Ells, Rutherford Lead Bobcats to Individual and Team Sweep at MSU Bobcat Twilight

Friday, September 4

Bozeman, Mont.

7:20 p.m.

Montana State University

MSU Bobcat Twilight

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

Ells, Rutherford Lead Bobcats to Individual and Team Sweep at MSU Bobcat Twilight

9/4/2026 10:16:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Final Results

Bobcats open season with successful home meet at Dyche Field

By: Pershelle Rohrer

BOZEMAN, Mont. --- The 2026 cross country season began in dominant fashion for Montana State on Friday night as the Bobcats completed a sweep of the individual and team titles at the MSU Bobcat Twilight in Bozeman.

Sam Ells won the men's 5k for the third-straight season to help the Bobcat men secure five of the top six scoring positions for a total of 19 points. Montana finished second on the team leaderboard with 44 points, while Rocky Mountain (102), Montana Tech (115), and Carroll College (138) rounded out the top five teams in the men's race.

Claire Rutherford broke the tape in the women's 5k to earn her first collegiate win by 23 seconds as Montana State secured a perfect 15 points to wrap up the evening. The Bobcat women dominated the field on Friday, with Bobcat runners taking the top 11 spots on the individual leaderboard. Carroll College (73 points) edged out Montana (76) for second place by just three points, while Montana Tech (122) and Montana Western (133) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Ells (14:38.3) beat Bobcat alumni Duncan Hamilton (14:42.6) to the finish line by just over four seconds to earn his third-straight win at the meet. The time marked a personal-best 5k performance for the 2025 All-Big Sky runner. The next seven Bobcats crossed the finish line fifth through 11^th, with Ryan Harrington (15:00.1) and Quinn Newman (15:00.9) posting times less than a second apart to become the Bobcats' second and third scorers with their fifth- and sixth-place results on Friday. AJ Ringert placed seventh with a time of 15:02.0, and Harvey Cramb clocked a 15:05.4 to round out the Bobcat scorers in eighth place.

Rutherford cruised to her first collegiate victory in the women's race with a time of 17:29.8. Niamh Motley shaved over 30 seconds of her personal-best 5k time to take second place in 17:52.8. Freshman Caroline Fender posted a 17:54.3 to place third in her first collegiate race, and sophomore Samantha Geraets (18:09.4) and freshman Quinn Stranahan (18:18.1) took fourth and fifth complete a perfect day for the Bobcat women.

Nine runners donned a Bobcat uniform for the first time at the MSU Bobcat Twilight, including Tyler Blair, Race Morrell, Camden Houchin, and Kye McAbee on the men's squad and Fender, Stranahan, Sofia Ledermann, Addi Lilyquist, and Miranda Oblad on the women's side.

Full results from the MSU Bobcat Twilight can be found here.

Montana State hits the road for a pair of meets in two weeks, sending runners to the Montana Open in Missoula, Mont., on Friday, Sept. 18 and the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Sept. 19.

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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.