UM women, MSU men earn team victories
10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
The University of Montana women???s cross country team and the Montana State University men???s team were winners Saturday morning at the Montana Invitational at the UM Golf Course in Missoula. Montana junior Katrina Drennen won the women???s five-kilometer race, Montana State senior Matt Adams won the men???s eight-kilometer race.
The Griz women had three runners in the top four and placed their top five within the top 10 overall to win the team title with 23 points. Montana was followed by Gonzaga with 52 points, the College of Idaho with 78 points, Montana State with 90 points and Eastern Washington with 173 points.
The Bobcat men took four of the top six spots overall to win the team title with 27 points. Montana had four in the top nine to score 40 points. The Grizzlies were followed by the College of Idaho with 85 points, Eastern Washington with 90 points and Gonzaga with 129 points.
Drennen jumped out to the lead right from the start of the women???s race and held a slight edge over the College of Idaho???s Stephanie Helm until Helm took the lead with under a quarter mile to go.
Helm kept the lead for a hundred yards until a move by Drennen gave her the four-second victory. Drennen finished in 17:52, Helm in 17:56.
???She came up on me coming into the final stretch, maybe 300 meters from the finish,??? Drennen said. ???I let her pass me, then I stuck right on her. I made a decisive move with maybe 200 meters to go and gave it everything I had, and it worked out.
???It was an honest race today. I ran hard and pushed it the entire way. When I felt like backing off, I made myself push through.???
Montana junior Brooke Andrus place third in 18:17, followed by Griz sophomore Kesslee Payne in 18:21.
Sue Huse of the Mountain West Track Club rounded out the top five in 18:34.
UM juniors Bridgette Hoenke and Kara DeWalt finished seventh and 10th in 18:40 and 18:52 to give the Grizzlies five of the top 10 overall spots.
???Katrina and I kind of talked about hanging back a bit, but she ended up pretty much leading from the start, which ended up being okay,??? UM coach Courtney Babcock said. ???She got a little tired toward the end, but she???s a competitor. She???s not going to lose a race if it???s that close with a half mile to go.
???Brooke and Kesslee worked really well together almost the whole race, and I think it helped both of their races.
???Overall the girls looked great. We had three girls in the top four, so that???s a pretty solid day.???
In the men???s race, Adams got out to the lead by the first mile marker and kept it the rest of the way for a 13-second victory over Eastern Washington???s Kyle King. Adams finished in 24:43, King in 24:56.
UM sophomore Lynn Reynolds moved up to third by the finish, running a 24:59.
Montana State took the next three spots, with Patrick Casey in fourth (25:08), Graydon Curry in fifth (25:08) and Nick Atwood in sixth (25:13).
Montana followed in spots seven through nine with senior Michael Fisher (25:15), junior Collin Fehr (25:35) and freshman Quinton Decker (25:35).
Senior Mac Bloom was Montana???s No. 5 runner, finishing 13th overall in 25:42.
???The guys competed well today,??? Babcock said. ???I think we gave MSU a completely different race than when we faced them two weeks ago.
???Lynn???s been hurt and hasn???t really run much the last two weeks, so for him to hang back and then really work that second half, I thought he did a great job.
???I think today???s race went to Collin Fehr and Quinton Decker. They both had great races. Quinton hung in there right when he was starting to drop off a little bit. I think with that little extra he gave he was able to stick with Collin and Mac and they were all able to work together that last mile.???
Two Saturdays ago at the Montana State Invitational, Fehr placed 24th overall and was Montana???s No. 5 runner. Saturday morning he finished 16 spots higher and over half a minute faster to place as UM???s No. 3 runner.
???Everything went according to plan today,??? Fehr said. ???I felt great and just hung in there and hung in there. Mac is kind of my rabbit and visualization tool, so I just kept my eyes on his back the whole race. And Quinton and I worked the whole race together.
???Getting our three, four and five guys up there is huge because the Bobcats are really strong. (After Lynn and Michael) we???re the next three guys. We need to keep working to move up the pack.
???It???s important to have days like today to improve our confidence. As long as we stay healthy, get our sleep and do all the little things right, we can keep closing the gap and hopefully be right there with (Montana State) by conference.???
Montana will have one more race weekend before competing at the Big Sky Conference championships, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 31, in Greeley, Colo. On Saturday, Oct. 17, the UM women will be in Terre Haute, Ind., for NCAA Pre-Nationals, while the men will be in Moscow, Idaho, for the Vandal Jamboree.
