Friday, September 29
Missoula, MT (UM GC)
TBD
Montana State University
at
Montana Invitational
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Cross Country Travels to Missoula for Montana Invitational
9/28/2017 12:07:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Montana State hopes to see continued improvement heading into its second meet of the season
After a solid showing to begin their 2017 seasons, the Montana State cross country teams travel to Missoula for the Montana Invitational on Friday, Sept. 29.
Montana will host Montana State and Eastern Washington with the women's 5-kilometer race beginning at 5 p.m., and the men's 8k race to follow at 5:45 p.m., at the University of Montana Golf Course. The Bobcats will race in scored duals against the Griz and Eagles.
Both teams head into their second meets of the 2017 campaign. The MSU women's team won the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational in Bozeman by tiebreaker over 22nd-ranked Utah. The Bobcats' men's squad finished second behind fellow Big Sky member Idaho State, while individually sophomore Cameron Carroll won the men's race.
"It was an exciting first week and this last week of practice was great because we just got right back to work," Montana State head cross country coach Lyle Weese said. "Whether they had a great meet or not as great meet individually, they just got back to work and right back into it. We had some somewhat difficult training weather with all the rain and near freezing temperatures, but it didn't impact our team at all. They just went out there as if the weather was perfect."
The MSU women's squad used a 6-7-8-10-11 finish at Bridger Creek Golf Course on Sept. 16 to tie the Utes with 42 points. While Kelsi Lasota led the Bobcats with a time of 17 minutes, 29.35 seconds, she was closely followed by MSU's fifth-best finisher Trisha Carlson who crossed the line in 17:45.97.
The Bobcats had plenty of depth beyond their top five finishers. All 13 MSU runners that competed would have scored points for the three other Big Sky teams participating in the meet. The women's squad's performance at the meet jumped the Bobcats to eighth in the Mountain Region, the highest ranked Big Sky team in the poll, ahead of the Montana Invite hosts that sit at 15th.
"On the women's side, we're trying to move our pack up together," Weese said. "We had a great 1-5 split in the first meet, I believe 17 seconds, so that was great. We're just trying to improve as a team and have everyone move forward together. We're looking at similar competition with the University of Montana this week, so we can get an idea of how we are improving based on our performance this Friday."
The men's team's depth isn't at the same level as the women's squad's is, but the Bobcats still put together a strong debut at home. Behind Cameron Carroll's first-place finish, freshmen Riley Collins and Brandon Hough placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Anthony Schmalz (15th), Gannon Chamberlain (20th) and Andrew Vandine (21st) all have previous collegiate cross country experience that will prove to pay dividends as the season wears on.
The men's team is currently ranked 13th in the Mountain Region, higher than both Montana and Eastern Washington.
"Between last week and this week, we will have seen a large number of Big Sky schools and that's good to know where you stack up," Weese said. "On the men's side, we'll have a good idea of where we're at since they previously raced against Montana. It'll be good to get some input on how they're doing and progressing and get an idea of what Eastern Washington will look like."
The Montana State cross country teams head to the Bronco Invitational on Oct. 14 before they travel to Ogden, Utah, for the Big Sky Conference Championships on Oct. 28.
Montana will host Montana State and Eastern Washington with the women's 5-kilometer race beginning at 5 p.m., and the men's 8k race to follow at 5:45 p.m., at the University of Montana Golf Course. The Bobcats will race in scored duals against the Griz and Eagles.
Both teams head into their second meets of the 2017 campaign. The MSU women's team won the MSU-Bozeman Running Co. Invitational in Bozeman by tiebreaker over 22nd-ranked Utah. The Bobcats' men's squad finished second behind fellow Big Sky member Idaho State, while individually sophomore Cameron Carroll won the men's race.
"It was an exciting first week and this last week of practice was great because we just got right back to work," Montana State head cross country coach Lyle Weese said. "Whether they had a great meet or not as great meet individually, they just got back to work and right back into it. We had some somewhat difficult training weather with all the rain and near freezing temperatures, but it didn't impact our team at all. They just went out there as if the weather was perfect."
The MSU women's squad used a 6-7-8-10-11 finish at Bridger Creek Golf Course on Sept. 16 to tie the Utes with 42 points. While Kelsi Lasota led the Bobcats with a time of 17 minutes, 29.35 seconds, she was closely followed by MSU's fifth-best finisher Trisha Carlson who crossed the line in 17:45.97.
The Bobcats had plenty of depth beyond their top five finishers. All 13 MSU runners that competed would have scored points for the three other Big Sky teams participating in the meet. The women's squad's performance at the meet jumped the Bobcats to eighth in the Mountain Region, the highest ranked Big Sky team in the poll, ahead of the Montana Invite hosts that sit at 15th.
"On the women's side, we're trying to move our pack up together," Weese said. "We had a great 1-5 split in the first meet, I believe 17 seconds, so that was great. We're just trying to improve as a team and have everyone move forward together. We're looking at similar competition with the University of Montana this week, so we can get an idea of how we are improving based on our performance this Friday."
The men's team's depth isn't at the same level as the women's squad's is, but the Bobcats still put together a strong debut at home. Behind Cameron Carroll's first-place finish, freshmen Riley Collins and Brandon Hough placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Anthony Schmalz (15th), Gannon Chamberlain (20th) and Andrew Vandine (21st) all have previous collegiate cross country experience that will prove to pay dividends as the season wears on.
The men's team is currently ranked 13th in the Mountain Region, higher than both Montana and Eastern Washington.
"Between last week and this week, we will have seen a large number of Big Sky schools and that's good to know where you stack up," Weese said. "On the men's side, we'll have a good idea of where we're at since they previously raced against Montana. It'll be good to get some input on how they're doing and progressing and get an idea of what Eastern Washington will look like."
The Montana State cross country teams head to the Bronco Invitational on Oct. 14 before they travel to Ogden, Utah, for the Big Sky Conference Championships on Oct. 28.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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