Montana State University
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite
Cross Country Flies to Hoosier State for Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite on Friday
9/28/2023 8:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Bobcats will face stiffest challenge of the fall so far with five ranked opponents on men's side and four on women's side
BOZEMAN, Montana -- Montana State cross country heads to the Hoosier State this week for their first big test of the season, competing at the nationally-competitive Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday.
The men's side features 35 teams, including six squads ranked in the preseason USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll in Notre Dame (8th), Butler (19th), NC State (21st), Alabama (23rd), Montana State (26th), and Florida State (29th).
The women's field includes 36 teams, including four top-25 programs in top-ranked NC State, Notre Dame (4th), Alabama (13th), and Florida State (23rd).
The women's 5K Gold race gets underway at 10:30 a.m. ET, with the men's 5 Mile Blue race beginning at 11:15 a.m. ET. Live results can be found here.
Last year, MSU's men placed fourth at the meet, an important factor in the Bobcats receiving an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships, their first appearance at the highest stage in college cross country since 2002. Ben Perrin led the way for Montana State at last year's meet in South Bend, placing 20th with a time of 23:47.0 in the five-mile race.
MSU's women delivered arguably their best performance of the season last year at this meet, placing third out of 19 teams behind only Nebraska and Cal Poly, with Mya Dube earning a ninth-place finish in the 5K with a time of 17:16.8.
Montana State is coming off a dominant showing at the Montana Invitational in Missoula on September 15, with both men and women earning comfortable wins.
The Bobcat men, who enter Friday ranked 28th in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, earned a perfect team score of 15, with Matthew Richtman, Owen Smith, Ben Perrin, Sam Ells, and Rob McManus going 1-5. In addition to Richtman's individual win, Smith set a lifetime PR of 24:08.38 in the 8K.
The Bobcat women, who rose one spot to 10th in the most recent USTFCCCA Mountain Region Poll, won easily over fellow Big Sky foes Weber State, Eastern Washington, and Montana, going 1-5-6-7-11.
Kyla Christopher-Moody won by an impressive 24-second margin, with Mya Dube, Alex Moore, Grace Gilbreth, and Emma Tate rounding out the scoring runners.
Richtman and Christopher-Moody went on to sweep the Big Sky Cross Country Athletes of the Week awards the following Monday.
Richtman rose 19 spots and is currently ranked 27th in FloTrack's latest NCAA Men's XC Indidvidual Rankings.
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
