Montana State Harriers at NCAA Mountain Region Championships
11/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
The women’s 6-kilometer race will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s 10K event at 11:45. The races will be held at the Collindale Golf Course.
“This is going to be the first time a lot of our kids will run at these distances in a collegiate race,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “The key will be to stay patient and wait for our turn to make a move.”
Conferences represented on Saturday include the Big Sky, Mountain West, Big 12, Western Athletic, Conference USA and The Summit League.
Texas Tech will be the favorite in the women’s race as the Red Raiders are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation. TT is led by Sally Kipyego, a two-time All America and 2007 NCAA runner-up.
Other ranked teams include Mountain West champ New Mexico, who is ranked No. 21, along with No. 26 Brigham Young and No. 28 Northern Arizona.
Competing for Montana State will be Rebecca Sorenson, Kala Jauquet, Morgan Dunley, Heather Haug, Lauren Kuennen, Brooke Chavez and Katie Gilboy. MSU will look to match or surpass last year’s 13th place finish.
The Bobcat women have been in and out of the Mountain Region top 15 this fall.
“Rebecca has been our No. 1 runner the past two races, and we expect her near the top again,” Kennedy said. “I also look to Kala and Morgan Dunley to have strong performances. We’ve trained well the past two weeks and they have done it together, side-be-side.
“As with the Big Sky meet, we’ll have a successful race if we can get our top five kids in the first half of the field, which is around the first 60 competitors,” Kennedy said. “We also want to have a 30-second split between our No. 1 and 5 kids. If we can accomplish those goals, it will be a good indicator for future success.”
The favorite in the men’s race will be Big Sky power Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks are currently No. 7 in the country. Other ranked teams competing are No. 11 BYU, No. 16 Colorado, and No. 30 UTEP.
Individually, NAU’s David McNeil, along with Mark Korir of Wyoming, Stephan Shay of BYU and Patrick Mutai of UTEP appear to be pre-race favorites.
Competing for MSU will be freshman phenom Patrick Casey, as well as Matt Adams, Devin McDowell, Kelvin Daratha, Carl Nystuen, Dan Jackson and Chris Baldus.
“A top 10 finish isn’t realistic for our squad,” Kennedy said. “We’re ranked 13th in the region and I would like to think that’s where we’ll end up. But who knows? Maybe we’ll have the race of the year.
“Like the women’s team, we want to have our top five guys in the top half of the field,” Kennedy said. “We need to stay patient in the first half of the race. We don’t need to start racing until we get to the four mile mark.”
The top 25 individuals will earn All-Mountain Region honors. The top two teams will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, with the next four individual runners, not from the top two squads, also gaining entry.
“This is going to be the first time a lot of our kids will run at these distances in a collegiate race,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “The key will be to stay patient and wait for our turn to make a move.”
Conferences represented on Saturday include the Big Sky, Mountain West, Big 12, Western Athletic, Conference USA and The Summit League.
Texas Tech will be the favorite in the women’s race as the Red Raiders are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation. TT is led by Sally Kipyego, a two-time All America and 2007 NCAA runner-up.
Other ranked teams include Mountain West champ New Mexico, who is ranked No. 21, along with No. 26 Brigham Young and No. 28 Northern Arizona.
Competing for Montana State will be Rebecca Sorenson, Kala Jauquet, Morgan Dunley, Heather Haug, Lauren Kuennen, Brooke Chavez and Katie Gilboy. MSU will look to match or surpass last year’s 13th place finish.
The Bobcat women have been in and out of the Mountain Region top 15 this fall.
“Rebecca has been our No. 1 runner the past two races, and we expect her near the top again,” Kennedy said. “I also look to Kala and Morgan Dunley to have strong performances. We’ve trained well the past two weeks and they have done it together, side-be-side.
“As with the Big Sky meet, we’ll have a successful race if we can get our top five kids in the first half of the field, which is around the first 60 competitors,” Kennedy said. “We also want to have a 30-second split between our No. 1 and 5 kids. If we can accomplish those goals, it will be a good indicator for future success.”
The favorite in the men’s race will be Big Sky power Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks are currently No. 7 in the country. Other ranked teams competing are No. 11 BYU, No. 16 Colorado, and No. 30 UTEP.
Individually, NAU’s David McNeil, along with Mark Korir of Wyoming, Stephan Shay of BYU and Patrick Mutai of UTEP appear to be pre-race favorites.
Competing for MSU will be freshman phenom Patrick Casey, as well as Matt Adams, Devin McDowell, Kelvin Daratha, Carl Nystuen, Dan Jackson and Chris Baldus.
“A top 10 finish isn’t realistic for our squad,” Kennedy said. “We’re ranked 13th in the region and I would like to think that’s where we’ll end up. But who knows? Maybe we’ll have the race of the year.
“Like the women’s team, we want to have our top five guys in the top half of the field,” Kennedy said. “We need to stay patient in the first half of the race. We don’t need to start racing until we get to the four mile mark.”
The top 25 individuals will earn All-Mountain Region honors. The top two teams will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, with the next four individual runners, not from the top two squads, also gaining entry.
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