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The University of Montana men’s and women’s cross country teams both posted third-place finishes Saturday at the Big Sky Conference championships at the Boomerang Links Golf Course in Greeley, Colo. The Grizzlies had three All-Big Sky Conference performers between the two teams, the most for Montana since 2000.

Sophomore Lynn Reynolds earned his first All-Big Sky honor, finishing fifth in the men’s race.

Junior Katrina Drennen, who placed third overall for the second straight year, and sophomore Kesslee Payne, who was seventh, also earned All-Big Sky Conference honors.

It was Drennen’s third All-Big Sky finish and Payne’s first. Drennen was sixth at the Big Sky meet as a freshman in 2007.

As expected, Northern Arizona was dominant in sweeping both races. The Lumberjack men placed their top five in the top seven overall to score a scant 19 points. The NAU women had five in the top 10 to score 28 points.

Montana State, which scored 68 points, edged Montana out of second in the men’s race. The Grizzlies finished with 76 points.

The top three were trailed by Weber State (91 points), Eastern Washington (144), Sacramento State (170), Idaho State (176), Portland State (226) and Northern Colorado (273).

The gap for second was even closer on the women’s side, where runner-up Weber State scored 64 points to Montana’s 66.

Sacramento State was fourth with 99 points, Idaho State fifth (120), Montana State sixth (162), Northern Colorado seventh (221), Portland State eighth (227) and Eastern Washington ninth (276).

The Montana men, who had their best finish since the 2000 UM team tied for third, were the surprise of the meet. The Grizzlies were picked by the league’s coaches for a fifth-place finish in the preseason, but put their top five runners in the top 24 overall Saturday morning on a muddy course in snowy Greeley.

“I can’t say enough about how we ran today,” UM coach Courtney Babcock said. “Our goal was to get our top five guys into the top 30 overall, and we ended up with five in the top 25. And our sixth came in 30th, so we actually went six deep in the top 30.

“We’ve been in and out of illness and injury for what seems like the entire season, but it all came together on the right day.”

Reynolds was 12th at last fall’s Big Sky meet as a redshirt freshman, then moved up to fifth in his second Big Sky championships race, running the eight-kilometer course in 25:49.

He finished behind Northern Arizona’s David McNeill, last year’s winner who won this year by nearly a minute (24:35) over teammate and runner up Jordan Chipangam, who ran a 25:31.

NAU’s Ben Ashkettle was third in 25:32.

Montana State’s Nick Atwood, who ran a 25:46, joined Reynolds in splitting up NAU’s top five.

In addition to the top three spots, the Lumberjacks also went sixth, seventh, eighth and 10th.

“Lynn had a great race today,” Babcock said. “He developed a side ache late in the race, but he held on. He really wanted to break up NAU’s pack, and he did.”

The surprise individual on the surprise team was senior Michael Fisher, who placed 11th in 26:12. He was just over a second out of a top-10 finish and all-conference honors.

Fisher was 34th at the Big Sky meet as a freshman, 33rd as a sophomore and 18th last year.

“Michael had the best race I’ve ever seen him run, which was so exciting to see,” Babcock said. “I saw him with four or five hundred to go and he was with an MSU runner (Matthew Atkinson-Adams) that’s finished ahead of him all year. By the finish he was 50 meters ahead.”

Junior Collin Fehr, who is in his first year in the program after moving over from the Montana men’s tennis team, placed 17th (26:50), senior Mac Bloom was 22nd (26:57) and freshman Quinton Decker was 24th (26:58).

“Collin coming off the tennis team to finish in the top 20 at his first conference meet was great,” Babcock said. “And Quinton really stepped up as a freshman.”

Sophomore Robbie Brooks was 30th (27:14), redshirt freshman Cody Lund was 56th (28:52).

“We’ve been preparing for this race all season, and we all had a great race today, so I think everyone’s very satisfied with their effort,” Fisher said. “Both teams knew they were better than where we were picked to finish in the preseason. We knew we could compete with teams like Weber State that are traditionally in front of us.”

Drennen led Montana for the third straight year, running a 19:29 over the extended five-kilometer course. The official distance of the race was 5,240 meters following a last-minute course adjustment due to the conditions.

“Katrina had a great race today,” Babcock said. “She was fourth with about 600 to go but was able to kick down a Weber runner.”

Northern Arizona’s Veronica Pohl won her second straight individual title in a time of 19:04. She was 23 seconds ahead of teammate Kortnee Burton, who ran a 19:27 to edge out Drennen.

Weber State underclassmen Sarah Callister (19:36) and Laken Skidmore (19:52) rounded out the top five.

At Payne’s only other Big Sky meet, as a true freshman in 2007, she placed 30th. She missed most of the last year recovering from a stress fracture.

Saturday she was seventh in a time of 20:02.

“It’s really been fun to watch Kesslee get more focused and excited about running,” Babcock said. “She worked hard last year to get through the stress fracture. It’s nice to see that hard work pay off.”

Juniors Kara DeWalt (15th, 20:24), Brooke Andrus (20th, 20:42) and Bridgette Hoenke rounded out Montana’s five scorers.

Also competing were senior Kim Tritz, who was 27th in a time of 20:58, and sophomore Mary Kettering, who was 35th in a time of 21:32.

Montana’s season continues Saturday, Nov. 14, at the NCAA Mountain Region championships in Albuquerque, N.M.