Bobcats Set to Compete at Big Sky Cross Country Championships

Saturday, October 28

Ogden, Utah (Riverside Golf Course)

11 a.m.

Montana State University

Big Sky Conference Championship

Photo by: Todd Goodrich

Bobcats Set to Compete at Big Sky Cross Country Championships

10/26/2017 9:59:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Watch (Facebook Live)Live Results Meet Central (Big Sky)Meet Central (Host)

Montana State looks to contend for a conference title as the Bobcats get set to run in Ogden

By: Andrew Pedersen

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State hopes to be in contention this weekend as the Bobcats head to the Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships beginning on Saturday, Oct. 28, in Ogden, Utah. The Bobcats are set to run in the 12-team field at Riverside Golf Course with the women's 5-kilometer race beginning at 11 a.m., while the men's 8K race follows at 11:45 a.m.

The Bobcats look to improve off their final standings at the conference meet from a year ago. MSU finished sixth and seventh on the men's and women's sides, respectively. Prior to the season, the Bobcats' men's team was predicted to finish fifth and the women's team was selected to finish seventh in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll.

"It's really quite a difference between the men's and women's teams," Montana State head coach Lyle Weese said. "We have so many new people on the women's side and some on the men's team. It's been a process of integrating the new people on to the team. It's been fun to watch them improve as a group as the season has progressed."

Montana State's women's squad is one of the highest ranked in the Big Sky in the most recent United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Region Rankings.

Five Big Sky Universities can be found in the regional rankings. Northern Arizona is the highest at fifth in the Mountain Region, but the Bobcats follow the Lumberjacks sitting in 10th in the region. Weber State ranks 11th, Southern Utah is 14th and Idaho comes in at 14th in the West Region poll.

"Northern Arizona's women's team is really strong," Weese said. "Most likely for us to have an opportunity to beat them, we'll have to have our pack run really well, especially our 3-4-5 runners are going to have to be with or in front of their fourth runner. That will be a challenge because their fourth runner is very good. NAU does have some great frontrunners, so we'll try to offset that with our pack, but they're definitely the favorite going in and are a strong team."

The Bobcat men's team will compete against two teams that are among the best in the nation.

Reigning national champion and first-ranked Northern Arizona goes into this weekend's meet as the favorite, but Southern Utah will challenge the Lumberjacks for the top spot on the podium. The Thunderbirds are 12th in the national poll and ranked fifth in the Mountain Region.

Montana State is currently fourth among Big Sky institutions in the men's regional outlook, sitting at 13th behind Weber State (eighth) and ahead of Idaho State (15th).

"They just need to run the best race they can run and use the race tactics and strategy that fits what we can do," Weese said. "That's going to involve some patience in the first half of the race, not going too hard too soon, so they can run the second half pretty well.

"The men's team doesn't have as much depth, so everybody has to hit on all cylinders for us to have a great team performance. We haven't done that quite yet, we've gotten closer and closer, especially with Gannon and Anthony coming on late. They've definitely helped give us a shot in the arm here near the end of the season."

Balance and depth have been the lynchpins of Montana State's success on the women's side this season. The Bobcats finished ahead of the completion in both the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational and Montana Invitational, then took second out of 20 teams in a strong field that included Power Five members at the Bronco Invitational in California on Oct. 14.

MSU's lineup has several mainstays through the first three meets.

Junior Kelsi Lasota led the pack in two races, and was second in the other, with her best overall finish of fifth coming when she wasn't the frontrunner for the Bobcats. Senior Caroline Hardin led the 'Cats at the Montana Invite with a third-place showing and has been among the team's point scorers in every meet. Sophomore Anna French has been among MSU's top three in each meet and has finished in the top 10 overall in every race.

The Bobcats' depth continues with multiple runners that have battled to be part of the Big Sky lineup.

Freshman Samantha Kelderman placed in the Bobcats' top five in all three meets this fall, while freshman Trisha Carlson and sophomore Madison Liechty have also scored points for MSU. Jaycie Schmalz, Joby Rosenleaf, Sierra Tucker, Layne Oliver and Maddie Lee have all contributed to the team cause with each earning at least one top-eight showing among Bobcat finishers.

"We ran well at our first meet, our second meet we were a little tired, then we ran really well at the Santa Clara meet," Weese said of the women's team. "I look forward to seeing what we can do on Saturday."

Consistency in the Bobcats' lineup is the feature for the MSU men's squad as they advance toward the Big Sky Championship.

Freshman Brandon Hough has led the Bobcats in their last two meets, including a second-place finish individually at the Montana Invite on Sept. 29. Freshman Collin Buck has taken second among 'Cats in his first two appearances.

Sophomore Cameron Carroll, junior Anthony Schmalz and freshman Riley Collins have earned top-multiple top-four finishes in the MSU lineup, including Carroll's victory in the opening meet of the season that MSU hosted at Bridger Creek Golf Course. Sophomore Gannon Chamberlain has placed in the Bobcat top five on two occasions this year, while redshirt freshman Andrew Vandine has taken sixth in all three fall events.

"For the guys, it's been a process," Weese said. "We have some young freshmen, a couple of returners, so we have some people that have been running at this level for a bit. They're really starting to come together."

The Bobcats go into their fourth event of the season trying to put together their top performance of the year. MSU will follow the Big Sky Championships with a trip to the Mountain Region Championships in Logan, Utah, on Nov. 10 for an opportunity to attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Louisville on Nov. 18.

"The (Big Sky) Championship will be interesting because it may not be the largest number of participants we've gone up against in a race, but at the same time this will probably be the race that the athletes will feel the most pressure," Weese said. "I'm interested to see how they respond and react to that. I think they're really prepared and really excited and looking at this as an opportunity, as opposed to going into this with any fear."

Links to the Big Sky Conference Championships can be found on the respective Championship Central pages as well as the Montana State cross country schedules online at msubobcats.com. Live meet results will be provided by RunnerCard and the meet is scheduled to be broadcast live by Weber State Athletics on Facebook Live.