Montana State University
PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL
Pre-National Invitational Preview
10/18/2013 11:42:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Cross Country ready to prove themselves on national stage
Both the men's and women's team qualified for the Blue race, which features the top programs that have entered the meet and serves as the main event at LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course. Overall, 161 teams (men and women) will be in attendance, including Big Sky Conference representation from the Southern Utah men and the women's teams from Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.
In the most recent USTFCCCA Regional polls, the MSU men are ranked 10th in the mountain region. In Terra Haute, they'll also get a chance to see how they fare against Colorado, who is ranked first in the mountain and second in the nation.
The Bobcat men are sending a full squad, led by Cristian Soratos and Trevor Polson who have made their mark as the team's front runners this fall. Soratos won the season opening BRC Invitational, while Polson took first place at the Montana Invitational. The senior duo will be supplemented by Jacob Kirk, Seth Garbett, Zachary Kughn, Joel Estelle and Grant Grosvenor.
Of the seven men racing on Saturday, five of them already have experience at this elite level. In 2012, Soratos was the team's highest finisher coming in 25th in a field of over 260 runners.
The women will compete with four veterans from the 2012 race, including Heather Demorest who has won both races she's competed in this season. Last year, the Darby, Mont. native placed 121st overall and will seek a much higher finish on Saturday.
Rachel Atwood, Rachel Sullivan and Michelle Cline will also look for major improvement in their second Pre-National meet. Attending for their first time will be Jenette Northey, Christie Schiel and Mackenzie O'Dore.
The Bobcat women are ranked ninth in the most recent Mountain Region poll and will have a chance to compete against 13 of the top 30 teams in the nation including Colorado, who is currently second in the Mountain Region.
"We have a wonderful opportunity to face a large number of high-quality teams this weekend," said head coach Dale Kennedy. "We've been working on preparing for these kinds of races not just for this season but for the future of the program. More importantly, this meet gives us a chance to really prove we belong among the elite and work on moving up in the polls."
The Men's 8K Race begins at 9 a.m. (MDT), followed by the Women's 6K at 9:40 a.m.
Official Meet Website
