Grizzly men head to Utah for Cross Country Regionals

Friday, November 14

Salt Lake City, Utah

TBD

Montana

NCAA Mountain Regional

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Grizzly men head to Utah for Cross Country Regionals

11/12/2025 5:11:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Performance List

By: Montana Sports Information

Fresh off the program's best finish at the Big Sky Championships since the 2011 season, the Montana men's cross country runners will head to Salt Lake City to compete in the NCAA Mountain Regional race.

The 10k race will begin at 11:30 a.m. (MT) on Friday, Nov. 14. It will be run at the Salt Lake City Regional Athletics Complex.

The Grizzlies placed 5^th at the Big Sky Championship in Bozeman two weeks ago led by a top 20 finish from junior Carson Steckelberg. The Griz will return every runner from that squad in 2026, and they are about to pick up some valuable experience in Utah.

"It's going to be great exposure for our team with a bunch of young guys getting to go race in one of the best regionals in the country," head coach Doug Fraley said. "It's a hard-earned trip because we told them at the beginning of the season that the requirement for going to regionals was placing in the top five at conference. They worked really hard for that, so good on them for coming through and getting to go to a regional meet."

After the stellar performance at the Big Sky Championship, Montana earned a spot in the USTFCCCA's Mountain Region rankings. It's the first time under Fraley that Montana has been ranked after their best conference finish in 14 years.

The Grizzlies slotted in at No. 14 in the rankings, just one behind Idaho State, who finished just 18 points ahead of them in Bozeman, and only four spots behind the rivals from Bozeman.

"It's the first time in several years we've cracked the top 15 in the Mountain Region," Fraley said. "That, along with the highest conference finish in 14 years, shows great signs of the progress that this program has made."

Six Grizzlies finished inside the top 50 at the Big Sky Championship meet with sophomore Luke Mest (30^th) and junior Zachary Giesch (32^nd) finishing in the two spots behind Steckelberg.

Sophomore Lane Krautschun and freshman Henry Sund were the other two scorers for Montana at the Big Sky Championship, and two other true freshmen were inside the top eight finishers for the Grizzlies.

It's a very young squad with plenty of potential. The opportunity to race against some of the best teams in the country at a big-time meet

"It's invaluable for these young guys because it goes from 8k to 10, and so for everybody that we're taking except two guys, they've never raced this distance before. That alone is huge exposure," Fraley said. "Then, just being in a race with the caliber of athletes that the Mountain Region has is just a tremendous experience."

There has been plenty of growth in the program since Fraley and distance coach AJ Eckmann took over. Steckelberg was the first Grizzly individual since 2011 to finish inside the top 20 as an individual at the Big Sky Championship last year.

He followed it up with another top 20 finish two weeks ago in his hometown of Bozeman. Steckelberg did it racing against some of the top runners in the country. He and his teammates will see even more talent on Friday.

New Mexico is the top ranked team in the regional rankings and the 3rd ranked team in the country in the most recent poll. Colorado is 2^nd in the region and 4^th nationally, followed by Big Sky Champion Northern Arizona in 3^rd and 8^th.

BYU is also ranked 10^th nationally and will be at the meet, giving the Mountain Regino four of the top 10 teams in the country.

"These guys can come away from this meet saying, 'Now we know what it's all about.' It's really so valuable for our young runners moving forward in their mindset and the way they train to be exposed to competition like this," Fraley said. "I'm hoping it will fuel their training in the future as they mature at the college level."

The race will be run on a flat track at the rec field at the University of Utah. Fraley said that there aren't many hills to run, so it should set up for fast times with some of the nation's best and he's looking to see how his team responds.

"It will be a matter of really locking in on your pacing given the fact that this race is two kilometers longer than what they've raced all year," Fraley said. "It will be fun and interesting to see how our younger athletes handle that change in distance and just the environment with the caliber of athletes that this race offers."