Montana State University
NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIP
And Then There Was One
11/15/2013 5:58:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Cross Country season comes to a close for most of Cross Country but Heather Demorest qualifies for NCAA Championship
Of 20 teams, Montana State placed seventh with 209 points, finishing one spot ahead of their most recent Mountain Region ranking. Colorado was the overall women's team champion with 29 points. Big Sky Conference member and meet host Weber State finished fourth, with Northern Arizona in sixth.
MSU's team finish marks the program's highest since 2000.
Capitalizing on the best women's cross country season in at least 10 years, the Bobcats took it a step further and produced their first NCAA Championship participant since Ariana Lee in 2003. Heather Demorest's seventh place finish in the Women's 6K race with a time of 20:44.7, just 15 seconds behind Sammy Silva of New Mexico. The senior also beat Summer Harper of Weber, who won the individual Big Sky title just two weeks prior.
Spots two-through-five showed tremendous growth for the Cats. Separated by just over one minute, freshman Jenette Northey had her top race of her debut season coming in 45th with a time of 21:42.6 with Christie Schiel just behind her in 49th in 21:44.1. Rachel Sullivan, who came in 93rd just one year ago, notched a 51st place time of 21:48.9. Rachel Atwood rounded out the Bobcats scorers, coming in 57th overall (21:53.7).
"This was, without a doubt, the best race of the year for the women," said head coach Dale Kennedy. "It wasn't just Heather's finish but the entire team's effort, which is really the big picture for us. Each runner stepped it up and put together smart races for the collective group and our overall finish shows that."
Heading into Friday's 10K, the Bobcat men held onto a ninth place mountain region ranking ending their season in the same place among 17 teams. Big Sky member Northern Arizona dethroned the number-one ranked team in the nation by defeating Colorado for the overall team title with 61 points. The only other Big Sky team between NAU and MSU was Southern Utah, who placed seventh.
Four of MSU's six runners were seniors, marking their final outing for cross country in Blue and Gold. Seth Garbett was the team's highest finisher, coming in 35th, the highest place of his career at the regional meet. The senior finished with a time of 30:17.9, just under a minute behind the winner.
Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech was the men's individual winner, clocking a time of 29:23.6.
Trevor Polson crossed the line in 41st place, another lifetime best place, in 30:27. Also in his final cross country meet, Jacob Kirk came in 44th in 30:31.8. The fourth and final senior on the squad was Cristian Soratos who produced a 50th place finish with a time of 30:44.5. Zachary Kughn was the final scorer, placing 68th in 31:23.4
Overall, the men produced a time spread of less than a minute between the one and four spots on the course.
"The men competed against seven schools that were ranked in the top-30," said Kennedy. "To come in ninth place was not a disappointment, as it showed how difficult the field was today. They equaled their ranking and definitely tried to put their best foot forward in Ogden."
While the men's season comes to a close, Heather Demorest will continue training for the NCAA Cross Country Championship, taking place on Nov. 23 in Terra Haute, Ind.
