17 Grizzly runners have career days at LC State Invitational

Saturday, October 11

Lewiston, Idaho

10:45 AM (MT)

Montana

LC State Invite

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

17 Grizzly runners have career days at LC State Invitational

10/11/2025 6:37:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

It was a career-best type of day for the Montana cross country program at the LC State Invitational on Saturday in Lewiston, Idaho. The Grizzlies ran 18 athletes on the typically fast course at Lewis-Clark State and got 17 personal-best times at the 5K distance for the women and the 8K distance for the men.

In the final event of the regular season, Montana built plenty of momentum with a 2^nd place finish for the men and a 3^rd place finish for the women.

"The LC meet is one that you circle every year on the schedule because it always gives you a chance to run a fast time on that course," head coach Doug Fraley said. "I'm really proud of our men and women today for delivering on that at a venue where you should run fast and wrapping up our regular season in excellent fashion."

It was a big result on the men's side as the Grizzlies came in behind only Gonzaga, a team that had been receiving votes for the national polls just last week. It was also big for Montana as they got redemption on a Big Sky opponent in the process.

Montana lost to Idaho earlier this season at the Montana Invite by just two points. They were motivated after that home loss to get back at the Vandals, and they did just that on Saturday, beating them by 13 points for second place.

"That's big for our men to beat Idaho," Fraley said. "They beat us here at home by a couple of points and I know our guys were very displeased with that and very determined going into this meet knowing that they were going to race against Idaho again."

Zachary Giesch led Montana for the second straight meet and third time overall on the season with a new personal best time of 24:00. At 4^th overall, he was the top finisher of the trio that has been leading Montana this season, but the other two weren't far behind.

Carson Steckelberg finished 6^th overall with a time of 24:04, another personal best. Luke Mest also cracked the top ten with his best-ever time of 24:18.

It's a group that has been rock solid all season for Fraley's squad. There was also plenty of improvement right behind them in the group of young runners. The next three finishers for Montana were all true freshmen with Albert Turner and Elliot Stimpson finishing second apart for 23^rd and 24^th and Henry Sund came in at 25:08 for a 31^st place finish.

"Excellent job by Albert Turner and Elliot Stimpson in running under 25 minutes for the first time and closing the gap in time between themselves and our really solid top three in Zach, Carson, and Luke."

The young group has been impressive already this season but continue to improve under the direction of distance coach AJ Eckmann. They had never run at the collegiate 8k distance before, but heading off to Bozeman in a few weeks they look very comfortable at the distance.

"We knew we recruited the right guys based on what they did in high school, but you never know how the first season running 8k in cross country is going to be," Fraley said. "Those guys have really done a tremendous job developing over 8k and now we have what we consider a strong group going into the conference championships."

The women were led, as they have been at every meet, by Kayla Ingraham. The 5^th year runner ran a lifetime best time at the five kilometer distance at 17:39, which was good for a 13^th place finish.

She had some competition from a teammate on Saturday as sophomore Heidi Olson ran with her the whole race. Olson came in just three seconds behind Ingraham with her best-ever time of 17:42.

The Grizzlies then had a tight bunch at 3-5 with Olivia Coll, Shay Pederson, and Libby Hartz all finishing within six seconds of each other. Coll was 27^th, followed by Pederson and Hartz at 28^th and 29^th.

"Really strong up front again with Kayla leading us and Heidi finishing just seconds behind her, that was outstanding," Fraley said. "But really, as important as that is, having Olivia, Shay, and Libby closing that gap from 5 to 1 under 40 seconds now, they have just progressed throughout the season and that is a big deal. It gives you a lot better chance the way cross country is scored, so kudos to the ladies for working their way up closer to our 1 and 2."

Montana will now get a couple of weeks off before the Big Sky Conference Championship in Bozeman on Nov. 1.

"The work is done, so now it is a matter of sharpening, getting rested up, staying healthy, and taking that confidence that they will come back from Lewiston with and taking it to Bozeman in two weeks time," Fraley said. "I'm sure that Coach Eckmann will have them turned up and ready to go when we get to Bozeman on November 1."

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
1. Kayla Ingraham (17:39*, 13^th)
2. Heidi Olson (17:42*, 15^th)
3. Olivia Coll (18:10*, 27^th)
4. Shay Pederson (18:11*, 28^th)
5. Libby Hartz (18:16*, 29^th)
6. Ashtyn Wagner (18:33*, 38^th)
7. Malia Bradford (18:41*, 45^th)

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
1. Zachary Giesch (24:00*, 4^th)
2. Carson Steckelberg (24:04*, 6^th)
3. Luke Mest (24:18*, 10^th)
4. Albert Turner (24:52*, 23^rd)
5. Elliot Stimpson (24:54*, 24^th)
6. Henry Sund (25:08*, 31^st)
7. Lane Krautschun (25:09*, 32^nd)
8. Truman Thompson (25:24*, 39^th)
9. Will Sandnes (25:50*, 50^th)
10. Lane Cole (27:23, 78^th)

*denotes PR

MONTANA WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Gonzaga (32)
2. Idaho (38)
3. Montana (82)
4. Montana Tech (129)
5. Carroll College (140)
6. Eastern Oregon (144)
7. Lewis-Clar (149)

MONTANA MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Gonzaga (39)
2. Montana (50)
3. Idaho (63)
4. Eastern Oregon (96)
5. Carroll College (133)
6. Lewis-Clark (180)
7. College of Idaho (209)
8. Treasure Valley CC (226)