The Big Sky Championships have arrived

Friday, October 28

Moscow, Idaho

Montana

Big Sky Conference Championships

10/27/2016 3:36:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana cross country teams will race Friday at the Big Sky Conference Championships at Moscow, Idaho. The races, which are being held in Moscow for the first time since 1975, will be contested at the University of Idaho Golf Course.

The men's eight-kilometer race will start at noon (MT), with the women's five-kilometer race starting at 1:15 p.m. (MT). Both races can be watched live on the Idaho track program's Facebook page.

Women's Preview

Picked seventh in the preseason coaches' poll, the Grizzlies became a new team in late September when sophomore Jessica Bailey finally trusted that she's a really good runner. It's been different ever since, and it's changed expectations.

"If everyone has a really good day, I think we can be top five," said senior Reagan Colyer, who is part of Montana's lead pack of three, along with Bailey and sophomore Emily Pittis. "If we have a perfect day, I think we can be top three."

This is how things have changed for Montana: At the season-opening Clash of the Inland Northwest on the same UI Golf Course, the Grizzlies were 15 points behind Eastern Washington, which was picked fifth in the preseason poll.

Two weeks ago, at the Inland Empire Championships at Lewiston, Idaho, Montana out-pointed the Eagles by 34 points, even though Eastern Washington had the top overall finisher. Part of it was Bailey. Most of it has been the overall team improvement and cohesiveness.

"Everybody has stayed really healthy throughout the season, so we've been able to get super fit," said Colyer. "And everyone is invested in this team.

"When everybody is on the same page and everybody is really fit and focused, you get a once-in-a-lifetime team. It's unlike anything I've seen in my time here. I really think we can do some damage over there."

Montana will travel with eight: Bailey, Colyer and Pittis, plus seniors Maddie Nagle and Lauryn Wate, and sophomores Bridget Creel, Megan Franz and Rosa Hardarson.

Bailey, Colyer and Pittis will likely lead the team again on Friday, but scoring goes five deep. That's where everyone else comes in.

Creel was in the team's top four at its first three races of the fall. At the Inland Empire Championships, she was fifth, coming in three seconds behind sophomore Rosa Hardarson. And she was excited about it?

"I saw Bridget yelling at Rosa at the end of the race to get up a hill, and Rosa ended up outkicking her," said UM coach Vicky Pounds.

"Bridget said she'd never run a race like that for the Griz. She said it was awesome to feel what it's like to run for your team and feed off each other."

Weber State, the defending champion and ranked seventh in this week's USTFCCCA Mountain Region poll, is the favorite to repeat, but there are other teams who will push the Wildcats.

Northern Arizona is ninth in the region, Southern Utah is 13th, Montana is 14th. Idaho is ranked 13th in the West Region. It's a tight group in the top six or seven, which is why a great day could have the Grizzlies as high as third and an off day could have them closer to their preseason pick of seventh.

"It's important to remember the process. We've had some success and been on a roll, but nothing is going to come easy on Friday," said Pounds.

"It's still a race, and it's still going to be painful, and we're still going to have to work for it. It's not just going to fall into our laps. We do have some confidence going over there, though, which is great."

Men's Preview

Like last year, the men's race will be dominated by Northern Arizona and Southern Utah runners, probably even more so this time around. The Lumberjacks are the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. The Thunderbirds are ranked 20th.

Weber State is ranked 12th in the Mountain Region, Idaho State follows at No. 13.

Montana was picked eighth in the Big Sky in the preseason coaches' poll.

"A good day would be if we can move up a couple places from our preseason ranking," said Pounds. "Everyone's been doing well in our workouts. They just need to go out and do what they do every day in workouts."

The men's team will have six athletes, led by sophomore Jonathan Eastwood, who placed 63rd last fall at his first Big Sky championship meet.

His goal for Saturday: the top 10. Six of last year's top 10 finishers are back, but that isn't dissuading Eastwood.

"You have to set your sights high to achieve something great," he said. "I want to stay relaxed and hang on the back of the NAU pack and see if they can help me to a pretty good finish.

"I'm really excited. The way Coach Pounds has the taper set up, I'm feeling really good and ready to run on Friday.

Montana also will have juniors Paden Alexander, Tucker Costain and Nathan Wellington competing, plus sophomore Dillon May and freshman Noah Kells.

Eastwood and Alexander have been Montana's top two runners at all four meets this fall. Wellington, who is returning to form after an injury, was third two weeks ago at the Inland Empire Championships, coming in five seconds behind Alexander.

May has also finished in the top four at all four meets.

That puts the pressure on Kells, a middle-distance runner in high school, and Costain, who made the team earlier this season after trying out. One of those two will be the team's No. 5 runner on Friday and score championship points for Montana.

The more exciting drama will be with Eastwood and where he finishes.

"I think it finally started to click for him after Lewiston (two weeks ago)," Pounds said. "Jonathan is coming from the middle distances, and in those races you have to go out and push from the start.

"In these longer distances, it's all about going out and being relaxed the first half of the race. You have to feel like you're conserving energy."

Added Eastwood, who improved his time at the mid-October Inland Empire meet more than two minutes between 2015 and '16: "I've learned that an 8k is a lot longer than a 5k on the track, and that the race doesn't happen in the first half.

"You have to be able to relax so you can use your energy in the later stages of the race. I'm going to take some patience into this race and see what happens."

Next up: Athletes from Montana will compete at the NCAA Mountain Regional at Logan, Utah, on Friday, Nov. 11.