Saturday, November 19
Stillwater, OK
9:10 a.m.
Montana State University
vs
NCAA Championships
The 2022 Montana State men's cross country team.
Photo by: Jill Hamilton MacPherson
Richtman Earns All-American Honors, Bobcats Place 25th at NCAAs
11/19/2022 6:04:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Montana State made its first NCAA Cross Country Championships appearance in 20 years on Saturday.
STILLWATER, Okla. — In the Montana State men's cross country team's first NCAA appearance since 2002, the Bobcats placed 25th as a team and had its third NCAA XC All-American in Matthew Richtman in the season-finale in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday morning.
As a team, the Bobcats scored 599 points. Two runners placed in the top 100 and four finished in the top 200 at the national championships.
Richtman's 40th-place finish was the fourth-best individual performance in Montana State history. He is one of three Bobcats to earn All-American honors, joining Shannon Butler (1989, 1990) and Weese (2002). The junior from Elburn, Ill. led the Bobcats for the first time this season, covering the 10-kilometer course in 29:35.7. His 40th-place finish was a vast improvement from his 112th-place finish a year ago in Tallahassee, Florida.
Following Richtman was Duncan Hamilton: the fifth-year senior out of Bozeman High School who placed 67th in 29:52.6 in his final collegiate race. Hamilton made history no matter how he finished, as he is the only Bobcat to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships three times. Fellow senior Cooper West was MSU's third runner in 30:41.7, marking the highest team finish he has had all season in his last cross country race.
Ben Perrin (31:02.4) and Levi Taylor (31:44.5) rounded out MSU's scoring runners, then Owen Smith (32:04.0) and Rob McManus (32:08.7) wrapped up the Bobcats' top seven.
Despite the outcome, the 2022 Montana State cross country team was one of the most successful groups in school history. The group that toed the line at the Greiner Family Cross Country Course are seven of 17 Bobcat men ever to make the NCAAs. The team had its highest national ranking since 2002 (18th), placed second at the Big Sky Championships and had the second-lowest point score at the competitive NCAA Mountain Regionals all-time to place fifth.
Northern Arizona won a stunning head-to-head tiebreaker over the hosts Oklahoma State, the latter of whom made a huge surge in the second half of the race to challenge the defending national champions. Stanford sophomore Charles Hicks won the individual title by crossing the line in 28:43.6 after holding off NAU's Nico Young and Drew Bosley, who finished second and third, respectively.
The Bobcats are expected to bring back five of the seven men who toed the line in Stillwater in 2023 — including Richtman, who will aim to join Hamilton as the only other Bobcat to go to the NCAAs three times next year.
Montana State's focus will now shift to indoor track season, which starts with the Bobcat Preview meet on Thursday, Dec. 1 in Worthington Arena.
As a team, the Bobcats scored 599 points. Two runners placed in the top 100 and four finished in the top 200 at the national championships.
Richtman's 40th-place finish was the fourth-best individual performance in Montana State history. He is one of three Bobcats to earn All-American honors, joining Shannon Butler (1989, 1990) and Weese (2002). The junior from Elburn, Ill. led the Bobcats for the first time this season, covering the 10-kilometer course in 29:35.7. His 40th-place finish was a vast improvement from his 112th-place finish a year ago in Tallahassee, Florida.
Following Richtman was Duncan Hamilton: the fifth-year senior out of Bozeman High School who placed 67th in 29:52.6 in his final collegiate race. Hamilton made history no matter how he finished, as he is the only Bobcat to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships three times. Fellow senior Cooper West was MSU's third runner in 30:41.7, marking the highest team finish he has had all season in his last cross country race.
Ben Perrin (31:02.4) and Levi Taylor (31:44.5) rounded out MSU's scoring runners, then Owen Smith (32:04.0) and Rob McManus (32:08.7) wrapped up the Bobcats' top seven.
Despite the outcome, the 2022 Montana State cross country team was one of the most successful groups in school history. The group that toed the line at the Greiner Family Cross Country Course are seven of 17 Bobcat men ever to make the NCAAs. The team had its highest national ranking since 2002 (18th), placed second at the Big Sky Championships and had the second-lowest point score at the competitive NCAA Mountain Regionals all-time to place fifth.
Northern Arizona won a stunning head-to-head tiebreaker over the hosts Oklahoma State, the latter of whom made a huge surge in the second half of the race to challenge the defending national champions. Stanford sophomore Charles Hicks won the individual title by crossing the line in 28:43.6 after holding off NAU's Nico Young and Drew Bosley, who finished second and third, respectively.
The Bobcats are expected to bring back five of the seven men who toed the line in Stillwater in 2023 — including Richtman, who will aim to join Hamilton as the only other Bobcat to go to the NCAAs three times next year.
Montana State's focus will now shift to indoor track season, which starts with the Bobcat Preview meet on Thursday, Dec. 1 in Worthington Arena.
Big Sky Cross Country Championship
Sunday, October 31
Big Sky Cross Country Championship Preview | Men's Team
Friday, October 27
Dale Kennedy - Media Day | Nov. 12, 2013
Wednesday, November 13
Cristian Soratos - Media Day | Oct. 22, 2013
Wednesday, October 23
