Friday, September 28
Missoula, MT
W- 5:15 PM; M 5:45 PM
Montana State University
at
MONTANA INVITATIONAL
Cristian Soratos was the men's 8K winner in Missoula on Friday.
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Fast Cats
9/28/2012 8:33:00 PM | Cross Country
Bobcats sweep Montana Invitational for second year in a row; top Grizzlies
Some say history has a tendency to repeat itself and that's exactly what happened at the Montana Invitational on Friday evening. Both the Montana State Men's and Women's Cross Country teams won the meet, including some impressive top-10 finishes in both races. (Results)
The meet also served as the annual Cat-Griz showdown between Montana State and Montana and again, the 'Cats prevailed with a sweep of the 2012 titles. The men won, 15-49, while the women won 15-45.
MSU finished with an impressive 19 points for the win, followed by North Dakota with 55. Meet host Montana came in third with 79, and Eastern Washington rounded out the team scoring with 91. All schools are members of the Big Sky Conference, and they'll meet again in Flagstaff, Ariz. for the Big Sky Championship on Oct. 27.
The Women's 5K kicked off the day when Heather Demorest took home the top scoring finish in the race, placing second overall behind unattached runner Kara Dewalt. Demorest crossed the finish line in 17:44.50.
Montana State's top seven runners placed within the first 15 places, including possessing four consecutive spots in the results. Megan Beam, a transfer from Rocky Mountain was the next highest finisher in sixth place, clocking in at 18:25.80. Rachel Atwood came in nine second late in seventh with a time of 18:34.7, followed by Heidi Turner right on her heels in eighth in 18:35.0 In ninth place, right along with Atwood and Turner was Rachel Sullivan in 18:36.10. Rounding out the top seven were Kaylee Schmitz in 13th (18:52.20) and Michelle Cline in 15th (18:56.0)
“The women kept up their momentum and had another strong showing,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “We saw some great things out there and had some fast times. We need to work on cutting down the spread between our competitors and we've got some time to do that before we gear up for Pre-Nationals.”
The men put together one of their best team efforts in history, sweeping the first seven spots to finish with a remarkable 15 points. The Griz finished second with 60 points, followed by conference newcomer North Dakota in third with 79.
Junior college transfer Cristian Soratos was the overall winner with a time of 25:04.90 in the men's 8K. Michael Asay earned the silver in 25:33, followed by Trevor Polson in third hundredths of a second behind Asay. In fourth was Jacob Kirk, clocking in at 25:54.1 and Seth Garbett in fifth (25:59.6). Closing out the Bobcat runners were hometown product Jakob Woodland in sixth (26:00.0) and Zachary Kughn in seventh (26:08.40).
“The men taking the top seven places is just phenomenal,” Kennedy said. “While their spread was a little longer than we'd like, there was some really good stuff at the front of the group. These are great results for us as we prep for the next meet and we need to continue to improve out there.”
The Bobcats will take another two week hiatus from competition but keep their training in high gear before the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 13 in Louisville, Ky.
The meet also served as the annual Cat-Griz showdown between Montana State and Montana and again, the 'Cats prevailed with a sweep of the 2012 titles. The men won, 15-49, while the women won 15-45.
MSU finished with an impressive 19 points for the win, followed by North Dakota with 55. Meet host Montana came in third with 79, and Eastern Washington rounded out the team scoring with 91. All schools are members of the Big Sky Conference, and they'll meet again in Flagstaff, Ariz. for the Big Sky Championship on Oct. 27.
The Women's 5K kicked off the day when Heather Demorest took home the top scoring finish in the race, placing second overall behind unattached runner Kara Dewalt. Demorest crossed the finish line in 17:44.50.
Montana State's top seven runners placed within the first 15 places, including possessing four consecutive spots in the results. Megan Beam, a transfer from Rocky Mountain was the next highest finisher in sixth place, clocking in at 18:25.80. Rachel Atwood came in nine second late in seventh with a time of 18:34.7, followed by Heidi Turner right on her heels in eighth in 18:35.0 In ninth place, right along with Atwood and Turner was Rachel Sullivan in 18:36.10. Rounding out the top seven were Kaylee Schmitz in 13th (18:52.20) and Michelle Cline in 15th (18:56.0)
“The women kept up their momentum and had another strong showing,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “We saw some great things out there and had some fast times. We need to work on cutting down the spread between our competitors and we've got some time to do that before we gear up for Pre-Nationals.”
The men put together one of their best team efforts in history, sweeping the first seven spots to finish with a remarkable 15 points. The Griz finished second with 60 points, followed by conference newcomer North Dakota in third with 79.
Junior college transfer Cristian Soratos was the overall winner with a time of 25:04.90 in the men's 8K. Michael Asay earned the silver in 25:33, followed by Trevor Polson in third hundredths of a second behind Asay. In fourth was Jacob Kirk, clocking in at 25:54.1 and Seth Garbett in fifth (25:59.6). Closing out the Bobcat runners were hometown product Jakob Woodland in sixth (26:00.0) and Zachary Kughn in seventh (26:08.40).
“The men taking the top seven places is just phenomenal,” Kennedy said. “While their spread was a little longer than we'd like, there was some really good stuff at the front of the group. These are great results for us as we prep for the next meet and we need to continue to improve out there.”
The Bobcats will take another two week hiatus from competition but keep their training in high gear before the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 13 in Louisville, Ky.
Dale Kennedy - Media Day | Nov. 12, 2013
Wednesday, November 13
Cristian Soratos - Media Day | Oct. 22, 2013
Wednesday, October 23
Coach Kennedy Media Day | 10/15/13
Wednesday, October 16
Heather Demorest | Oct. 1, 2013
Thursday, October 03
