Men’s Cross Country Finishes 12th at Pre-National Invitational

Friday, October 16

Terre Haute, Ind.

8 a.m.

Montana State University

Pre-National Invitational

Blue 6k Results White 6k Results

Photo by: Pershelle Rohrer

Men’s Cross Country Finishes 12th at Pre-National Invitational

10/16/2026 2:59:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Blue 8k Results Women's Blue 6k Results Men's White 8k Results Women's White 6k Results

Sam Ells, Niamh Motley lead Bobcat men and women across the finish line in Terre Haute

By: Pershelle Rohrer

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. --- The Montana State men's cross country team took an impressive 12^th-place result at the Pre-National Invitational on Friday, while the women's squad took 28^th against a competitive field to conclude the regular season.

Fifth-year Sam Ells led the Bobcat men across the finish line in 27^th place individually, while all five men's scorers finished in the top 100 in the 8k Blue race to tally 326 points as a team. The Bobcat men, who entered the race as the 25^th-ranked team in the field, finished 13 spots higher than projected to emerge as the top-placing Mountain Region team in the 8k. No. 8 Syracuse took the team title with 115 points, with No. 14 Villanova (127) No. 15 Notre Dame (148), Wichita State (212), and No. 29 North Carolina (243) rounding out the top five teams in the field.

Niamh Motley led the women's squad with an 82-second personal best in the 6k Blue race to finish 56^th individually and guide Montana State to 28^th as a team with 748 points. No. 2 BYU (84 points) bested No. 1 NC State (88) for the team title by just four points, while No. 7 Notre Dame (213), No. 23 Clemson (229), and No. 19 North Carolina (249) completed the top five on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

"It was a good day for our men's and women's teams," Dale Kennedy Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Lyle Weese said. "It was a good day for experience and performance, so it's nice to come into a different environment like these races are compared to our first three races and compete and represent the school and university really well."

Ells completed the race as Montana State's top finisher for the fourth time this season with his 27^th-place result, clocking a time of 23:43.6. Ells was the top-ranked finisher from the Mountain Region in the race, finishing 14 spots ahead of Utah State's Josh Armstrong (41^st – 23:52.4) for the honor. AJ Ringert was Montana State's second finisher and 67^th overall with a time of 24:07.2, while Pierre Carlier finished close behind in 72^nd with a personal-best time of 24:09.5 in his Bobcat debut. Blaise Snow placed 78^th with a 24:11.4, and Quinn Newman rounded out the Bobcat scorers with a personal-best time of 24:12.3 to finish 82^nd.

"It was a really exciting day for our men's team because we had shown that we have the pieces to be a good team, but we put them together today and put together a nice team race, Weese said. "Even having done that, there's the opportunity for us to do even more, so I'm excited about what we can do at Conference, Regionals, and Nationals."

Motley obliterated her previous personal-best 6k time of 21:49.2, set at the 2024 Bill Dellinger Invitational, with a 20:27.6 in Terre Haute on Friday, taking 56^th place overall as the Bobcats' first scorer. Annie Kaul crossed second for the Bobcats and 146^th overall with a 21:13.0, gaining 32 places in the final kilometer to earn her result. Caroline Fender, competing in her first Pre-Nationals, placed 183^rd with a personal-best time of 21:16.6. Claire Rutherford continued her perfect scoring streak for the Bobcats this season with her 190^th-place result and a time of 21:29.2, while Eva Koos rounded out the top five Bobcat finishers in 192^nd place (21:30.1).

Full results from the Pre-National Invitational can be found here.

The Bobcats will open postseason competition in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Oct. 30 when they compete at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships at Buffalo Park.

Follow the Bobcats
For the latest news, updates, and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Montana State cross country program, follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram at @MSUBobcatsTFXC. Information on the Montana State athletic program can be found online at msubobcats.com or by following the Bobcats on Twitter at @MSUBobcats, Instagram at @MontanaStateBobcats, and on Facebook at Montana State Bobcats.