Friday, October 29
Hillsboro, OR (Meriwether National GC)
12 p.m.
Montana State University
at
Big Sky Conference Championships
Photo by: Andrew Pedersen
Montana State Set to Travel to Participate at Big Sky Cross Country Championships
10/27/2021 12:15:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
The Montana State cross country program prepares to face a talented field this Friday as the Bobcats look ahead to their appearance at the 2021 Big Sky Men’s and Women’s Championships held at Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro, Oregon
BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Montana State cross country program prepares to face a talented field this Friday as the Bobcats look ahead to their appearance at the 2021 Big Sky Men's and Women's Championships held at Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro, Ore. The women's 5-kilometer championship race begins at 12 p.m. MDT while the men's 8-kilometer race follows at 1 p.m.
MSU's men's team made headlines last week for earning the No. 30 spot in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll on Oct. 19. The national ranking was the Bobcats' first for the men's squad in 17 years and only trailed among Big Sky member Northern Arizona, which sits first in the country and is the reigning national champion. The Bobcats moved into the national rankings behind a strong runner-up effort behind current No. 21 Utah State at MSU's home meet, as well as a 12th-place finish at the FSU Invite/Pre-Nationals meet in Tallahassee on Oct. 15.
The Bobcats are also the second highest ranked men's team on the USTFCCCA's Mountain Region list. Currently seventh in the Region poll, MSU sits directly ahead of fellow Big Sky contenders Southern Utah and Weber State. Both those teams, along with NAU, placed ahead of the 'Cats at last the 2021 Big Sky Winter Cross Country Championship and will most likely be MSU's strongest competition.
"It's going to be a tough challenge for sure," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's Dale Kennedy program. director. "There aren't too many conferences that have four teams that will be as competitive as the top four teams on the men's side in the Big Sky Conference.
"It's a giant task ahead of us. I know Weber State was disappointed with their performance at Pre-Nationals, so they'll be super fired up and ready to go. Similarly, Southern Utah wasn't super pleased that same day in Wisconsin, so I think we're really going to be up against two teams that are fired up and gunning for us."
Representing the Bobcat men will be Riley Collins, Duncan Hamilton, Rob McManus, Ben Perrin, Matthew Richtman, Owen Smith, Levi Taylor and Cooper West.
MSU's women's squad had the highest showing between the Bobcat teams at the previous championship held in the spring as MSU took third overall. That finish was buoyed by Camila Noe who earned her second All-Big Sky performance as she placed fourth individually. She was the Big Sky Freshman of the Year and meet champion in 2019 with her first-place finish with a time of 17:41.3 at the meet held in Greeley.
Noe will hope to complete a high-level effort on Friday to not only earn more league accolades, but to support her bid as an NCAA Championship qualifier.
"The top of the women's distance running in the conference has really improved," Weese said. "She's going to be up against some great runners. It's going to be a big battle for her. Kind of like the guys, but individually the top four or five women in our conference have the chance to be All-Americans.
"It'll be a really tough challenge for Camila. I know she's excited about it and she's a great competitor, so I believe she'll do well."
The women's squad will be represented by Noe, Mya Dube, Grace Gilbreth, Samantha Kelderman, Kendra Lusk, Alex Moore, Hannah Perrin and Lauren Stanford. Five of the Bobcat women's runners have experience at the Big Sky meet, but MSU lost previous high finishers from last year's team in Trisha Carlson and Anna French. MSU's women's team – which is ranked in the Mountain Region poll behind fellow Big Sky foes Northern Arizona (No. 6), Weber State (No. 8) and Southern Utah (No. 12) – hopes to put its best meet together as a group at the Big Sky Championships.
"We started the year pretty strong at our home meet, then we were a little bit disappointed with our Pre Nationals results," Weese said. "I think the women's team is really motivated and excited to have a great conference championship race.
"We'll have eight individuals compete and our goal is for them to run to the best of their abilities. If they do that, I think we'll place really well at conference and compete well against some teams on the women's side like Southern Utah and Weber State."
The Big Sky Championships will have live results online at Athletic Timing. More information can be found at the championship central page provided by the Big Sky Conference
MSU's men's team made headlines last week for earning the No. 30 spot in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll on Oct. 19. The national ranking was the Bobcats' first for the men's squad in 17 years and only trailed among Big Sky member Northern Arizona, which sits first in the country and is the reigning national champion. The Bobcats moved into the national rankings behind a strong runner-up effort behind current No. 21 Utah State at MSU's home meet, as well as a 12th-place finish at the FSU Invite/Pre-Nationals meet in Tallahassee on Oct. 15.
The Bobcats are also the second highest ranked men's team on the USTFCCCA's Mountain Region list. Currently seventh in the Region poll, MSU sits directly ahead of fellow Big Sky contenders Southern Utah and Weber State. Both those teams, along with NAU, placed ahead of the 'Cats at last the 2021 Big Sky Winter Cross Country Championship and will most likely be MSU's strongest competition.
"It's going to be a tough challenge for sure," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's Dale Kennedy program. director. "There aren't too many conferences that have four teams that will be as competitive as the top four teams on the men's side in the Big Sky Conference.
"It's a giant task ahead of us. I know Weber State was disappointed with their performance at Pre-Nationals, so they'll be super fired up and ready to go. Similarly, Southern Utah wasn't super pleased that same day in Wisconsin, so I think we're really going to be up against two teams that are fired up and gunning for us."
Representing the Bobcat men will be Riley Collins, Duncan Hamilton, Rob McManus, Ben Perrin, Matthew Richtman, Owen Smith, Levi Taylor and Cooper West.
MSU's women's squad had the highest showing between the Bobcat teams at the previous championship held in the spring as MSU took third overall. That finish was buoyed by Camila Noe who earned her second All-Big Sky performance as she placed fourth individually. She was the Big Sky Freshman of the Year and meet champion in 2019 with her first-place finish with a time of 17:41.3 at the meet held in Greeley.
Noe will hope to complete a high-level effort on Friday to not only earn more league accolades, but to support her bid as an NCAA Championship qualifier.
"The top of the women's distance running in the conference has really improved," Weese said. "She's going to be up against some great runners. It's going to be a big battle for her. Kind of like the guys, but individually the top four or five women in our conference have the chance to be All-Americans.
"It'll be a really tough challenge for Camila. I know she's excited about it and she's a great competitor, so I believe she'll do well."
The women's squad will be represented by Noe, Mya Dube, Grace Gilbreth, Samantha Kelderman, Kendra Lusk, Alex Moore, Hannah Perrin and Lauren Stanford. Five of the Bobcat women's runners have experience at the Big Sky meet, but MSU lost previous high finishers from last year's team in Trisha Carlson and Anna French. MSU's women's team – which is ranked in the Mountain Region poll behind fellow Big Sky foes Northern Arizona (No. 6), Weber State (No. 8) and Southern Utah (No. 12) – hopes to put its best meet together as a group at the Big Sky Championships.
"We started the year pretty strong at our home meet, then we were a little bit disappointed with our Pre Nationals results," Weese said. "I think the women's team is really motivated and excited to have a great conference championship race.
"We'll have eight individuals compete and our goal is for them to run to the best of their abilities. If they do that, I think we'll place really well at conference and compete well against some teams on the women's side like Southern Utah and Weber State."
The Big Sky Championships will have live results online at Athletic Timing. More information can be found at the championship central page provided by the Big Sky Conference
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women'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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