Montana State University
MSU INVITATIONAL
Cross Country Opens 2013 Season at BRC Invite
9/20/2013 4:43:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Bobcats ready to prove themselves with veteran group
While many teams have already begun their seasons, MSU is finally ready to get out there and compete as well. The Bobcats will be joined by four other Big Sky Institutions in the twelve-team meet. Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana and Northern Colorado will test the trail at Bridger Creek Golf Course since Montana State will be hosting the 2013 Big Sky Cross Country Championship in November. Other NCAA Division I schools in attendance will be Utah, Utah State and Utah Valley. In the Small Schools competition Carroll, Great Falls, Minot State and Rocky Mountain will make the trip to Bozeman.
After a youth-laden 2012, MSU returned a much more experience group. For the men, Seth Garbett, Jacob Kirk, Trevor Polson and Cristian Soratos bring the most experience after exemplary track and field seasons and will look to build upon the success they started last year.
Of the nine Bobcat men rostered for Saturday, all but one are familiar with the ways of Bridger Creek. Joel Estelle, Grant Grosvenor, Zach Kughn and Jakob Woodland will also add depth in the field after having a year of competition under their belts.
Marcus Swan, who ran track and field in 2012-13 will make his cross country debut.
The men were picked fourth in the Big Sky preseason poll after finishing in that spot at the 2012 Championship.
The Montana State women, after year where inexperience yielded some difficulties, return an older group ready to prove themselves. With a fourth place pre-season conference ranking, they're eager to be conference contenders. Leading the way is Heather Demorest who saw huge improvement her junior season and will look to climb to the top of the league for her final season. The previous two seasons she has placed 16th at the Big Sky meet.
Other veterans joining Demorest include Rachel Atwood, who truly made her mark as a freshman, Michelle Cline, Taylor Rather, Christie Schiel, Kaylee Schmitz and Rachel Sullivan.
New to the program this fall are freshmen Taylor Floming and Jenette Northey. Mackenzie O'Dore transferred to MSU in January from Rocky Mountain.
"Naturally, we are really excited to finally just get out there and race," said head coach Dale Kennedy. "I think this year's conference polls serve as serious motivation for both our programs. The first meet of the year is always really exciting and we're very eager to see what kind of performances we put out on the course."
The men's race begins at 9 a.m., followed by the women's race at 9:45 a.m. This year's meet also serves at Cat-Griz for Montana State and Montana. Last year, both the Bobcat teams swept the Griz in Missoula.
