Mest wins LC State Invite to cap impressive regular season

Saturday, October 17

Lewiston, Idaho

11:00 AM (MT)

Montana

LC State Invite

Scenes from the Missoula Invite on Sept. 18, 2026, at the University of Montana golf course, in Missoula.

Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of Montana

Mest wins LC State Invite to cap impressive regular season

10/17/2026 6:24:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Luke Mest has put together one of the best seasons over the last few decades for the Montana cross country program and he added another impressive accolade on Saturday at the LC State Invite.

Mest became the first Grizzly since Adam Wollant in 2013 to win an individual title, crossing the line first in a time of 24:06. Mest has been in the top four in all five of Montana's meets this season and adds a victory to his resume in Lewiston.

"That is a big win for Luke against good competition today," head coach Doug Fraley said. "He has been so steady all season and to see him continue to progress is just awesome."

Mest has been under 24 minutes twice this season and has led the Grizzlies in all five races. He is in terrific form heading into the Big Sky Championships in two weeks in Flagstaff.

"That run puts Luke in a great place as we get ready for the conference championships in a few weeks," Fraley said. "He's been running so competitively that he's going to be going into the championships confident, fit, and ready to go."

The Grizzly men nearly got the team win as well with a score of 45, trailing the victors Gonzaga by just two points. Mest was joined in the top 10 by Lane Krautschun in 5^th place with a time of 24:33 and Henry Sund in 9^th with a time of 24:46.

Sund has been inside the top five for the Grizzlies twice this season, but improved by nearly a minute over his last 8K time at the Frank Knott Classic two weeks ago for his best result as a Grizzly.

Zachary Giesch finished 12^th and Keagen Crosby in 24^th to round out the scoring for the Grizzly men.

"That's another great outing for the men's team," Fraley said. "They have been so consistent all season and today was no different, and yet they did it in a different way today. We have been so steady with Luke and Lane up in the first couple of spots but Henry Sund really came through and ran a great race today so that was huge."

Krautschun has finished second in all four meets that he has competed in this season for the Griz. He set a personal best time at the 8K distance on Saturday to continue his strong season.

The rest of the Grizzlies have taken turns with big performances in the three through five spots. The depth was highlighted by Fraley at the start of the season and has pulled through time after time during it.

"Our men's team seems to, whenever somebody has a rough day, there is a guy or two that steps up and takes that position," Fraley said. "That's what we've been looking for out of the men's team this year, and we've been getting it with interchangeable parts in the 3-5 order of the roster."

The Grizzly women finished in 6^th place with a score of 149, narrowly edging out Big Sky rival Idaho who came in at 153. Malia Bradford, a senior from Missoula, led the Grizzlies for the first time this season with a time of 18:01.

It's a personal best for Bradford, who has shown improvement nearly every race this season after starting the year off with a time of 19:34 as she returned from injury.

"Great run for Malia today," Fraley said. "After coming off an injury early in the season, she has been steadily getting better. It was great to see her lead us today and to see the ladies bunching up in that top five."

The Grizzly women had three runners record personal best times at the 5K distance, including Bradford. Olivia Coll, who had been the top finisher for Montana in her first three meets, ran a personal best time of 18:09 to finish 22^nd.

Heidi Olson was third across for Montana with a 29^th place finish. Lucy Thompson also had a PR with a time of 19:04 to finish 50^th. Libby Hartz finished off the scoring with a time of 19:18 and a 59^th place finish.

Montana will now have a week off before the Big Sky Conference Championship in Flagstaff, Ariz. on Friday, October 30.

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
1. Luke Mest (24:06, 1^st)
2. Lane Krautschun (24:33*, 5^th)
3. Henry Sund (24:46*, 9^th)
4. Zachary Giesch (24:51, 12^th)
5. Keagen Crosby (25:13*, 24^th)
6. Albert Turner (25:17, 27^th)
7. Henry Ballinger (25:20, 29^th)
8. Carson Steckelberg (25:28, 32^nd)
9. Truman Thompson (26:42, 72^nd)

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
1. Malia Bradford (18:01*, 16^th)
2. Olivia Coll (18:09*, 22^nd)
3. Heidi Olson (18:25, 29^th)
4. Lucy Thompson (19:04*, 50^th)
5. Libby Hartz (19:18, 59^th)
6. Sofia Hinderman (20:05, 75^th)
7. Peyton Frame (20:29, 83^rd)

*PR time

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Gonzaga (43)
2. Montana (45)
3. Northwest Nazarene (109)
4. Eastern Oregon (113)
5. College of Idaho (129)
6. Northwest (Wash.) (139)
7. Southern Idaho (163)
8. Lewis-Clark (214)

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Gonzaga (16)
2. Southern Idaho (91)
3. Northwest Nazarene (94)
4. Lewis-Clark (115)
5. Eastern Oregon (124)
6. Montana (149)
7. Idaho (153)
8. College of Idaho (224)
9. Northwest (Wash.) (246)
10. MSU-Northern (310)