Griz ninth, 10th at Big Sky Championship

Saturday, October 27

Sacramento, Calif.

Montana

Big Sky Conference Championship

10/27/2018 1:48:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's cross country team had a ninth-place finish, the men's team came in 10th, as the Big Sky Conference cross country championships were held on Saturday morning at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif.

Neither team had an individual in the top 30, as Northern Arizona ran its way to the men's title, Southern Utah the women's.

"I think everybody is pretty disappointed. Nobody raced poorly. It was just a fast day with a lot of good competition out there," said coach Vicky Pounds.

Dillon May, who hadn't finished higher than 65th in his previous two trips to the Big Sky championship, came in 34th in a time of 25:02 on the eight-kilometer course.

Nathan Wellington (43rd, 25:16), Kyle Peterson (61st, 25:40), Ben Vanderbosch (62nd, 25:44) and Kyle Kredo (69th, 26:04) rounded out the Grizzlies' top five.

Northern Arizona took the top four individual spots and claimed its 11th title in the last 12 years with a team score of 21. Matthew Baxter won in a time of 22:46.

Weber State (70) finished second, defeating nationally ranked Southern Utah (76). Montana State (100) and Idaho State (117) finished fourth and fifth.

In the women's race, Montana freshman Erica Simison was in 32nd at the one-mile mark, 34th at the 2.1-mile mark and finished in 31st, covering the five-kilometer course in a time of 17:33.

"The women's race went out really fast, and Erica was back a ways," said Pounds. "She went out in about 30th and just stayed there. She was moving well and ran fast."

Samantha Engebretsen had a 30-second PR to finish 38th in a time of 17:42. Jessica Bailey (44th, 18:00), Madeline Hamilton (49th, 18:04) and Rachel Torrey (54th, 18:18) were also in Montana's top five.

Southern Utah won its first Big Sky women's title. The Thunderbirds put four in the top six overall and won by a wide margin, outpointing second-place Northern Arizona 28-65.

SUU's Angie Nickerson ran a 16:30 to outrun Montana State's Kelsi Lasota (16:42) and Idaho's Kara Story (16:44).

Weber State (92), Idaho (117) and Portland State (128) also made the top five.

Montana will close its season in two weeks, when the Grizzlies race at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Provo, Utah.