Montana State University
MSU INVITATIONAL
Bobcats go the distance
9/21/2013 2:30:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Individual wins highlight great team performances at BRC Invite
Overall, the Montana State men won the Division I competition with 32 points and narrowly beat out Utah State who finished with 35. The women came in second in Division I with 58 points to winner Utah State's 44.
Also of note, the meet served at the Cat-Griz Dual for Montana State and Montana. The men won handily, 16-43, while the women won 20-35. MSU women are almost even with the Griz with the series sitting at 15-16, in favor of Montana. The men are now 20-34 with their rival across the Divide.
The men's 5-miler took placed first amidst a near-perfect Bozeman morning. Trailing at the very beginning of the race, senior Cristian Soratos made his move about a quarter of the way through the Bridger Creek course and never looked back. Soratos wasn't alone however, as four of his teammates also placed within the top-20 of the 103 competitors. Soratos crossed the finish line in 25:09, followed by classmate Trevor Polson in second in 25:15. Utah State took third and fourth but MSU rallied for fifth and six to essentially seal the win for the Bobcats.
Jacob Kirk took fifth in 25:31, with Seth Garbett in sixth in 25:36.
"Cristian obviously ran really well but what may not have been as obvious were his teammates behind him," said head coach Dale Kennedy. "Trevor, Jacob and Seth really stepped up and had great races. Improvement is always at the forefront of our philosophy as we look to close in as a pack with all our runners."
In the women's 3-mile, Heather Demorest picked up where she left off in the 2012-13 season and took it one step further. She earned her first collegiate win, holding on to the lead for the entire race. The Darby, Mont. native finished with a time of 17:16. MSU's next highest finisher was Rachel Atwood, who saw almost a 20 second drop from 2012, who came in seventh place in 17:50. The Bobcat Women were supplemented by Christie Schiel in 11th (17:58) and Jenette Northey in 13th (18:04) to round out the top-20.
"Demorest was off the charts," Kennedy said. "She really ran well and it is always great to see the kids pick up those individual wins, however, as many know, we do try to emphasize the team as much as possible in our program. I think the teams will be really encouraged by what they saw and did out there today. I see a lot of good things potentially happening this season as both the men's and women's progress."
The Bobcat Harriers will take two weeks from competition and will return on Friday, Oct. 4, when they travel to Missoula for the Montana Invitational.
Post-Race Interviews with Cristian Soratos and Heather Demorest
