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Friday, October 4

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Montana Invitational

10/3/2019 5:34:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

2019 Performance List

By: Montana Sports Information

The Grizzly cross country teams will race in Missoula for the only time this fall when they host the Montana Invitational on Friday afternoon at the UM Golf Course.

The men's eight-kilometer race will start at 4 p.m., the women's five-kilometer race at 4:45 p.m.

Montana will be the lone Division I team competing, with the Grizzlies being joined by squads from Carroll, Montana-Western, Providence, Rocky Mountain and Walla Walla University.

The men's race will also have some front-end talent competing as unattached runners. Both Montana State and Gonzaga will send a handful of athletes to Missoula.

Gonzaga had the top nine men's finishers, three of which were racing unattached, at the season-opening Clash of the Inland Northwest in late August.

Montana State had three unattached runners come in ahead of Montana's top finisher at the MSU Cross Country Classic two weeks ago in Bozeman.

Rocky Mountain's Jackson Duffey also topped everyone racing for the Grizzlies.

"There should be plenty of opportunity to have pull in the race. You can't say there won't be competition," said coach Clint May.

Still, there should be one color that makes up most of the top quarter of the field.

"I don't think a race like this changes the mindset, but it definitely changes the scenery," said May. "A lot of times when you go to an invitational, you see a lot of colors of a lot of different uniforms.

"Sometimes (the uniforms) are really thick from one school. On Friday we'll be the team that's thick. When runners look to their right and their left, the majority of the color is going to be maroon. I don't think it will change the pace of the day or the feel, but it won't be a mass of different colors."

Montana finished fifth at the Clash of the Inland Northwest, fourth at the Montana State Classic, with Will Dauenhauer, Andrea Baratte and Ben Vanderbosch pacing the team at the former, Hunter May, Rogelio Mares and Vanderbosch at the latter.

"I feel like the morale and the feeling that we're moving in a very positive direction is up, but it's also the tough part of the year, when the intensity of the workouts gets harder," said May.

"You don't want to race too much, but you don't want to race too little because a race gives you an opportunity to get up for something. If you're progressing in your training, it's like a marker. All right, we're moving in the right direction."

Coming off a close runner-up finish to Gonzaga at the Clash of the Inland Northwest and a second-place finish to Utah State at the Montana State Classic, the women's race on Friday should be led by mostly Griz runners.

Beatrix Frissell won the Clash of the Inland Northwest and finished second in Bozeman two weeks ago. She was trailed closely in both races by June Eastwood, with Samantha Engebretsen finishing in the top 12 as well.

"I can't foresee a lot of women, other than the University of Montana, out in front," said May. "We should control the pace of the day, the tempo of the day."

What the race may be lacking in outside competition will be made up for by the calendar turning to October and the intra-squad battle for spots on upcoming trips.

Montana will travel with a small team to the Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif., in two weeks.

Seven runners will travel to the Big Sky Conference Championship and NCAA Mountain Regional in November. The first will be raced in Greeley, Colo., the second in Salt Lake City.

"Friday's race still has a lot riding on it, because we're getting to the point in the year when you don't get to bring your full team to races," said May.

"The team knows I'm starting to determine who our varsity crew is and who will be the ones who will go to our next meets."