Montana State University
Big Sky Championships
Cross Country Heads to Cheney for the Big Sky Championships
10/26/2022 2:08:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Boosted by solid pack running, both Bobcat teams are in contention for conference titles this Friday.
BOZEMAN, Montana – After four races and hundreds of miles run between both Montana State cross country teams, the Bobcats enter championship season at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships, held in Cheney, Wash. this Friday.
The men's 8-kilometer race is expected to start at 11 a.m. MT, while the women's 5-kilometer race is set to start at noon MT. A link to live results for both races will be provided on the cross country teams' schedule pages at msubobcats.com.
"Both teams are really confident and are ready to race," Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Lyle Weese said. "I don't think our men's team feels any pressure, they mostly feel excited to go race hard. The women's team has been talking a lot about the conference race and their goals recently. Last year, we finished lower than we typically have, and they're excited to change that this year."
Last year, the men's team placed third out of 11 teams, while the women's team placed sixth. This year, however, the Big Sky has one fewer team toeing the line at the conference race, as Southern Utah left for the Western Athletic Conference this past summer.
However, given the trajectory of the Bobcats and the Thunderbirds over the past season, Southern Utah's departure doesn't change much on the men's side.
While the Thunderbirds got the best of the Bobcat men last year, the Montana State men's cross country team has improved substantially, bringing back nearly everyone from last year's squad. Duncan Hamilton, Ben Perrin and Matthew Richtman give MSU a formidable top three that could all finish in the top 10 and earn All-Big Sky honors.
Yet MSU's next scoring runners truly set the Bobcats apart.
The back half of the men's team has been bolstered by Owen Smith, Rob McManus, Cooper West and Levi Taylor — all of whom have been virtually interchangeable over the past few races. On any given race, one of those runners has shown up. Each of those runners has been integral to the Bobcats' impressive spreads: MSU's 1-through-5 runners have finished less than 55 seconds apart in all four races this season.
"Last year, the fourth-through-sixth runners felt a lot of pressure to either do something they haven't done before or run the best race of their lives in order for the team to reach their goals," Weese said. "That was really stressful last year, but this year, they're more excited to run. They go into a race thinking about what they can do, rather than all that they need to do for the team to succeed."
Throughout the course of the season, the women's team has followed a similar script. While Camila Noe has been the lead runner for the Bobcats in every race this season, runners like Mya Dube, Lindsey Paulson, Alex Moore and Ava Weems have closed the gap between Noe and the rest of the Bobcats. In particular, Weems has adapted quickly to MSU's training regimen after spending four seasons at another MSU, Mississippi State.
Weese noted Weems as one of the runners on the women's side that has stood out to him throughout the season and especially into the conference race.
"Ava ran really well at Pre-Nationals and she's done really well over the past few weeks in workouts," Weese said. "She's so kind and she works really hard, so I think people notice how hard she works and the attributes that she brings to the team."
Alongside Weems, Dube has had back-to-back breakout races and has established herself as MSU's number-two runner. Paulson, the Belt, Mont. native, has a legitimate shot of being named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, which is awarded to the first freshman who crosses the finish line on Friday's race.
Both Northern Arizona teams are expected to be the toughest competition for the Bobcats this week. The NAU men are five-time defending national champions and are ranked third in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches' Polls. Meanwhile, the women's team has had a resurgence this season, ranking fourth in the latest national coaches' polls.
The women's race is expected to be closer than the men's, as Idaho and Weber State have had perennially strong teams.
"Going up against NAU, our men's team has a lot of fun with it," Weese said. "I think NAU's men's team enjoys competing with us because of how hard we race. For our women, NAU is really strong, but we have some great individuals and a solid team as well. Our women are really excited about running against NAU, Idaho, Weber State and Portland State to see how they shake out."
THE RUNDOWN
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The Bobcat women hold a five-year streak of having at least one runner earn All-Big Sky Conference honors.
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Both MSU cross country teams are ranked in the top 15 in the Mountain Region polls: The men's team is ranked fifth, while the women's team is 12th.
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The men are coming off of winning the team title at the Weis-Crockett/Pre-Nationals Invitational, held in Stillwater, Okla. Hamilton won the individual title in 23:28.8, which was arguably the biggest cross country victory of his career.
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This season marks the first time in program history with multiple Big Sky Conference XC Athlete of the Week award winners: Camila Noe (10/4), Ben Perrin (10/4) and Duncan Hamilton (10/18).
THE LAST TIME…
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The Montana State men's team won a Big Sky title: 2002
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The Montana State women's team won a Big Sky title: 1995
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A Montana State man was a Big Sky Cross Country champion: Casey Jermyn, 2002
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A Montana State woman was a Big Sky Cross Country champion: Camila Noe, 2019
Players Mentioned
