Saturday, September 16
BOZEMAN (Bridger Creek GC)
9:45 a.m.
Montana State University
vs
MSU-Bozeman Running Company Invitational
Bobcats Open Cross Country Campaign at Bridger Creek Golf Course Saturday
9/14/2017 3:20:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Montana State cross country begins its 2017 campaign this Saturday when the Bobcats serve as hosts for the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational at Bridger Creek Golf Course
BOZEMAN – Montana State cross country begins its 2017 campaign this Saturday when the Bobcats serve as hosts for the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational at Bridger Creek Golf Course.
The 41st running of the MSU-hosted meet begins at 9 a.m. with the men's five-mile race and is followed by the women's three-mile race at approximately 9:45 a.m. Joining MSU in the Division I field Saturday, Sept. 16, is Montana, Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Utah's women's team. Also joining the action will be Carroll College, MSU Billings, MSU Northern and Rocky Mountain, with those teams consisting of the College Division.
Montana State begins its 2017 slate looking to improve from a season ago. Both the men's and women's teams placed fourth at the MSU Invite behind strong individual showings from each side's top finisher. This season's Bobcat teams won't feature one specific standout, but instead will be highlighted by depth they haven't had in the past.
"Both teams are really excited (to compete) after a great summer of training, so they're both prepared to do really well," Montana State head cross country coach Lyle Weese said. "On the men's side, Cameron Carroll has become so much better in cross country. He was nearly all-conference in the 800, but that's quite a bit different than cross country. He's made a huge jump in performance level and I expect for that to show on Saturday. Gannon Chamberlain really had a great summer. He should do really well and Anthony Schmalz is going into his fourth year here at MSU. He trained really well this summer, he had a good track season last spring and I think he'll just build off of that.
"Two freshmen, Brandon Hough and Riley Collins, should contribute right away and I expect that they'll probably be up in our top five."
The women's team features a roster comprised of just two seniors, but will be highlighted by a group of eight underclassmen that have experience competing at the collegiate level. Seven freshmen have been added to the mix as well to create more options in the seven-person lineup.
"The highlight of the women's side is just our depth is unlike anything we've had at least in recent years, maybe ever," Weese said. "There's just so many quality runners on the team. On the entire women's team, I can't think of anybody that didn't have a solid summer of training, they all improved.
"I'm excited to see how the women's team does. Based on what they've done up to this point in practice and in our intrasquad meet, it looks like we will have not just a better team, but a team on a whole other level than what we've had over the last few years."
The meet will feature a Bobcat men's team that is currently ranked 12th in the USTFCCCA Mountain Region, along with Idaho State and Montana teams, which ranked in the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' poll in the next two spots behind MSU (fifth).
Utah's women's team comes into the meet ranked 22nd in the nation in the most recent USTFCCA Coaches' Poll and holds the highest regional ranking of fifth among MSU Invite participating squads. The Utes finished fourth at the Mountain Regional meet a year ago, while Montana (ninth) and Montana State (12th) also appear in the regional rankings released this week.
"The competition on the women's side is especially exciting because Utah in some national polls has been ranked as high as 15th this year," Weese said. "They're ranked fifth in the Mountain Region and their national rankings indicate they're a great team. It's good for our team to see that and try to compete the best we can with them.
"Montana has some returners that ran well last year, especially during the track season, and Idaho State should be much improved from a year ago."
The Bobcats are scheduled to run in five meets this fall. MSU will compete in the Montana Invitational on Sept. 29 and the Bronco Invite on Oct. 14 before heading to the Big Sky Championships which start on Oct. 28. This year's Mountain Region Championships are set to take place in Logan, Utah, on Nov. 10.
"Usually the first meet tells you a lot about how the season is going to go," Weese said. "Sometimes there's small steps forward or backwards, but most of the time you can get a pretty good indication of what we have as a team based on the performance from the first meet. What I've told the team is 'regardless of if we have a horrible meet or a great meet as a team or individually, we just have to get right back into the process next week. Keep believing in what we're doing and try to get better.'"
The 41st running of the MSU-hosted meet begins at 9 a.m. with the men's five-mile race and is followed by the women's three-mile race at approximately 9:45 a.m. Joining MSU in the Division I field Saturday, Sept. 16, is Montana, Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Utah's women's team. Also joining the action will be Carroll College, MSU Billings, MSU Northern and Rocky Mountain, with those teams consisting of the College Division.
Montana State begins its 2017 slate looking to improve from a season ago. Both the men's and women's teams placed fourth at the MSU Invite behind strong individual showings from each side's top finisher. This season's Bobcat teams won't feature one specific standout, but instead will be highlighted by depth they haven't had in the past.
"Both teams are really excited (to compete) after a great summer of training, so they're both prepared to do really well," Montana State head cross country coach Lyle Weese said. "On the men's side, Cameron Carroll has become so much better in cross country. He was nearly all-conference in the 800, but that's quite a bit different than cross country. He's made a huge jump in performance level and I expect for that to show on Saturday. Gannon Chamberlain really had a great summer. He should do really well and Anthony Schmalz is going into his fourth year here at MSU. He trained really well this summer, he had a good track season last spring and I think he'll just build off of that.
"Two freshmen, Brandon Hough and Riley Collins, should contribute right away and I expect that they'll probably be up in our top five."
The women's team features a roster comprised of just two seniors, but will be highlighted by a group of eight underclassmen that have experience competing at the collegiate level. Seven freshmen have been added to the mix as well to create more options in the seven-person lineup.
"The highlight of the women's side is just our depth is unlike anything we've had at least in recent years, maybe ever," Weese said. "There's just so many quality runners on the team. On the entire women's team, I can't think of anybody that didn't have a solid summer of training, they all improved.
"I'm excited to see how the women's team does. Based on what they've done up to this point in practice and in our intrasquad meet, it looks like we will have not just a better team, but a team on a whole other level than what we've had over the last few years."
The meet will feature a Bobcat men's team that is currently ranked 12th in the USTFCCCA Mountain Region, along with Idaho State and Montana teams, which ranked in the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' poll in the next two spots behind MSU (fifth).
Utah's women's team comes into the meet ranked 22nd in the nation in the most recent USTFCCA Coaches' Poll and holds the highest regional ranking of fifth among MSU Invite participating squads. The Utes finished fourth at the Mountain Regional meet a year ago, while Montana (ninth) and Montana State (12th) also appear in the regional rankings released this week.
"The competition on the women's side is especially exciting because Utah in some national polls has been ranked as high as 15th this year," Weese said. "They're ranked fifth in the Mountain Region and their national rankings indicate they're a great team. It's good for our team to see that and try to compete the best we can with them.
"Montana has some returners that ran well last year, especially during the track season, and Idaho State should be much improved from a year ago."
The Bobcats are scheduled to run in five meets this fall. MSU will compete in the Montana Invitational on Sept. 29 and the Bronco Invite on Oct. 14 before heading to the Big Sky Championships which start on Oct. 28. This year's Mountain Region Championships are set to take place in Logan, Utah, on Nov. 10.
"Usually the first meet tells you a lot about how the season is going to go," Weese said. "Sometimes there's small steps forward or backwards, but most of the time you can get a pretty good indication of what we have as a team based on the performance from the first meet. What I've told the team is 'regardless of if we have a horrible meet or a great meet as a team or individually, we just have to get right back into the process next week. Keep believing in what we're doing and try to get better.'"
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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