Montana State University
NCAA Championships
On Your Marks: Bobcat Men’s Cross Country Toes Line at NCAA Championships on Saturday
11/17/2023 11:46:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
The No. 29-ranked MSU men will be making their third appearance at the national meet in school history as they aim to build on last year’s 25th place finish, racing at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday morning
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Following a historic season that earned Montana State a second consecutive bid to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the Bobcats will toe the starting line one final time this fall in the biggest race of the year on Saturday at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The men's ten-kilometer national championship race begins at 11:10 a.m. ET/9:10 a.m. MT on Saturday, and will be televised on ESPNU and streaming on the ESPN app. Live results will be available here. The official NCAA Championships Meet Program can be viewed here.
Montana State, ranked 29th in the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, will be making their third appearance at the NCAA Championships in program history (2002, 2022).
Head coach Lyle Weese finished 19th in 2002 to lead the Bobcats to their best team result at nationals, an 11th place finish in Terre Haute, Indiana, and coached MSU to a 25th place finish last season in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
"Returning to the NCAA Championships after making it for the first time in twenty years last year is so gratifying," Weese said. "We wanted to continue the legacy of last year's team by returning to the meet, but are also hoping to reach even higher levels."
Montana State clinched an at-large bid during last Saturday's selection show in large part due to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Lubbock, Texas, on November 10th. The Bobcats entered the race needing to beat No. 23 Colorado, and did just that, with Ben Perrin (10th) and Matthew Richtman (21st) earning All-Region honors to lead the way.
Richtman turned in the fourth-highest individual finish in MSU history at last year's NCAA Championships, placing 40th overall to become the third All-American in program history, joining Weese (2002) and Shannon Butler (1989, 1990).
Butler, who was inducted into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame this summer, owns the two highest finishes at the national meet by a Bobcat, placing seventh in 1989 and earning national runner-up honors with a second-place finish in 1990.
Montana State returns five of the seven runners who competed at last season's NCAA Championships in Oklahoma, with Richtman (40th), Perrin (200th), Levi Taylor (233rd), Owen Smith (240th), and Rob McManus (242nd) all returning to lead the Bobcats to the biggest stage in collegiate cross country.
"As a team we need to be mentally and physically prepared for the race," Weese said. "Having raced in the meet or having teammates that have raced in the meet is valuable. These men have put in the time and demonstrated the commitment necessary in preparation to excel in this meet."
Perrin finished third at the Big Sky Championships and tenth at the NCAA Mountain Regional, and has finished as MSU's top runner in three of the last four races. The redshirt junior from Kalispell has not finished lower than 16th in any meet this fall.
Sam Ells, the 2023 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, and Harvey Cramb, join the five returners to complete the seven Bobcats competing on Saturday.
On October 14th, Montana State competed at the same venue they'll race tomorrow, placing fourth out of 23 teams at the XC23 Pre-Nationals meet. That course was marked for an 8k, while Saturday's NCAA Championship race will be longer and slightly different, at a 10k distance.
Richtman, Smith, and Perrin, went 12-14-16 that day to help lead the Bobcats to an impressive finish.
"It seems getting out in a solid position is important on this challenging course," Weese said. "If we can generally get into a position we feel good about early in the race, it will help us keep a level of relaxation in the middle of the race and avoid the stress of feeling we need to move up and aren't where we need to be. This will set us up to finish the last portion of the race well."
Tickets to the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships are sold out. Approximately 5,000 fans are expected to attend the event at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. and no further tickets will be sold including on the day of the event.
The 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on ESPNU with a pre-race show beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET. The women's 6k will start at 10:20 a.m. ET followed by the men's 10k at 11:10 a.m. ET.
Awards will be streamed live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app beginning at 12 p.m. ET.
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