Big Sky championship races on Saturday

Saturday, October 27

Sacramento, Calif.

Montana

Big Sky Conference Championship

10/25/2018 10:57:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

2018 Performance List

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana cross country teams will reach the peak of their fall season on Saturday morning when the Big Sky Conference championship races are held in Sacramento, Calif.

The races -- the men's eight-kilometer race begins at 11 a.m. (MT), the women's five-kilometer race at noon (MT) -- will be held at Haggin Oaks Golf Course.

For the nation's top programs, and there will be some of them competing on Saturday in Sacramento, their conference championship is just another race on their journey to November's regionals and nationals.

Those are the races that truly matter and define a season.

For everyone else, Montana included, the conference championship is their A-priority race. Competing at regionals two weeks later is more about the experience.

"For where our teams are right now, conference is the most important race of the season," said coach Vicky Pounds. "Regionals is a bonus race.

"We're still building these programs, so regionals is great experience for the day that race will be our main focus. For now, conference holds the most importance to our season."

The women's team will be represented by senior Jessica Bailey, junior Samantha Engebretsen and five underclassmen: sophomore Madeline Hamilton and freshmen Chloe Cosgrove, Erica Simison, Rachel Torrey and Hannah Wylie.

Bailey will be competing in her fourth Big Sky championship race, a resume highlighted by a 12th-place finish two years ago, and she was Montana's top runner two weeks ago, placing 10th overall at the Inland Empire Challenge in Lewiston, Idaho.

Another runner to track will be freshman Erica Simison, who led the Grizzlies at their first three races this fall before finishing behind Bailey and Engebretsen at Lewiston.

She had top-eight finishes at the Clash of the Inland Northwest, the Montana State Classic and Montana Invitational, with a season-best fourth-place showing at her team's home meet.

"Erica is such a tough competitor. I think she's going to go for it (on Saturday)," said Pounds. "It's a deeper race with more athletes at her level, and there is more hype and the nerves that go along with it.

"I tell the athletes to just go out and do what they've been doing all season and trust the workouts and the work they've put in. If they do that, the performances will be there."

While not quite as strong as Saturday's men's field, the women's race will have Southern Utah, which is ranked 23rd nationally, and Northern Arizona, ranked 28th.

And that does not include Montana State, which topped the preseason coaches' poll, or Weber State and Idaho State, which are ranked 13th and 15th in the Mountain Region, or Idaho, which defeated Montana at the Clash of the Inland Northwest and Montana Invitational, both times quite handily.

"Our conference has gotten way more competitive," said Pounds. "There are some good teams. I'd be happy with a top-five finish.

"Looking at times, it's really close. It's going to come down to who wants it more and who can make it to the starting line healthy."

The men's team will travel seniors Dillon May and Nathan Wellington, and five underclassmen of its own: sophomores Noah Adams, Kyle Kredo and Kyle Peterson, and freshmen Ben Cikutovich and Ben Vanderbosch.

May, Peterson and Wellington have all led the team through its first four meets this season, and all three are coming off eight-kilometer PRs two weeks ago in Lewiston.

Kredo finished second behind Peterson at the Montana State Classic. Vanderbosch has been top-five on the team at all four fall races.

In some ways -- the course on Saturday will be eight kilometers in length after all -- it's just another race. But it's hard to remember that when Northern Arizona is toeing the same starting line.

The Lumberjacks are ranked No. 1 in the nation and are the two-time defending national champions.

Southern Utah is ranked 25th, and Montana State, Weber State, Idaho State and Northern Colorado all hold down spots in this week's Mountain Region poll.

"You get to the line and you're going up against some of the best runners in the nation, and that can be pretty intimidating," said Pounds. "The key is to not get caught up in who you're racing. Remember that you're a team. Go out and execute your race plan and find satisfaction in that."

That shouldn't be a problem, not for this group. Pounds has been singing its praises since it arrived on campus in late August. There is just a different vibe with this year's team.

The Grizzlies won't win on Saturday -- they were picked 10th out of 11 teams in the preseason coaches' poll -- but Pounds has never been more confident in one of her men's squads giving her its best in the biggest race of the season.

"This is by far the best men's team I've had," she said. "I know the guys who are racing on Saturday will show up and be present and perform like I know they can. And I haven't always had that in the past.

"They have a great attitude and have been super consistent all season."

Montana will conclude its season on Friday, Nov. 9, at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Provo, Utah.