Strong Team Showings Lead to Bobcat Wins at the MSU Cross Country Classic

Saturday, September 17

BOZEMAN

9 a.m.

Montana State University

MSU Cross Country Classic

Montana State men's cross country team.

Photo by: Kyle Cajero

Strong Team Showings Lead to Bobcat Wins at the MSU Cross Country Classic

9/17/2022 3:11:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

The men’s team went 1-7 with all seven runners under 25 minutes, whereas the women’s team won with 31 points.

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Saturday morning was a perfect day to be a member of the Montana State University cross country team, as both Bobcat teams and individuals picked up wins at the 45th-annual MSU Cross Country Classic, held at Bridger Creek Golf Course.

Running across rolling hills still soaked from rainstorms earlier this week, both races managed to have times comparable to last year's edition of the MSU Cross Country Classic.

While Duncan Hamilton and Camila Noe repeated as MSU Cross Country Classic winners, the team scores stole the show for the Bobcats. The Bobcat men finished 1-7 for a perfect score of 15 points, and all seven runners went under the 25-minute barrier over the five-mile course. Meanwhile, the women's team beat second-place Weber State by a 31-42 margin thanks to the Bobcats' 2-through-5 runners finishing 17.4 seconds apart.

"It was so exciting having the top seven runners in the race as we raced against some good competition from the Mountain Region," Dale Kennedy Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Lyle Weese said. "I thought we ran well as a team and I'm excited for how we're going to race in two weeks."

In the men's race, Duncan Hamilton and Ben Perrin were MSU's top finishers in 24:30.9 and 24:31.1, respectively. Matthew Richtman and Owen Smith battled down the home stretch to finish in third and fourth with nearly-identical times. Another close finish between MSU's fifth runner Levi Taylor and sixth place Rob McManus gave the Bobcats the perfect score, then Cooper West gave MSU a 1-7 sweep by finishing in 24:55.3.

Rob McManus led the pack for the first phase of the race as seven of the top eight runners were from Montana State. But by the midway point of the race, the Bobcats separated themselves from the field. Perrin and Hamilton pulled ahead, then the latter outkicked the former in the final 10 meters to win the race.

As a team, MSU's pack time was a mere 17.3 seconds.

Meanwhile, in the women's race, Noe set the tone early by taking out the race aggressively and getting a good gap on the rest of the field that she wouldn't relinquish.

"Camila ran an awesome race," Weese said. "All things considered, I thought she ran harder at this course this year than she did last year. She typically runs pretty aggressively, so the competitors know what she's going to do. But it's an advantage because competitors know that running against Camila is going to be a battle."

The Bobcat chase pack of Lindsey Paulson, Mya Dube, Grace Gilbreth and Alex Moore worked their way past their competitors in the first half of the race as each runner took a turn leading the way.

"Our women's pack has been training really well and they have such a great presence about them," Weese said. "It was great to see the back-and-forth in the women's pack as they pushed each other. I thought Alex Moore did a great job of being aggressive and going for it while still finishing the race strong."

Paulson, the true freshman from Belt, Mont., would be MSU's second runner in as many races, placing eighth with a time of 17:36.6. Dube uncorked a big kick in the final 250 meters to round out the top 10 with a time of 17:49.2, then Gilbreth and Moore sealed MSU's win by placing 11th and 12th, respectively. Elena Vandersloot was three seconds behind Moore, giving MSU six finishers before any team had four runners cross the line, then Ava Weems rounded out MSU's top seven, finishing in 23rd with a time of 18:19.0.

"I was so excited about the women's team and being able to compete so well against Weber State," Weese said. "It was a great way for us to start our season."

Weber State would take second in both races; the Wildcat men scored 51 points and were led by Ty Davis' eighth-place finish in 25:11.1. Idaho State, Montana and Carroll College rounded out the top five team scores in both races.

The Bobcats will travel to South Bend, Ind. for the Joe Piane Invitational on Sept. 30.