Cross Country Selects Individual Award Winners

Photo by: Sam Bloom

12/23/2019 11:17:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Several individuals earned team awards and letterwinners were announced

By: Andrew Pedersen

The Montana State cross country programs picked its individual award winners following the conclusion of the 2019 season.

The Top Gun award winners for the Bobcats were Collin Buck and Camila Noe.

Buck was the MSU men's team's top finisher in all five races he appeared in during the 2019 slate. He opened his season by finishing first at the MSU Cross Country Classic at Bridger Creek Golf Course in Bozeman. He completed a top-10 performance and earned Big Sky Athlete of the Week honors for his seventh-place showing at the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5. He took 25th overall at the Pre-National Invitational then finished eighth at the Big Sky Championship meet, good for all-conference accolades. Buck's season ended at the Mountain Region Championship where he led MSU with a 37th-place finish.

Noe became Montana State's first All-American in the history of the women's program. She completed her season by taking 30th out of 254 runners at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Nov. 23. The Bozeman native was the women's team's top finishers in all five races she ran for the Bobcat team, including a gold medal performance at the Big Sky Championships in Greeley, Colorado. She had four top 10 efforts, including her first-place finish at the MSU Cross Country Classic which earned her a Big Sky Athlete of the Week award.

Buck was named the men's squad's most improved runner, while senior Madison Liechty was the women's team selection.

Liechty finished among MSU's top four runners in all six races she appeared in for the Bobcats. She took second to open the campaign at the Craoll College Early Bird Open. She had two strong performances to end the year, as she placed 26th overall at the Big Sky Championships and 89th overall at the Mountain Region Championship in Salt Lake City. Liechty was the Bobcats' third fastest runner in both meets.

Letterwinners for the men's team were Buck, Cameron Carroll, Duncan Hamilton, Ty Mogan, Isaac Schmidt, Braden Stremcha and Cooper West. The women's team's letterwinners were Trisha Carlson, Anna French, Gillian Maness, Liechty and Noe.