Cross country teams racing in Bozeman on Saturday

2016 Performance List

The Montana cross country teams will race for the second time this season when the Grizzlies travel to Bozeman for Saturday morning's Montana State-Bozeman Running Company Invitational.

The races will be held at the Bridger Creek Golf Course, with the men's five-mile race starting at 9 a.m., the women's three-mile race at 9:45 a.m.

It will be a large field, with nine Division I schools competing, plus five non-Division I schools. Montana and Montana State will be joined by Big Sky Conference members Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Weber State. Teams from Utah, Utah State and Wyoming also will be racing.

The non-Division I teams will be Carroll, Rocky Mountain, MSU Billings, College of Idaho and Colorado State-Pueblo.

Montana opened its season two weeks ago at the Clash of the Inland Northwest Invitational at Moscow, Idaho. Both teams finished fourth out of the four Division I schools competing.

The women's team was led by senior Reagan Colyer, who will be one of seven competing on Saturday. Also racing will be senior Madison Nagle, sophomores Jessica Bailey, Bridget Creel, Rosa Hardarson and Emily Pittis, and freshman Samantha Engebretsen.

Colyer placed sixth at Moscow, less than five seconds out of the top three over the four-kilometer course.

"She's having a great season," said coach Vicky Pounds. "She's really grown a lot this year and matured as an athlete. As a middle-distance runner, she's starting to get over that self-doubt, especially in the longer workouts."

Colyer was Montana's top runner as a freshman in 2013, leading the team at four of six races and finishing 18th at the Big Sky championships. But she raced just once as a sophomore and had an up-and-down junior campaign. She led the Grizzlies at their home meet but placed 51st at conference.

"I'm becoming much more mature as a cross country athlete," she said. "I've been running it since high school, but I think I'm only now starting to come into my own.

"I spent the summer training harder than I ever have. It's my senior year. I don't have a ton of time left, so I don't want any excuses this cross country season."

Montana placed its top four in the top 18 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest. Pittis was 10th, Creel 16th and Bailey 18th. PIttis came through the line just nine seconds behind Colyer.

"We've got a really solid team this year," said Colyer, who was then asked if she puts more emphasis on her individual goals for the fall, particularly at the Big Sky championships, which will be in Moscow on Oct. 28, or on how the team performs.

"I just want to play the best role I can for whatever's needed from me. I think we have a top-five team. I had a disappointing race at the conference championships last year. Personally I'd like to get myself back into the top 20. I know I've got that in me."

Sophomore Jonathan Eastwood led Montana two weeks ago, a sign that he's embarking on a breakout season. He placed third on the team at its first two meets last fall as a freshman, then fifth in the last two, with a 63rd-place finish at conference.

"I put a lot more training in this summer," he said, "and I came in a lot more confident than I was last year as a freshman.

"When you're in high school in Montana, there are some really good guys, but there aren't very many of them. In college, every guy you're racing was a state champion. It takes time to get used to that. You're racing against the best, so you have to start training like the best to keep up with them."

Also racing Saturday for Montana will be juniors Paden Alexander and Nathan Wellington, sophomores Dillon May and Dawit Mengistu, and freshman Noah Kells, plus newcomer Tucker Costain.

Alexander was Montana's No. 2 runner at Moscow two weeks ago, finishing 21 seconds behind Eastwood. May was 20 seconds behind Alexander, Wellington 13 seconds behind May.

"I'll stress the power of the pack on Saturday. I want to see them run for at least the first mile as a pack and be in a good position, then go from there," said Pounds.

Eastwood agrees. "Training as a group really gives us some energy," he said. "You're out there, they're out there, every day at practice. They are doing the same training you are, and you gain confidence as a team from that."

The Grizzlies will host the Montana Invitational at the UM Golf Course on Friday, Sept. 30. The ninth annual Homecoming Hustle, a fundraiser for the Montana track and field program, will be held the next morning, on Saturday, Oct. 1.

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Players Mentioned

Paden Alexander

Jessica Bailey

Reagan Colyer

Bridget Creel

Jonathan Eastwood

Samantha Engebretsen

Rosa Hardarson

Noah Kells

Dillon May

Maddie Nagle

Emily Pittis

Nathan Wellington

University of Montana Athletics