Griz maintain form at WSU Cougar Classic

Friday, September 12

Pullman, Wash.

6:00 PM

Montana

WSU Cougar Classic

Griz Cross Country Races during a cross country meet at the University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula, Montana on Friday Sept. 20, 2024.

Photo by: Ella Palulis/University of Montana

9/12/2025 7:57:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana's cross country teams returned to the course after a week off and picked up where they left off with solid performances from both sides at the WSU Cougar Classic in Colfax, Wash.

"Really happy with the way the kids came out after having a couple of weeks to train after the Bozeman meet going to 6K for the women and 8K for the men," head coach Doug Fraley said. "I'm really pleased with the way they performed today. Both sides showed great improvement, we're really getting some young athletes who were not afraid to throw their hat in the ring in good races and work together and perform well."

Montana's men finished in 3^rd place behind a couple of top 10 finishes from Zachary Giesch and Carson Steckelberg. The men trailed nationally ranked Washington State and a very good Gonzaga squad, but were the next D1 finisher with 85 points. They outpaced fellow Big Sky opponent Eastern Washington.

Giesch had the highlight run of the day for Montana with a 9^th place finish overall. He shaved over a minute off his previous best time and led the Grizzlies to the finish line in 24:16.7.

He was followed just tenths of a second later by Carson Steckelberg. It's the second straight week that the Grizzly veteran has finished in a narrow second place. Steckelberg also ran a career best with a time of 24:16.9 to finish in 10^th place.

"Really fun run for those two. Getting a top 10 in a race like that with Washington State who is ranked in the top 20 and Gonzaga who is perennially ranked, to finish in the top 10 in a race like that is no joke. It was a really good job by those two."

It was a great finish Montana's top men as Luke Mest, last week's top finisher, came in 17^th overall and third on Montana with an 8K personal best time of 24:33.5.

All of Montana's top six finishers on the men's side either ran their career best times or were true freshmen, signifying the potential of this year's squad. Albert Turner (25:28.6), Henry Sund (25:35.7), and Elliot Stimpson (25:37.6), a trio of true freshmen, were the next three finishers for Montana.

"Those three youngsters worked together the whole race and Coach Eckmann had a good plan for them to work together and race patiently and then really drop it down the last kilometer and they followed his script to a tee and I'm really excited about the development that we will see with the new freshmen and just how competitive they were in the second half of that race to pass a lot of people and have a good first 8K experience."

The Grizzly women finished in 4^th place in the team standings and once again were led by senior Kayla Ingraham. Ingraham finished 18^th overall in a time of 22:29.3, which was a new personal best at the 6K distance.

"It was the next step for Kayla, especially going out to 6K this week," Fraley said. "She handled it really well and led our women's team with another really great run."

She was one of three Grizzlies to run personal best collegiate times at the 6K distance. Heidi Olson, who finished second on Montana and 22^nd overall, also ran a new PR with a time of 22:38.4.

Shay Pederson was third for the Grizzlies. Pederson made her season debut on Friday with a time of 23:00.8 to finish in 33^rd. The final PR came from sophomore Libby Hartz, who ran a time of 23:01.0 to finish right behind Pederson in 34^th.

Olivia Coll and Abigail Case snuck into the top 50 for Montana while Malia Bradford made her Grizzly debut with a 59^th place finish in a time of 24:43.5 in her return from injury and a year away from the sport.

"The key is improvement and I felt like across the board on the ladies side we had improvement from the times we ran at this same race last year," Fraley said. "Obviously having Kayla back healthy and leading us is a big boost but it was just really good progress. That's what we want from this regular season is good progress from race to race and we got that so far between race one and two and we're looking to coming home and running well at our home meet."

The Grizzlies will host the Montana Invite on Friday evening at the UM Golf Course for the first and only home event of the season.

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
1. Kayla Ingraham (22:29.3*, 18^th)
2. Heidi Olson (22:38.4*, 22^nd)
3. Shay Pederson (23:00.8, 33^rd)
4. Libby Hartz (23:01.0*, 34^th)
5. Olivia Coll (23:56.0, 48^th)
6. Abigail Case (24:00.7, 50^th)
7. Malia Bradford (24:43.5, 59^th)

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
1. Zachary Giesch (24:16.7*, 9^th)
2. Carson Steckelberg (24:16.9*, 10^th)
3. Luke Mest (24:33.5*, 17^th)
4. Albert Turner (25:28.6, 45^th)
5. Henry Sund (25:35.7, 50^th)
6. Elliot Stimpson (25:37.6, 51^st)
7. Lane Krautschun (25:44.1, 54^th)
8. Lane Cole (25:53.8, 57^th)
9. Will Sandnes (26:04.5, 61^st)
10. Truman Thompson (26:35.1, 75^th)
11. Colin Shaules (26:39.1, 76^th)
12. Sam Jagodzinski (27:24.1, 92^nd)

*Denotes PR