Experienced Grizzly squads open year in Bozeman

Friday, September 4

Bozeman, Mont.

7:20 PM

Montana

MSU Bobcat Twilight

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

9/2/2026 4:01:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: Montana Sports Information

There will be plenty of familiar faces on the course for the Montana cross country program as they open the season this Friday night at the MSU Twilight Meet in Bozeman. The men and women will both run 5K with the men starting things at 7:20 p.m. and the women following at 7:45 p.m.

The Grizzly men return every runner from the 2025 squad while the women bring back six of the eight runners that competed at the Big Sky Championships. There is plenty of familiarity for a squad competing in year five under head coach Doug Fraley and distance coach AJ Eckmann.

"We're looking forward to heading to Bozeman this week. It's a great icebreaker for our men and women that have been putting in the mileage since June," Fraley said. "I know they are looking forward to getting out and running against some people from different schools in a little 5K time trial basically to see where we're at early in the season."

Montana's men were picked 6^th in the Big Sky Preseason polls while the women came in at 10^th. The men have some high expectations coming off a 5^th place finish last year in Bozeman at the Big Sky Championship.

It was the best finish for the men since 2011 in the Big Sky and they would go on to have their best regional finish since 2009 two weeks later at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Salt Lake City.

All 10 runners from last year's Big Sky Championship team are back, along with a couple of additional athletes that were injured in 2025 but could contribute this year.

"It's a really good feeling because we had a good year last year and knowing with everyone back we have the ability to be better than we were last year," Fraley said. "Obviously, the number one priority is to continue moving up the ladder in the Big Sky and I feel like we have the chance to do that this year with a veteran group."

Carson Steckelberg has finished 17^th at the Big Sky Championship in back-to-back seasons and is the only male Grizzly since Lynn Reynolds in 2011 to place in the top 20 in the league.

Luke Mest finished 30^th with Zachary Giesch coming in 32^nd at the conference meet. Giesch had finished as the top Grizzly runner three times in the regular season with Mest and Steckelberg leading Montana across the line once apiece.

The top three runners should once again set the pace in 2026, but it's the depth behind them that has Fraley eager for the season to start.

"One of the things I'm most excited about with regards to the men's team is we return everybody, especially our top three runners of (Steckelberg, Mest, and Giesch), but behind them are six or seven guys that are all going to be competing hard for the numbers four through seven spots," Fraley said. "I think this is the first time we've had this much depth in the middle section of the men's team that on any given week could go several different ways."

The Montana women's team returns six runners with Big Sky Championship experience. Heidi Olson was the top finisher last year with a 50^th place finish. Overall, they bring back four of the top five finishers from last year's conference meet with Malia Bradford, Ashtyn Wagner, and Olivia Coll returning.

They added two freshmen that could also make an instant impact in Rose Conway and Peyton Frame.

"I feel like on the women's side we're getting ready to turn the corner," Fraley said. "I think the culture on that side has improved a lot and with the influx of a couple of talented freshmen that we have coming in that group is going to start turning the corner, so we're excited about that."

The Grizzly women finished 10^th in 2024 and 9^th in 2025. They are hoping that a good group of returners and the additions of Conway and Frame will help them rise up the league standings.

"I feel like we have a good nucleus with our top five women this year that are returning that helped us a lot last year to improve in the league standings," Fraley said. "You add a couple of talented freshman like we have, and we feel good about continuing to build off the improvement from last year."

The Big Sky Conference has a new look in 2026 with the additions of Utah Tech and Southern Utah. Both teams have great distance programs. Southern Utah rejoins the Big Sky, where they won men's titles in 2015 and 2020. They are the only program outside of Northern Arizona since 2006 to win the men's trophy.

The Thunderbird women won the league in 2018, the only team outside of Northern Arizona since 2015 to claim the title.

"It's two great additions to the league as far as distance running goes and so I expect what has been a tremendously competitive Big Sky Conference to be even better with those two schools," Fraley said. "We're going to have to really improve to continue to move up the ladder in the league and that's what we're doing here. We're excited to get after it."

The Big Sky Championships will be held this year in Flagstaff on the home course of the multiple-time national champion Lumberjacks. The races will be held on October 30. Prior to that, the Grizzlies will have five regular season meets.

Fraley is interested to see how the season plays out on the men's side as they will have a decision to make in October.

"We're way ahead of where we have been with that kind of depth on the men's side so it will be really fun to see how that unfolds from race to race and then ultimately who we end up taking to the conference meet in Flagstaff," Fraley said.

The championship should provide a great challenge for every team in the league. Not only are they heading to the home track of the top team in the league for the last couple of decades, they will also have to race at over 7,000-feet of elevation.

"I think the conference meet in Flagstaff is great," Fraley said. "NAU is one of the best cross country programs in the country, so to be able to go up there and race at their home course at Buffalo Park is going to be a great experience for our athletes. It will be a great challenge for everybody in the league going up to 7,000 feet to compete, but once we get there it's all equal footing, and we're excited about that prospect."