Mest leads Grizzlies with career best time at MSU Bobcat Twilight

Friday, September 4

Bozeman, Mont.

7:20 PM

Montana

MSU Bobcat Twilight

Montana cross country competes at the Big Sky Championship (11.1.25)

Photo by: Jackson Wagner

Mest leads Grizzlies with career best time at MSU Bobcat Twilight

9/4/2026 9:27:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Final Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's cross country program started out the 2026 season strong with seven personal best times and a top five finish for junior Luke Mest. The Grizzlies finished second in the competition behind host Montana State.

Mest ran a time of 14:50.0 to finish 4^th overall and second among collegiate runners at the meet. Sam Ells won with a time of 14:38.3 followed by Duncan Hamilton of the Oregon Track Club and Will Kelly, who ran unattached.

The race featured five laps on a 1K course and Mest saved his best for last, running a final lap time of 2:52.7 to make up ground on Kelly in front of him and pass Montana State's Ryan Harrington.

"I thought the guys did a great job. Luke's finish in that race was fantastic, he was the number two collegian, and really beat a bunch of good guys in that race," head coach Doug Fraley said. "It was a great start for him and our top five average time was way faster than it has been in the last four years so that was a great start for the men. I'm excited about the potential that they have as we progress toward the regular season at the end of October."

Montana had personal best times from its top six runners on the men's side. Lane Krautschun, Zachary Giesch, and Albert Turner all finished inside the top 15 in the event with times under 15:23.

Henry Sund had the final time for Montana in the scoring, finishing 18^th with a time of 15:28.8. The depth is something that Fraley has been pleased with this fall and it was on display on Friday with last year's top finisher at the Big Sky Championships not even scoring for the Grizzlies.

"It's exciting and I think we are going to see that throughout the regular season," Fraley said. "I think we will see different guys run in those mid-to-high scoring positions for us all season and it's going to be a bit of a revolving door in that 3-7 range, which is what you want. You want guys grinding it out every week to try to get into the top five, that bodes well for our potential this year."

The Grizzly men had 44 total points, finishing nearly 60 points ahead of the next closest team in Bozeman.

Olivia Coll led the Montana women with a time of 19:07.3 in the 5K race. Coll finished 12^th overall in the event with Montana State taking 10 of the top 11 spots.

Heidi Olson placed 15^th with a time of 19:31.4 and Malia Bradford came in at 16^th with a time of 19:34.2.

Libby Hartz and Ashtyn Wagner rounded out the scoring for the Grizzly women with 28^th and 37^th place finishes.

"Olivia ran a great race and we were very thin on the women's side," Fraley said. "Several athletes were out as a precaution as we get ready to really get them racing next week and beyond. We were thin there, but they gave us a really good effort in week one."

The Grizzlies finished 3^rd in the team competition with 76 points. Montana State had a perfect 15 point score to win the event and Carroll College came in second with 73 points.

Montana returns to action in one week's time with the Cougar Classic hosted by Washington State. The women's race will begin at 6:30 p.m. (MT) and the men's race starts at 7:00 p.m. on September 11.

MONTANA MEN'S RESULTS
1. Luke Mest (14:50.0*, 4^th)
2. Lane Krautschun (15:13.8*, 12^th)
3. Zachary Giesch (15:17.5*, 14^th)
4. Albert Turner (15:22.4*, 15^th)
5. Henry Sund (15:28.8*, 18^th)
6. Henry Ballinger (15:42.4*, 20^th)
7. Carson Steckelberg (15:49.4, 21^st)
8. Keagen Crosby (16:09.0*, 31^st)
9. Truman Thompson (16:24.7, 35^th)

MONTANA WOMEN'S RESULTS
1. Olivia Coll (19:07.3, 12^th)
2. Heidi Olson (19:31.4, 15^th)
3. Malia Bradford (19:34.2, 16^th)
4. Libby Hartz (20:21.5, 28^th)
5. Ashtyn Wagner (20:45.2, 37^th)

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Montana State (19)
2. Montana (44)
3. Rocky Mountain (102)
4. Montana Tech (115)
5. Carroll College (138)
6. MSU-Billings (145)
7. Montana Western (197)
8. Dawson CC (261)
9. MSU-Northern (271)

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Montana State (15)
2. Carroll College (73)
3. Montana (76)
4. Montana Tech (122)
5. Montana Western (133)
6. MSU-Billings (136)
7. MSU-Northern (179)