Friday, November 10
Logan, Utah (Utah State University)
10:15 a.m.
Montana State University
at
NCAA Mountain Region Championship
Photo by: Sam Bloom
Bobcats to Face Region’s Best in Utah Friday
11/9/2017 11:23:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
MSU's country teams come off impressive performances at the Big Sky Championships to compete at the Mountain Region Championships
Montana State put together two strong team performances at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships in Ogden, Utah, on Oct. 28. The Bobcats return to Utah to compete in the DI Mountain Region Championships at 10:15 a.m. Friday, Nov. 10, at the Steve and Dona Reeder Cross Country Course in Logan.
The Bobcats will run against some of the best in the nation at the regional meet.
The MSU women's team was ranked ninth in the region in the latest USTFCCCA coaches' poll, with conference championship teams from the Pac-12 (Colorado), Mountain West (New Mexico) and Big Sky (Northern Arizona) also running in Logan Friday. The Bobcat men's team will participate in a stacked field at 11:15 a.m in which they're ranked 14th going into the meet. Conference championship teams from the West Coast (BYU), Big Sky (Northern Arizona), Pac-12 (Colorado) and Mountain West (Colorado State) are represented in the Mountain Region.
Fortunately for MSU, despite winter conditions coming relatively early to train in, the Bobcats have been able to prepare for the 6- and 10-kilometer races they're set to appear in.
"We've been fortunate that we've had access to the indoor track, so we've been able to get in some good sessions indoors which have been helpful," Montana State head coach Lyle Weese said. "This early snow where there's ice underneath it, it's almost impossible to train outside until the ice gets off the sidewalk. We've been fortunate to have some good training sessions, so we feel like we're pretty well prepared."
Montana State's women's team will begin action in Logan first with the 6K race taking place at 10:15 a.m. The Bobcats come off an impressive performance at the Big Sky meet when they finished runner-up, their best effort at the conference championships since 1999.
The Bobcats were led by Kelsi Lasota and Caroline Hardin's top-10 showings, along with a 12th-place finish by Trisha Carlson which earned her Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors.
"We're looking back a bit on the Big Sky Conference meet because that was the first meet we've had a large 1-5 spread," Weese said. "We're going to try to get that closed down a bit. We'd like to get a closer pack which will help our overall score, especially if we have some runners that are running on the top end like Kelsi, Caroline and Trisha did at the Big Sky Conference meet. If we can have similar performances to that, but with our pack a little closer together, that should really help our team score."
The MSU men's team will compete on a 10K course following the conclusion of the women's race. The Bobcats come off a fifth-place finish as a team at the Big Sky meet despite only one junior racing on the MSU side.
Freshman Brandon Hough led the way for MSU in Ogden by taking 13th overall at the conference championship, the best individual finish by a Bobcat since 2014. Collin Buck has been the second-best finisher for MSU in all three races he's competed in for the Bobcats, while Cameron Carroll has been atop the individual standings before when he placed first in the opening MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational.
"The men's side field is extremely challenging," Weese said. "The Mountain Region could see as many as eight teams qualify for the NCAA Championships. Considering that and if you finish ninth in our region that may seem far down in the standings, but at the same time you're still on the highest percentile of the entire NCAA Division I cross country teams. We're just continuing to try to improve. We're a really young team on the men's side and we're looking for individuals to have as good of race as they can."
The top two placing teams in each region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Ky. Thirteen at-large teams will be selected among those that did not qualify automatically based off regular season performances against automatic qualifiers. Individually, the top four runners to place from a team at each region that does not qualify for the NCAA Championships can advance to the national meet. However, a runner must finish in the top 25 of his or her region's individual standings.
The Bobcats will run against some of the best in the nation at the regional meet.
The MSU women's team was ranked ninth in the region in the latest USTFCCCA coaches' poll, with conference championship teams from the Pac-12 (Colorado), Mountain West (New Mexico) and Big Sky (Northern Arizona) also running in Logan Friday. The Bobcat men's team will participate in a stacked field at 11:15 a.m in which they're ranked 14th going into the meet. Conference championship teams from the West Coast (BYU), Big Sky (Northern Arizona), Pac-12 (Colorado) and Mountain West (Colorado State) are represented in the Mountain Region.
Fortunately for MSU, despite winter conditions coming relatively early to train in, the Bobcats have been able to prepare for the 6- and 10-kilometer races they're set to appear in.
"We've been fortunate that we've had access to the indoor track, so we've been able to get in some good sessions indoors which have been helpful," Montana State head coach Lyle Weese said. "This early snow where there's ice underneath it, it's almost impossible to train outside until the ice gets off the sidewalk. We've been fortunate to have some good training sessions, so we feel like we're pretty well prepared."
Montana State's women's team will begin action in Logan first with the 6K race taking place at 10:15 a.m. The Bobcats come off an impressive performance at the Big Sky meet when they finished runner-up, their best effort at the conference championships since 1999.
The Bobcats were led by Kelsi Lasota and Caroline Hardin's top-10 showings, along with a 12th-place finish by Trisha Carlson which earned her Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors.
"We're looking back a bit on the Big Sky Conference meet because that was the first meet we've had a large 1-5 spread," Weese said. "We're going to try to get that closed down a bit. We'd like to get a closer pack which will help our overall score, especially if we have some runners that are running on the top end like Kelsi, Caroline and Trisha did at the Big Sky Conference meet. If we can have similar performances to that, but with our pack a little closer together, that should really help our team score."
The MSU men's team will compete on a 10K course following the conclusion of the women's race. The Bobcats come off a fifth-place finish as a team at the Big Sky meet despite only one junior racing on the MSU side.
Freshman Brandon Hough led the way for MSU in Ogden by taking 13th overall at the conference championship, the best individual finish by a Bobcat since 2014. Collin Buck has been the second-best finisher for MSU in all three races he's competed in for the Bobcats, while Cameron Carroll has been atop the individual standings before when he placed first in the opening MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational.
"The men's side field is extremely challenging," Weese said. "The Mountain Region could see as many as eight teams qualify for the NCAA Championships. Considering that and if you finish ninth in our region that may seem far down in the standings, but at the same time you're still on the highest percentile of the entire NCAA Division I cross country teams. We're just continuing to try to improve. We're a really young team on the men's side and we're looking for individuals to have as good of race as they can."
The top two placing teams in each region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Ky. Thirteen at-large teams will be selected among those that did not qualify automatically based off regular season performances against automatic qualifiers. Individually, the top four runners to place from a team at each region that does not qualify for the NCAA Championships can advance to the national meet. However, a runner must finish in the top 25 of his or her region's individual standings.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
Big Sky Cross Country Championship Preview | Women's Team
Friday, October 27
Dale Kennedy - Media Day | Nov. 12, 2013
Wednesday, November 13
Cristian Soratos - Media Day | Oct. 22, 2013
Wednesday, October 23
Coach Kennedy Media Day | 10/15/13
Wednesday, October 16
