fast race that those top runners will be running essentially the same pace as the shorter distances at conference. It's part of the learning curve, getting into a race like that that's longer but is going to go out just as fast as the shorter races during the regular season."

The races will not be live streamed. There will be live results available through PrimeTime Timing and Karmarush.

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Players Mentioned

Bridget Boyle

Nathan Carter

Lane Cole

Jade Hallgrimson

Jaylyn Hallgrimson

Layne Lathrop

Kaden Leverenz

Rogelio Mares

Iris McKean

Cooper Morris

Shay Pederson

Maxwell Scott

Carson Steckelberg

Truman Thompson

University of Montana Athletics