Mest earns first All-Conference honors for Griz men since 2011

Friday, October 30

Flagstaff, Ariz.

11:00 AM (MT)

Montana

Big Sky Conference Championship

Photo by: Bryson Lester

10/30/2026 2:34:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

PDF Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Luke Mest ran his way into the Montana record book Friday morning in Flagstaff, Ariz. The junior continued an incredible season for Griz cross country with a 9^th place finish at the Big Sky Championships to earn All-Conference honors in the loaded league.

He's the first Grizzly men's runner to earn All-Conference honors since Lynn Reynolds finished 4^th in 2011 and is the fifth man this century to earn the honor for Montana.

"Luke's run today was amazing," head coach Doug Fraley said. "Being able to work his way into the top 10 is a tremendous testament to how hard he has worked in the last year. He made a decision a year ago to really try to excel in this sport and he's put the work in, so it's great to see him earn a top 10 finish."

His performance led Montana to a 5^th place finish in the team competition behind Northern Arizona, Montana State, Weber State, and Southern Utah. The finish ties last year's team for the best by Montana's men since 2011.

It was a strategic race for Mest, who was on the outside of the All-Conference picture for a large chunk of the proceedings. He hung with the top group at the first mile mark and was holding on to 10^th by the time they reached mile marker number two with a time of 9:36.7.

He third mile was his worst split at 5:01.9 and it dropped him five places to 15^th, but at 7,000 feet of elevation in Flagstaff he knew what he had in the tank for the home stretch.

Mest jumped back up to 12^th at the four-mile mark with a 4:49 split and brought it home in 4:47 over the final split, which was the 6^th fastest in the race during the stretch, to break into the top 10 and earn All-Conference honors.

"He ran a really smart race because the course was not only at 7,000 feet, but there were also some really tough parts to it," Fraley said. "He played it cool, laid back exactly where Coach Eckmann wanted him to be throughout that race, and as he has been doing all year had a really blistering last mile."

Northern Arizona has long dominated the conference and won its eighth straight title on the men's side. NAU's Erik Le Roux won the individual title and was one of seven Lumberjacks to be named All-Conference.

Mest had the third-best time of all runners that don't call Flagstaff home, an impressive accomplishment in a league that may be powerful at the top, but also has several regionally competitive teams and good depth.

The team backed up Mest's performance as well to earn 5^th place in the men's standings. The Grizzlies were in a tier of their own on the leaderboard, trailing fourth place Southern Utah by 41 points but ahead of sixth place Idaho State by 49 points.

Zachary Giesch and Lane Krautschun took very different paths to a very similar result as they came in 21^st and 23^rd overall for the Grizzlies, finishing just two seconds apart from each other.

Both runners improved throughout the race, but Giesch got out to the fast start, sitting in 32^nd at the first mile mark. He improved his position at every mile the rest of the way, jumping up six spots across the final time split to finish in 25:02.6.

Krautschun was in 61^st after a 5:01 split on the opening mile but forced his way back towards the top the rest of the way. He finished strong to run a time of 25:04.1.

Carson Steckelberg finished 47^th overall with a time of 24:41.6 and Keagen Crosby rounded out the scoring for the Grizzlies with a time of 25:50.7, good for 50^th in the meet.

Henry Sund came in at 51^st and Henry Ballinger and Albert Turner finished 64^th and 78^th, respectively.

"It was a really good day for the men and we're really proud of them," Fraley said. "It is as tough a race as you will ever run in your life, running an 8K up at 7,000 feet, so they really battled. AJ had a great plan for them, he's done a great job developing that group of guys, and they really ran a smart race together. We're proud of that finish."

Malia Bradford was the top finisher on the women's side for Montana as she broke 18-minutes in the 5K for the first time in her career. Bradford finished 47^th overall with a time of 17:59.2.

Olivia Coll and Rosie Conway were the next two across the line for the women in 63^rd and 64^th place. They ran times of 18:23.4 and 18:24.6, respectively.

Heidi Olson ran a time of 18:41.5 and Lucy Thompson rounded out the scoring for the Grizzly women with a time of 19:26.5.

Montana's women finished 10^th with a score of 282, just 12 points behind Northern Colorado for 9^th.

"Malia was fantastic today leading us like she has the last couple of races," Fraley said. "For her to run faster than she's ever run in a 5K up here at 7,000 feet is a really outstanding result and we're really proud of her for the way she's led our women's team this year."

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
1. Luke Mest (24:16.2, 9^th)
2. Zachary Giesch (25:02.6, 21^st)
3. Lane Krautschun (25:04.1, 23^rd)
4. Carson Steckelberg (25:41.6, 47^th)
5. Keagen Crosby (25:50.7, 50^th)
6. Henry Sund (25:54.1, 51^st)
7. Henry Ballinger (26:21.8, 64^th)
8. Albert Turner (27:02.2, 78^th)

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
1. Malia Bradford (17:59.2, 47^th)
2. Olivia Coll (18:23.4, 63^rd)
3. Rosie Conway (18:24.6, 64^th)
4. Heidi Olson (18:41.5, 75^th)
5. Lucy Thompson (19:26.5, 86^th)
6. Libby Hartz (19:28.6, 88^th)
7. Peyton Frame (19:45.2, 91^st)

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Northern Arizona (20)
2. Montana State (71)
3. Weber State (79)
4. Southern Utah (93)
5. Montana (134)
6. Idaho State (183)
7. Idaho (202)
8. Utah Tech (208)
9. Eastern Washington (254)
10. Northern Colorado (315)
11. Portland State (317)

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Northern Arizona (16)
2. Montana State (77)
3. Idaho (97)
4. Weber State (97)
5. Southern Utah (136)
6. Utah Tech (156)
7. Idaho State (213)
8. Eastern Washington (228)
9. Northern Colorado (270)
10. Montana (282)
11. Portland State (304)