Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
Pack Mentality Guides MSU Cross Country to Strong 2018 Season Debut
9/16/2018 3:06:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
The Montana State cross country teams had a dominant showing at the MSU Cross Country Classic held at Bridger Creek Golf Course on Saturday
Bobcat cross country is only as strong as its weakest link.
The Montana State cross country teams had a dominant showing at the MSU Cross Country Classic held at Bridger Creek Golf Course on Saturday.
The men's team, led by junior runner Ty Mogan, and the women's team, led by senior Kelsi Lasota and sophomore Samatha Kelderman, both took home first place in the opening meet of the 2018-2019 season.
The meet, comprising of six universities, was a great start to the season for the Bobcats. The women and men both finished with sixth of the top ten runners, while also having every participant finish in the top 30 for both sides. Going into the meet, the team was focused on how they stacked up against themselves.
"We knew there wasn't going to be as many teams here," said Mogan. "[Head Coach] Lyle (Weese) just wanted us to work together and use it as a race to prepare for future meets, to run as a team, to beat a ranked team (Idaho State) so we can qualify for Nationals."
The Bobcats' depth ultimately carried them to a successful meet. Led by head coach Lyle Weese, the Bobcats made it a point to run and work as a group.
"It was awesome to see from the first runner to the 12th runner on our team, the entire pack ran so well," said Weese. "Everyone in there had a pretty solid race on the men's side, that was great to see.
"(The depth) shows how far we've come. Last year, we were kind of scrambling together, mixing and matching a little bit to put together a solid cross country team. This year, we have a lot of outstanding freshman, and having Ty come off his redshirt season is obviously a huge help."
On the women's side, Kelderman credited the Bobcats' young runners with being up for the challenge of the meet. The women had 12 of the top 28 finishers.
"I definitely feel like people were stepping up," said Kelderman. "There was a certain point in the race where a few of us were like 'let's stay on each other's hips.' I think we did a good job doing that and we stayed together as a team really well. Our girls really stepped it up today, we weren't holding back, we were going at it as a team. I'm really excited to see where that will take us."
The teams started the races being paced by Mogan and Lasota, daring the other competitors to stay with them. As the races went on, the packs at the front got smaller and smaller, eventually leaving Mogan and Lasota with comfortable first place finishes.
The Bobcats took advantage of their depth by having the runners focus on staying as a group throughout the race and picking each other up. Having team leaders and ambitious young runners made for a great combination on the course. Coach Weese views every runner on the team as having an equally important role in team success.
"Cross Country is all about trying to have as small a split as possible and often times, the fifth runner, their performance is more important than the first runner in terms of the overall impact on the team's score," said Weese. "We're always trying to bring up the middle or back of the pack, the 5-7 runners."
The expectations for the teams have rarely been higher. The women's team was picked in the preseason by the Big Sky's coaches to finish at the top of the conference and the men's team was picked to finish fourth. Both have a lot to look forward to this season.
"I think we have potential to be really great as a team this year and perform at the top level of conference and qualify for Nationals as a team," said Kelderman. "I think we have the potential to do that and we're going to be competing. We're going to be putting ourselves in big competition and I think we're going to be ready to step it up.
"We have the potential, fitness and camaraderie to do it and I think it's going to come together. I can feel something special happening."
Something special appears to already be going on within the MSU cross country teams. Eight out of the top ten finishers on the men's side for MSU were underclassmen, while the combination of experience and youth figures to separate the women from the pack this season.
The Bobcats look poised for a special season out of their women and men's cross country teams.
The Montana State cross country teams had a dominant showing at the MSU Cross Country Classic held at Bridger Creek Golf Course on Saturday.
The men's team, led by junior runner Ty Mogan, and the women's team, led by senior Kelsi Lasota and sophomore Samatha Kelderman, both took home first place in the opening meet of the 2018-2019 season.
The meet, comprising of six universities, was a great start to the season for the Bobcats. The women and men both finished with sixth of the top ten runners, while also having every participant finish in the top 30 for both sides. Going into the meet, the team was focused on how they stacked up against themselves.
"We knew there wasn't going to be as many teams here," said Mogan. "[Head Coach] Lyle (Weese) just wanted us to work together and use it as a race to prepare for future meets, to run as a team, to beat a ranked team (Idaho State) so we can qualify for Nationals."
The Bobcats' depth ultimately carried them to a successful meet. Led by head coach Lyle Weese, the Bobcats made it a point to run and work as a group.
"It was awesome to see from the first runner to the 12th runner on our team, the entire pack ran so well," said Weese. "Everyone in there had a pretty solid race on the men's side, that was great to see.
"(The depth) shows how far we've come. Last year, we were kind of scrambling together, mixing and matching a little bit to put together a solid cross country team. This year, we have a lot of outstanding freshman, and having Ty come off his redshirt season is obviously a huge help."
On the women's side, Kelderman credited the Bobcats' young runners with being up for the challenge of the meet. The women had 12 of the top 28 finishers.
"I definitely feel like people were stepping up," said Kelderman. "There was a certain point in the race where a few of us were like 'let's stay on each other's hips.' I think we did a good job doing that and we stayed together as a team really well. Our girls really stepped it up today, we weren't holding back, we were going at it as a team. I'm really excited to see where that will take us."
The teams started the races being paced by Mogan and Lasota, daring the other competitors to stay with them. As the races went on, the packs at the front got smaller and smaller, eventually leaving Mogan and Lasota with comfortable first place finishes.
The Bobcats took advantage of their depth by having the runners focus on staying as a group throughout the race and picking each other up. Having team leaders and ambitious young runners made for a great combination on the course. Coach Weese views every runner on the team as having an equally important role in team success.
"Cross Country is all about trying to have as small a split as possible and often times, the fifth runner, their performance is more important than the first runner in terms of the overall impact on the team's score," said Weese. "We're always trying to bring up the middle or back of the pack, the 5-7 runners."
The expectations for the teams have rarely been higher. The women's team was picked in the preseason by the Big Sky's coaches to finish at the top of the conference and the men's team was picked to finish fourth. Both have a lot to look forward to this season.
"I think we have potential to be really great as a team this year and perform at the top level of conference and qualify for Nationals as a team," said Kelderman. "I think we have the potential to do that and we're going to be competing. We're going to be putting ourselves in big competition and I think we're going to be ready to step it up.
"We have the potential, fitness and camaraderie to do it and I think it's going to come together. I can feel something special happening."
Something special appears to already be going on within the MSU cross country teams. Eight out of the top ten finishers on the men's side for MSU were underclassmen, while the combination of experience and youth figures to separate the women from the pack this season.
The Bobcats look poised for a special season out of their women and men's cross country teams.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
Friday, October 27
Wednesday, November 13
Wednesday, October 23
Wednesday, October 16
