Montana State Cross Country Releases 2024 Schedule
8/1/2024 12:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Multiple national meets highlight the fall as Bobcats enter highly anticipated season
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Coming off a year in which the Montana State men's cross country team finished 13th at the NCAA Championships and the women recorded their best result at the Big Sky Championships since 2017, the Bobcats bring back nearly all their scoring runners with sights set on continuing the program's ascent as a national brand.
The 2024 Montana State cross country schedule, announced by head coach Lyle Weese on Thursday, features four regular season meets leading into a decisive three-meet postseason stretch.
"We feel great about the schedule for both the men's and women's cross country teams," Weese said, "and feel it gives both teams a great opportunity to eventually qualify for the NCAA Championships."
The Bobcats kick off the fall with the annual MSU Bobcat Twilight, set for August 30 at Dyche Field in Bozeman.
On September 20, the MSU women will travel to Minneapolis to take part in the Griak Invite, hosted by the University of Minnesota.
"The Griak meet will be an early season test for the women's team to get a barometer of where they are at against a strong field which usually has multiple NCAA team qualifiers competing," Weese said.
One week later, the MSU men will head to Madison, Wisconsin, to race in the Nuttycombe Invite on September 27.
The meet, held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, is the most selective race on the regular season calendar in NCAA Division I cross country. The Bobcats earned their first invite by virtue of their 13th place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships last fall, their second-best finish in school history.
The Nuttycombe Invite will provide Weese's crew with the chance to run on the same course that will host the 2024 NCAA Championships on November 23.
"The University of Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational tends to be a NCAA preview with the vast majority of the NCAA qualifying teams competing," Weese said. "The men's team is very excited about the opportunity to get an invite to the meet for the first time and is a testament to their level of performance over the last few years. If we can put together a good team race, it will make the path to qualifying for NCAAs for the third year in a row much easier."
The Montana State men and women will re-join each other for one last tune-up before the postseason when they pack their bags for Eugene, Oregon, to compete at the Dellinger Invite, hosted by the University of Oregon on October 11.
"The Dellinger Invite will have a heavy west region influence which includes some of the best teams in the NCAA," Weese said. "There will be multiple top 30 NCAA teams for the men and women to match up against."
From there, it's off to the 2024 Big Sky Championships, hosted by Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho, on November 2.
The Montana State men's last Big Sky cross country title came in Pocatello in 2002. Through driving snow, recently minted MSU Hall of Famer Casey Jermyn won the individual title and Weese finished fifth overall.
Last season in Missoula, both the Bobcat men and women finished runner-up to Northern Arizona. It was the women's best finish since 2017 and for the men marked the third consecutive runner-up finish at the conference meet.
On November 15, the Cats head to Reno, Nevada, for the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, hosted by the University of Nevada.
It was the men's thrilling fifth place finish in Lubbock, Texas, last year in the regional meet that catapulted them to an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships—their second straight appearance at the national meet.
The Bobcat women finished 11th in Lubbock last year, their best result at a regional meet since 2017.
The season concludes with the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships, held in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course.
Montana State's men have made three appearances at the national meet in program history, with Weese leading the Cats to the big stage as a student-athlete in 2002 (11th) and as the head coach in 2022 (25th) and 2023 (13th).
Last season, Matthew Richtman became just the second Bobcat ever to twice earn All-American honors (Shannon Butler) after placing 26th in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the national meet.
Richtman's graduation leaves a sizable hole for the men, but the decisions by Ben Perrin and Levi Taylor to come back for one final cross country season mean that runners 2-9 from last year will all be back this fall.
Seniors Owen Smith and Rob McManus, along with 2023 Big Sky Freshman of the Year Sam Ells, join Perrin and Taylor as favorites to be the Cats' scoring runners, with sophomore Harvey Cramb and junior Ben Saelens also competing.
"It is such a boost having Ben Perrin and Levi Taylor coming back to finish out their eligibility after completing their undergraduate degrees this past spring," Weese said. "They are certainly Bobcat Legends and are looking to cap off spectacular careers this fall semester with one more special cross country season."
Perrin, a Kalispell native and one of the best distance runners in program history, placed third at the Big Sky Championship last fall before earning All-Region honors and finishing 53rd at the NCAA Championships.
Smith finished 12th at the Big Sky meet, 28th at the Mountain Regional, and 72nd at the NCAA Championships—the eleventh-best finish by an individual in program history at the national meet.
On the women's side, graduate student Kyla Christopher-Moody will pace a group that is coming off their best season since 2017. The former Colorado transfer placed ninth at the Big Sky Championships to earn All-Conference honors last fall after top-40 finishes at both the Joe Piane Invite and Pre-Nationals.
Bozeman native Grace Gilbreth also earned All-Conference honors last season and returns for her senior campaign, joined by fellow scoring runners senior Alex Moore and senior Kendra Lusk.
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