Friday, September 30
Missoula, Mont.
Montana
vs
Montana Invitational
Season’s lone home races Friday morning
9/28/2016 1:54:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
2016 Performance List
The Griz cross country teams will have their only home meet of the season this week when they host the Montana Invitational Friday morning at the UM Golf Course.
The women's six-kilometer race will begin at 10:30 a.m., the men's eight-kilometer race at 11:15 a.m. The races will start and finish at the rec fields south of Grizzly Softball Field.
The meet will feature athletes from Montana, Montana State, Gonzaga, Carroll, College of Idaho and Rocky Mountain.
The races will be the third of the fall for Montana, which opened its season on Sept. 1 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in Moscow, Idaho, then raced at the Montana State Invitational at Bozeman two weeks ago.
"I'm really happy with how our workouts are going," said UM track and field distance coach Vicky Pounds. "What some of these kids did on our up week (last week) was beyond my expectations, so I'm expecting some great performances.
"We're not peaking for our home meet. We're getting ready for four weeks from now (at the Big Sky Conference Championships), but I'm confident we can rest for a couple of days and perform well this weekend."
Montana has faced both Gonzaga and Montana State this season. The Gonzaga men scored 26 points to win the Clash of the Inland Northwest, with Montana coming in fourth with 104 points. The women's race was tighter, with the third-place Bulldogs out-pointing the Grizzlies 64-76.
At the MSU Invitational the Bobcats got the better of the Grizzlies in both races. Montana State was sixth in the men's race with 151 points, Montana eighth with 260. MSU was fifth in the women's race with 172 points, UM seventh with 198 points.
The College of Idaho finished seventh in the men's race and also out-pointed Montana, 230-260.
The Montana women have been consistent at the top of their lineup, with senior Reagan Colyer leading the Grizzlies at their first two races, followed by sophomore Emily Pittis.
Sophomores Jessica Bailey and Bridget Creel, and senior Madison Nagle rounded out the top five at both of September's first two races.
Pittis was mostly in Montana's top two last fall as a true freshman, just like this year, but her times are dropping. She covered the three-mile MSU course last year in 18:15. Two weeks ago she ran the same course in a time of 17:35.
"I think it's a mix of a number of things," Pittis said. "Being on a college team is such a big difference (from high school), and it's hard as a freshman getting used to everything.
"I'm just more comfortable now. I know my teammates and my coach, so I'm able to do better. Plus I'm fitter. As a whole the team is really doing well with the workouts and the coaching we're getting. Vicky's training plan is awesome."
Pittis, of Bellingham, Wash., came through the line nine seconds behind Colyer at Moscow, seven seconds behind Montana's leader at Bozeman.
"Emily is so consistent and so sturdy. She came in with better fitness than she had as a freshman, and she is progressing perfectly," said Pounds. "Her best races are yet to come."
The men's team faces a tough challenge in Gonzaga and Montana State, and even College of Idaho. But the athletes and their coach are all keeping a big-picture view of what they are trying to build.
The team doesn't have any seniors, and Micah Drew, who is redshirting and will be a fifth-year senior next fall, is "running out of his mind," claims Pounds, who thus far has resisted pulling Drew's redshirt, knowing it's for the betterment of the program.
"My captains and I have talked about building this together. They see the potential our current team has and the program has for the future," she said.
Montana has been led at its first two meets by sophomore Jonathan Eastwood, who has a goal of a top-10 finish at the Big Sky Conference Championships. With Northern Arizona the top-ranked team in the nation, it's a more ambitious goal than it would first appear.
He was followed at both races by junior Paden Alexander, who came through 21 seconds behind Eastwood at Moscow and nearly a minute behind at Bozeman.
Junior Nathan Wellington, whose slow return from injury should have him at his best in late October, when the stakes are highest and Montana most needs him, and sophomore Dillon May have been the Grizzlies' next two runners the first month of the season.
"I'm feeling really good about the men's team," said Wellington. "The chemistry has been really good, and it feels like we're building something. We're not losing anybody next year. It feels like we've got a program now instead of a team that changes from year to year."
Montana will compete at the Inland Empire Challenge in Lewistown, Idaho, on Saturday, Oct. 15, and at the Big Sky Conference Championships at Moscow, Idaho, on Friday, Oct. 28.
The NCAA Mountain Regional will be raced on Friday, Nov. 11, at Logan, Utah.
The Griz cross country teams will have their only home meet of the season this week when they host the Montana Invitational Friday morning at the UM Golf Course.
The women's six-kilometer race will begin at 10:30 a.m., the men's eight-kilometer race at 11:15 a.m. The races will start and finish at the rec fields south of Grizzly Softball Field.
The meet will feature athletes from Montana, Montana State, Gonzaga, Carroll, College of Idaho and Rocky Mountain.
The races will be the third of the fall for Montana, which opened its season on Sept. 1 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in Moscow, Idaho, then raced at the Montana State Invitational at Bozeman two weeks ago.
"I'm really happy with how our workouts are going," said UM track and field distance coach Vicky Pounds. "What some of these kids did on our up week (last week) was beyond my expectations, so I'm expecting some great performances.
"We're not peaking for our home meet. We're getting ready for four weeks from now (at the Big Sky Conference Championships), but I'm confident we can rest for a couple of days and perform well this weekend."
Montana has faced both Gonzaga and Montana State this season. The Gonzaga men scored 26 points to win the Clash of the Inland Northwest, with Montana coming in fourth with 104 points. The women's race was tighter, with the third-place Bulldogs out-pointing the Grizzlies 64-76.
At the MSU Invitational the Bobcats got the better of the Grizzlies in both races. Montana State was sixth in the men's race with 151 points, Montana eighth with 260. MSU was fifth in the women's race with 172 points, UM seventh with 198 points.
The College of Idaho finished seventh in the men's race and also out-pointed Montana, 230-260.
The Montana women have been consistent at the top of their lineup, with senior Reagan Colyer leading the Grizzlies at their first two races, followed by sophomore Emily Pittis.
Sophomores Jessica Bailey and Bridget Creel, and senior Madison Nagle rounded out the top five at both of September's first two races.
Pittis was mostly in Montana's top two last fall as a true freshman, just like this year, but her times are dropping. She covered the three-mile MSU course last year in 18:15. Two weeks ago she ran the same course in a time of 17:35.
"I think it's a mix of a number of things," Pittis said. "Being on a college team is such a big difference (from high school), and it's hard as a freshman getting used to everything.
"I'm just more comfortable now. I know my teammates and my coach, so I'm able to do better. Plus I'm fitter. As a whole the team is really doing well with the workouts and the coaching we're getting. Vicky's training plan is awesome."
Pittis, of Bellingham, Wash., came through the line nine seconds behind Colyer at Moscow, seven seconds behind Montana's leader at Bozeman.
"Emily is so consistent and so sturdy. She came in with better fitness than she had as a freshman, and she is progressing perfectly," said Pounds. "Her best races are yet to come."
The men's team faces a tough challenge in Gonzaga and Montana State, and even College of Idaho. But the athletes and their coach are all keeping a big-picture view of what they are trying to build.
The team doesn't have any seniors, and Micah Drew, who is redshirting and will be a fifth-year senior next fall, is "running out of his mind," claims Pounds, who thus far has resisted pulling Drew's redshirt, knowing it's for the betterment of the program.
"My captains and I have talked about building this together. They see the potential our current team has and the program has for the future," she said.
Montana has been led at its first two meets by sophomore Jonathan Eastwood, who has a goal of a top-10 finish at the Big Sky Conference Championships. With Northern Arizona the top-ranked team in the nation, it's a more ambitious goal than it would first appear.
He was followed at both races by junior Paden Alexander, who came through 21 seconds behind Eastwood at Moscow and nearly a minute behind at Bozeman.
Junior Nathan Wellington, whose slow return from injury should have him at his best in late October, when the stakes are highest and Montana most needs him, and sophomore Dillon May have been the Grizzlies' next two runners the first month of the season.
"I'm feeling really good about the men's team," said Wellington. "The chemistry has been really good, and it feels like we're building something. We're not losing anybody next year. It feels like we've got a program now instead of a team that changes from year to year."
Montana will compete at the Inland Empire Challenge in Lewistown, Idaho, on Saturday, Oct. 15, and at the Big Sky Conference Championships at Moscow, Idaho, on Friday, Oct. 28.
The NCAA Mountain Regional will be raced on Friday, Nov. 11, at Logan, Utah.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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