Saturday, October 14
Sunnyvale, CA (Baylands Regional Park)
9:45 a.m.
Montana State University
at
Bronco Invitational
Brandon Hough
Montana State Treks West for Bronco Invitational
10/12/2017 1:45:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
The Montana State cross country teams head into their final meet before the Big Sky Conference Championships as they travel to Sunnyvale, Calif., for the Bronco Invitational
The Montana State cross country teams head into their final meet before the Big Sky Conference Championships as they travel to Sunnyvale, Calif., for the Bronco Invitational. The Bobcat men's squad begins action Saturday at 9 a.m. MDT, in the meet hosted by Santa Clara, with the 8-kilometer race at Baylands Regional Park and the women's squad follows with the 6-kilometer race at 9:45 a.m.
"It's nice to get out of our region just because we race so many times up at altitude," Montana State head coach Lyle Weese said. "Getting down to sea level will be a great experience for our team."
Both MSU teams have had individual and team success. Sophomore Cameron Carroll finished first individually for the Bobcats at the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational to open the season, while freshman Brandon Hough took second overall at the Montana Invite on the men's side. The Bobcat women's team has finished first as a lineup in each meet they've competed in, with Kelsi Lasota taking a team-high sixth at the MSU home meet and Caroline Hardin finishing third overall in the women's race in Missoula.
The atmosphere will be altered dramatically in the Bobcats' third cross country race of the season. MSU's journey to California will bring them down to sea level to run for the first time this year.
"Some challenges I think will be to get over the mental apprehension of hearing those fast splits as you come through the mile," Weese said. "It'll be much faster than what they've been running on in the case of the grass courses at altitude. The course there will be a hard-packed dirt course for 75 percent of it. It'll be a lot faster and at sea level, so it'll be good opportunity for our athletes to run fast times."
The Bobcats go into their final meet ahead of the conference championships ranked among the best in the Mountain Region.
The men's team is the fourth-highest ranked Big Sky squad in the most recent USTFCCCA poll at 12th, sitting behind reigning national champion Northern Arizona (1st), Southern Utah (3rd) and Weber State (10th). The MSU women's team is the second-highest ranked Big Sky school in the USTFCCA regional rankings. The 'Cats are ninth in the Mountain Region behind Northern Arizona (8th), and sit in front of Montana (11th), Weber State (13th) and Idaho (14th).
MSU will be appearing in a deep field that features runners from schools primarily on the West Coast. The men's field will have 18 teams and the women's race will feature 20 cross country squads in competition.
"It's an opportunity to race in a bigger field with a lot more teams than what have been in our previous meets," Weese said. We're going to be taking eight men and eight women to the conference meet, so identifying them will be important. I think the biggest benefit of this trip is just racing in a field with more teams, more competitive teams, something similar to what the conference and regional meets are going to be like.
"This is our last race going into the conference championships, so having five to seven (Bobcats) running well on the same day will be key for us heading into the Big Sky meet."
The Bronco Invitational will have live results available via RedCapTiming.com. MSU is scheduled to compete in two more meets, the Big Sky Championships (Oct. 28) and Mountain Region Championships (Nov. 10), and the NCAA DI Championships if the Bobcats are able to qualify for the meet on Nov. 18.
"It's nice to get out of our region just because we race so many times up at altitude," Montana State head coach Lyle Weese said. "Getting down to sea level will be a great experience for our team."
Both MSU teams have had individual and team success. Sophomore Cameron Carroll finished first individually for the Bobcats at the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational to open the season, while freshman Brandon Hough took second overall at the Montana Invite on the men's side. The Bobcat women's team has finished first as a lineup in each meet they've competed in, with Kelsi Lasota taking a team-high sixth at the MSU home meet and Caroline Hardin finishing third overall in the women's race in Missoula.
The atmosphere will be altered dramatically in the Bobcats' third cross country race of the season. MSU's journey to California will bring them down to sea level to run for the first time this year.
"Some challenges I think will be to get over the mental apprehension of hearing those fast splits as you come through the mile," Weese said. "It'll be much faster than what they've been running on in the case of the grass courses at altitude. The course there will be a hard-packed dirt course for 75 percent of it. It'll be a lot faster and at sea level, so it'll be good opportunity for our athletes to run fast times."
The Bobcats go into their final meet ahead of the conference championships ranked among the best in the Mountain Region.
The men's team is the fourth-highest ranked Big Sky squad in the most recent USTFCCCA poll at 12th, sitting behind reigning national champion Northern Arizona (1st), Southern Utah (3rd) and Weber State (10th). The MSU women's team is the second-highest ranked Big Sky school in the USTFCCA regional rankings. The 'Cats are ninth in the Mountain Region behind Northern Arizona (8th), and sit in front of Montana (11th), Weber State (13th) and Idaho (14th).
MSU will be appearing in a deep field that features runners from schools primarily on the West Coast. The men's field will have 18 teams and the women's race will feature 20 cross country squads in competition.
"It's an opportunity to race in a bigger field with a lot more teams than what have been in our previous meets," Weese said. We're going to be taking eight men and eight women to the conference meet, so identifying them will be important. I think the biggest benefit of this trip is just racing in a field with more teams, more competitive teams, something similar to what the conference and regional meets are going to be like.
"This is our last race going into the conference championships, so having five to seven (Bobcats) running well on the same day will be key for us heading into the Big Sky meet."
The Bronco Invitational will have live results available via RedCapTiming.com. MSU is scheduled to compete in two more meets, the Big Sky Championships (Oct. 28) and Mountain Region Championships (Nov. 10), and the NCAA DI Championships if the Bobcats are able to qualify for the meet on Nov. 18.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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