Griz Cross Country heads to WSU Cougar Classic

The Montana cross country program opened its season two weeks ago with a 5k time trial in Bozeman. Now, the real season is set to begin. The Grizzlies head to Colfax, Wash. to race in the WSU Cougar Classic hosted by Washington State.

The opening Friday back in August gave head coach Doug Fraley a good idea of his team's fitness level, but now the men extend out to the 8k distance for the first time while the women will run a 6k.

"The biggest thing is getting out to the 8k distance on the men's side for the first time this season," Fraley said. "It's their race distance moving forward and it will be to see where they are at compared to the 5k time trial we did in Bozeman a few weeks ago. This is what we consider the first real indicator of where we stand at the true race distance."

The women will run the 5k distance at the Big Sky Championships at the end of the season, making this week an outlier for them at the longer distance.

The Grizzlies return plenty of talent from last year's teams and started things off well at the MSU Bobcat Twilight two weeks ago. The Grizzly men had two runners place in the top 10 while the women had one crack the top 10 and four runners in the top 20.

Senior Kayla Ingraham had the top overall result for Montana with a 6^th place finish on the women's side. The veteran runner led a group of younger Grizzlies across the line with a time of 18:45.0.

Luke Mest (7^th) and Carson Steckelberg (9^th) were the top finishers on the men's side, crossing the line within a second of each other in a dash to the finish that included a Bobcat sandwiched between them.

Montana will now look to take some momentum with them against a competitive field in Colfax. The field includes Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Seattle U, and many others. The Cougars were ranked 21^st on the men's side and receiving votes on the women's side in the National Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Gonzaga's women were ranked 22^nd while their women are receiving votes to be ranked. It should lead to fast fields with plenty of talented runners.

"We're really excited to go down to Colfax. It's a great golf course that is flat and fast," Fraley said. "There is always good competition with Washington State, Gonzaga, Idaho, Eastern Washington, schools like that. "We know we will face some top tier competition, some Big Sky competition."

The team had last weekend off to train following the season opener. Distance coach AJ Eckmann and his runners were able to look at the results from the five 1k loops that the team competed in Bozeman and work on improving.

"You get an idea of where you're at in Bozeman at the 5k time trial and it gives Coach Eckmann the opportunity to really hone in on what needs to be done in the two-week period leading up to the first real race of the season," Fraley said. "It's been a good opportunity for pre-evaluation and training to get ready for the first test."

Last year at this event, Montana's men finished in 9^th and the women tied with Arizona in 8^th place. All eight of the women who ran last year are once again on the roster. The six women who started the season in Bozeman all have experience on this course.

The nine men that competed in Colfax last year also return in 2025 so there should be plenty of familiarity with the course. But the men also have a solid group of newcomers that will be running at the 8k distance for the first time in a collegiate race.

Three of Montana's top seven men's finishers in Bozeman were true freshmen. The Grizzlies will also have several runners making their season debuts after missing the opener with injuries or sickness.

"We're looking forward to seeing two men and two women that didn't race in Bozeman that are healthy now and we will get a first look at," Fraley said. "It will be great to add numbers to the depth of the team."

Montana will return home next Friday night to host the Montana Invite at the UM Golf Course.

"Once we race this weekend it really gets the season rolling," Fraley said. "It's a great opportunity to race some high-level competition that should set us up really well to come home for the meet here in Missoula the next week and be very competitive."

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Players Mentioned

Kayla Ingraham

Luke Mest

Carson Steckelberg

University of Montana Athletics