Friday, November 15
Salt Lake City, UT (Rose Park GC)
11 a.m.
Montana State University
at
NCAA Mountain Region Championships
Montana State Travels South for Mountain Region Meet
11/14/2019 11:41:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
The Bobcat cross country teams have prepared for several months and head into the Mountain Region Championships set to race against some of the best teams in Division I
The Bobcat cross country teams have prepared for several months and head into the Mountain Region Championships set to race against some of the best teams in Division I when the meet begins on Friday in Salt Lake City, Utah. The women's 6-kilometer race starts at 11 a.m. and features six nationally-ranked teams at Rose Park Golf Course, while the men's 10K race follows at 12 p.m. and is highlighted by the three top ranked squads in the country.
Montana State competes for the first time since participating in the 2019 Big Sky Championship on Nov. 2.
The Bobcats' men's squad placed third overall in the team standings with 74 points. It was MSU's best finish at the conference meet since 2012 and its lowest point total accumulated since the 2010 championships. MSU was led by three all-conference performers in Collin Buck, Ty Mogan and Duncan Hamilton.
MSU's women's team was led by Camila Noe who became the first Bobcat women's runner to win the Big Sky title in 27 years. The MSU women competed in a tight battle for second place in the team standings and eventually placed fifth. MSU scored 116 points to finish behind Idaho (90), Southern Utah (93) and Weber State (94).
"The men's team seems like its hitting on all cylinders maybe for the first time all season so it'll be exciting to see how that translates to the Mountain Region competition," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's director of cross country. "For the women, they're coming off a solid meet at conference. They'd been kind of on and off all season.
"Our goal is to have another solid meet down there and perform and compete well as a team. I'm looked forward to seeing what both teams can do against a really tough region."
The top two placing teams in each region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., which take place on Nov. 23. 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.
Northern Arizona, BYU and Colorado are the top ranked teams in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll. They'll be expected to contend for the Mountain Region and eventual national championship. Utah State, which competed in Bozeman at the MSU Cross Country Classic, and Colorado State are also ranked in the top 30 and are among the contenders in an annually stacked region.
"It will be a really tough road for us to make it to the NCAA Championships," Weese said. "We're still not giving up on that dream of making the NCAA meet. We've got to put together our best performance and see where things end up. The qualification process is really complicated, a lot of factors can come into it. Results across the country can impact how many teams make it from the Mountain Region."
The women's race will be a highly contested meet with four of the top 10 teams in the nation featured. BYU, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico all could compete for the regional title, while Big Sky champion Northern Arizona and Colorado State are also ranked among the top 30.
"The women's Mountain Region is stronger than it has been the last couple of years," Weese said. "Somewhere around six teams could make it out of the Mountain Region, which is a lot. In some ways, that clears the path more to make it as an individual. It's pretty wide open."
The regional championships can be streamed live with a subscription on FloTrack. Meet information like maps and live results are available on the meet central page provided by the host institution Utah.
Montana State competes for the first time since participating in the 2019 Big Sky Championship on Nov. 2.
The Bobcats' men's squad placed third overall in the team standings with 74 points. It was MSU's best finish at the conference meet since 2012 and its lowest point total accumulated since the 2010 championships. MSU was led by three all-conference performers in Collin Buck, Ty Mogan and Duncan Hamilton.
MSU's women's team was led by Camila Noe who became the first Bobcat women's runner to win the Big Sky title in 27 years. The MSU women competed in a tight battle for second place in the team standings and eventually placed fifth. MSU scored 116 points to finish behind Idaho (90), Southern Utah (93) and Weber State (94).
"The men's team seems like its hitting on all cylinders maybe for the first time all season so it'll be exciting to see how that translates to the Mountain Region competition," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's director of cross country. "For the women, they're coming off a solid meet at conference. They'd been kind of on and off all season.
"Our goal is to have another solid meet down there and perform and compete well as a team. I'm looked forward to seeing what both teams can do against a really tough region."
The top two placing teams in each region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., which take place on Nov. 23. 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.
Northern Arizona, BYU and Colorado are the top ranked teams in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll. They'll be expected to contend for the Mountain Region and eventual national championship. Utah State, which competed in Bozeman at the MSU Cross Country Classic, and Colorado State are also ranked in the top 30 and are among the contenders in an annually stacked region.
"It will be a really tough road for us to make it to the NCAA Championships," Weese said. "We're still not giving up on that dream of making the NCAA meet. We've got to put together our best performance and see where things end up. The qualification process is really complicated, a lot of factors can come into it. Results across the country can impact how many teams make it from the Mountain Region."
The women's race will be a highly contested meet with four of the top 10 teams in the nation featured. BYU, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico all could compete for the regional title, while Big Sky champion Northern Arizona and Colorado State are also ranked among the top 30.
"The women's Mountain Region is stronger than it has been the last couple of years," Weese said. "Somewhere around six teams could make it out of the Mountain Region, which is a lot. In some ways, that clears the path more to make it as an individual. It's pretty wide open."
The regional championships can be streamed live with a subscription on FloTrack. Meet information like maps and live results are available on the meet central page provided by the host institution Utah.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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