Griz host Montana Invitational Friday evening

Friday, September 28

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Montana Invitational

9/25/2018 5:49:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: Montana Sports Information

2018 Performance List

The Grizzly cross country teams will host their lone home meet of the fall when they welcome a big field of runners to Missoula for the Montana Invitational.

The races will be held at the UM Golf Course on Friday evening, with the women's five-kilometer race starting at 5 p.m., the men's eight-kilometer race at 5:45 p.m.

Unlike previous years, when it was a struggle to get teams to commit to the meet, the fields on Friday will number well above 100 for both the women's and men's races, with a number of Division I programs competing.

Adding to the atmosphere will be the teams that will be in town on Friday to scout the course in preparation for Saturday morning's Mountain West Classic high school meet.

"It's a great opportunity when our schedules line up," said UM coach Vicky Pounds. "It's always fun when we can race the night before. There are kids watching and more people out there to cheer."

On the women's side, there will be seven Division I programs, though Montana State, the preseason Big Sky Conference favorite, will be sending its B team, with the top Bobcats heading to Minnesota for the Roy Griak Invitational.

Traveling with their top squads will be Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Idaho, Pacific and Santa Clara. For the men it will be Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and Idaho, plus MSU's B team.

"I'm excited about the level of competition. In years past we were scrounging just to get a few teams to come, so it's been exciting to see this kind of field come together," said Pounds.

On the men's side, it will look a lot like the season-opening Clash of the Inland Northwest, which Idaho hosted on its own golf course. Montana, Idaho, Eastern Washington and Gonzaga were all there, with the Bulldogs dominating the six-kilometer course.

Gonzaga had the top four finishers overall, the top seven collegians across the line and had 13 runners in before Montana had one. There are 29 Gonzaga runners entered to compete on Friday.

That's all the motivation needed for sophomore Kyle Peterson, who saw 18 Gonzaga runners finish before he did, in 26th place. There were also three Idaho runners and one from Eastern Washington who beat out Peterson.

"Gonzaga is going to be a tough matchup, but my goal is to finish top 10," he said. "The farther the distance, the stronger I am. If I can get top 10, it would be a solid race."

Montana placed behind Gonzaga and Idaho to open the season in Moscow. The Grizzlies came in behind Montana and Idaho State two weeks ago at the MSU Classic in Bozeman, with Peterson leading the team for the first time in his career.

Sophomore Kyle Kredo was second, his best team finish by four places for any other race in his UM career.

Peterson had a 37-second improvement from the 2017 race on Montana State's course, a jump dwarfed by Kredo's 80-second improvement.

Freshman Ben Vanderbosch was top five at both of Montana's early-season races, giving the Grizzlies a solid group of young runners, which balances out the senior leadership of Dillon May and Nathan Wellington, both top four at the team's first two races.

"I like the direction we're heading," said Peterson. "We work well together in practice, and we show that in the race. We're more connected inside and outside of practice, and I feel like that's helping us work together in the races.

"We don't really care who comes across the line first. As soon as we're all across the line, it's the same thing. Good race. Let's get on to the next one."

Aided by the return of fifth-year senior Jessica Bailey, Montana finished second at the Montana State Classic two weeks ago, finishing behind the Bobcats but knocking off Idaho State.

At the season-opening Clash of the Inland Northwest, Idaho claimed the top five individual spots, with Montana finishing second ahead of both Gonzaga and Eastern Washington.

Freshman Erica Simison -- seventh at the opening meet, sixth in Bozeman -- has led Montana in both races this fall, with sophomore Madeline Hamilton running second, junior Samantha Engebretsen third.

Bailey, who finished 12th at the Big Sky championship two falls ago and is returning from injury for the second consecutive cross country season, was Montana's No. 4 runner at Montana State.

"I'm excited about the team. It's good to have Jess back as a leader for our team, and having Erica lead the pack in the races has been awesome," said Engebretsen. "She's been pushing us in workouts and races and making everyone better.

"All the freshmen we have are closing up the back half of our team, so that's helpful and encouraging."

The glaring absence from the team is senior Emily Pittis, who ran to All-Big Sky honors last October when she finished ninth overall.

Pittis is running but still in the final stages of overcoming an injury suffered late last fall. She'll redshirt, which is a blow to this year's team but will be a huge bonus next season.

"We'd be stronger with her on the team, but it's best for her to work on getting stronger this year and healing all the way and coming back even stronger next year," said Engebretsen.

Montana's home meet is traditionally the midpoint of the cross country season, which starts in late August and concludes in early November at regionals. The Big Sky championships are two weeks prior, the final weekend of October.

The Grizzlies will race in mid-October at Lewis-Clark State.

"Our training volume is pretty high and we're a little banged up right now, so we're doing our best to avoid something serious," said Pounds.

"Our home course is a tough course, so I'm not expecting super-fast times. We're just grinding away. By our next race we'll feel a little fresher, then we'll start getting ready for conference."