Montana
NCAA Mountain Region Championships
Cross country season ends at Mountain Regional
11/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Nov. 9, 2012
The Montana cross country teams wrapped up their 2012 season Friday at the NCAA Mountain Region championships at the Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins, Colo. The UM men placed 17th out of 18 teams, the Griz women finished 19th out of 20 teams.
Sophomore Carly Wilczynski was the top finisher for either team, coming across the line in 81st in the women's six-kilometer race in a time of 22:40. Sophomore David Norris led the men with an 85th-place finish. He covered the men's 10-kilometer course in 32:54.
Weber State, the region's top-ranked team and Big Sky Conference champion, came through with a decisive victory in the women's race. Amber Henry was third and Sarah Callister eighth, and the Wildcats' five scoring runners all came through in the top 22 overall for a score of 63 points.
New Mexico was second with 95 points. Colorado (107), Southern Utah (132) and Colorado State (173) rounded out the top five.
Among Big Sky Conference teams, Northern Arizona was eighth (225), Idaho State 12th (343), Montana State 15th (382) and Northern Colorado 18th (456). Montana finished 19th with 555 points.
Texas-El Paso's Risper Kimaiyo was the individual women's winner in a time of 20:10. She was followed by Colorado senior Shalaya Kipp (20:18.1), Henry (20:18.4), Utah senior Amanda Mergaert (20:18.7) and New Mexico senior Josephine Moultrie (20:25).
Montana sent a team of five women to the meet. In addition to Wilczynski in 81st place, sophomore Allie Parks was 91st in a time of 23:02, redshirt freshman Mariah Meyer finished 125th in 24:23, sophomore Autumn Taniguchi was 126th in 24:33 and senior Bobbi Furrer finished 132nd in 25:28.
The men's race was won by a Big Sky Conference team as well, but this one was an upset victory. Northern Arizona, ranked No. 4 in the region entering the race, placed its top three in the top 10 overall and won the region title with 56 points.
BYU was second with 68 points, Colorado third with 69 and New Mexico fourth with 108. Colorado had a pre-race ranking of No. 1, BYU was No. 2, and New Mexico was No. 3.
The Weber State men were fifth (196), Southern Utah was eighth (257), Montana State 12th (280), Idaho State 16th (434), Montana 17th (513) and Northern Colorado 18th (570).
Texas Tech junior Kennedy Kithuka ran away with the race, coming through in a time of 29:36. Texas-El Paso freshman Anthony Rotich was second (29:55), BYU junior Jared Ward third (30:06.3), Northern Arizona freshman Futsum Zienasellassie fourth (30:06.8) and NAU junior Brian Shrader fifth (30:09).
Montana sent a team of seven but raced six. Sophomore Caleb Deitz, three times Montana's top finisher this fall, did not start because of injury.
Behind Norris in 85th were redshirt freshman Mark Messmer in 94th (33:11), junior Jordan Collison in 109th (34:08), freshman Matt Barker in 111th (34:19), freshman Reid Longley in 114th (34:36) and freshman Colby Henderson in 118th (35:33).
With the cross country season complete, Montana turns its focus to the indoor track and field season. The Grizzlies will open the indoor season Dec. 7-8 at Eastern Washington.
