Montana heads to Big Sky Championships

The Montana cross country teams head to Pocatello, Idaho this Friday to compete in the Big Sky Conference Championships hosted by Idaho State. The races will be streamed live on ESPN+ with the women beginning at 11:00 a.m. and the men following at 12:00 p.m.

It's been a season of growth for young Montana rosters, and the groups now get their first taste of championship racing.

"We're very excited. The thing with this group is that it's going to be the first Big Sky Championship of any kind for a majority of our roster, so it's exciting for these youngsters to get in and be able to experience the Big Sky Cross Country meet and how good it is," head coach Doug Fraley said.

"I'm very excited for our teams to get that kind of exposure this week and really go through that process, see where you come out, and evaluate that individually to see where you need to be to be a Big Sky runner," Fraley continued.

Montana has had a week off following a solid performance at the LC State Invitational. The women's team set eight new personal best times at the 5K distance during that race, and they will see a similar course in Pocatello.

The men have dealt with some injuries, but have a couple of runners heading to the meet in the best form of the year as well. It's been the goal all year for Fraley to get his team running their best come November.

"We want our athletes to be able to come up with their best race of the season, that's what the whole plan is as you move through a season," Fraley said. "It's about getting yourself ready to be your best during the championship race. That's our goal, to go and have everybody race well and be peaking at the right time. But the experience is also super valuable when you are as young as we are on both sides."

Iris McKean led the women the last time out at the LC State Invitational meet, and is one of just two female runners with Big Sky Championship experience. The junior finished second on Montana last year and 47^th overall in the field.

She's peaking at the right time just like she did in 2023, and the other eight runners that competed two weeks ago in Lewiston are in the same boat. They all ran PR times, showing a lot of promise for a very young group.

"The women's group was a lot of question marks coming into the season, and we have a lot of young ladies that have really developed well through their first year for us," Fraley said. "We're excited about that and looking forward to seeing if that progress will continue as a group this week at the Big Sky Championships."

The men's side will be running their fifth straight 8K race.

They also had question marks entering the season, and more have popped up along the way. The Grizzlies are dealing with several injuries to key runners in the rotation and will be facing an uphill battle.

Still, there have been plenty of bright spots this season for the Griz. Carson Steckelberg has been Montana's top runner in the previous two meets and has three top 10 finishes in five regular season competitions this year.

Zachary Giesch has also come on strong down the stretch, and had his best finish of the year by coming in behind Steckelberg at the LC State Invitational. There are also plenty of newcomers who could make an impact in their first Big Sky Championship appearance.

There are eight Grizzlies entered in the race, but several of them could be game-time decisions.

"Unfortunately, we will be a little shorthanded with some late injuries for some guys that won't be able to race this week," Fraley said. "The fact of the matter is you still have to go and just have that next-man-up attitude. We need some guys to move into those 4-5 positions and do a good job with that. We have guys that have run well all year, those guys have done a good job and I would expect them to step up and be able to accept the challenge."

MONTANA WOMEN'S ENTRIES
Abigail Case, JR
Olivia Coll, FR
Libby Hartz, FR
Sofia Hinderman, FR
Abigail Kotran, FR
Iris McKean, JR
Heidi Olson, FR
Shay Pederson, JR
Lucy Thompson, FR
Ashtyn Wagner, SO

MONTANA MEN'S ENTRIES
Morgan Amano, FR
Henry Ballinger, SO
Keagen Crosby, FR
Zachary Giesch, SO
Lane Krautschun, FR
Luke Mest, FR
Colin Shaules, JR
Carson Steckelberg, SO

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Amano

Henry Ballinger

Abigail Case

Olivia Coll

Keagen Crosby

Zachary Giesch

Libby Hartz

Sofia Hinderman

Abigail Kotran

Lane Krautschun

Iris McKean

Luke Mest

Heidi Olson

Shay Pederson

Colin Shaules

Carson Steckelberg

Lucy Thompson

Ashtyn Wagner

University of Montana Athletics