Frissell wins collegiate debut

Saturday, August 31

Cheney, Wash.

Montana

Clash of the Inland Northwest

8/31/2019 6:59:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Freshman Beatrix Frissell, last seen sweeping the 1,600 and 3,200 meters for Polson High at the Class A state track and field meet in Laurel in May, won her collegiate debut for the Montana cross country team on Saturday morning.

Frissell topped a field of 79 runners at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in Cheney, Wash. She was one of three Grizzlies in the top 10 as Montana opened with a strong second-place showing, finishing three points behind Gonzaga and ahead of Idaho and Eastern Washington.

Senior June Eastwood finished seventh, senior Samantha Engebretsen came in ninth.

Frissell covered the four-kilometer course in a time of 14:13. She pulled away from Idaho freshman Kelsey Swenson, of Bend, Ore., over the course's final half mile to become the program's first race winner since Makena Morley won the Big Sky Conference title in 2015.

"We didn't have any race strategies. She just went in really calm, thinking she could run in the top 10," said first-year coach Clint May. "She looked incredibly comfortable even two minutes into the race.

"She just made the decision that she was going to go out and be with the leaders. At mile two, it was just her and a girl from Idaho. With about 800 meters to go, she just started pulling away."

Sophomore Rachel Torrey finished 12th, senior Emily Pittis came across the line in 17th.

Gonzaga edged Montana in the team standings by putting its top five in the top 13 overall. The Bulldogs finished with 43 points, the Grizzlies 46. Idaho, picked ahead of Montana in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll, scored 52 points.

"The women looked good," said May. "I was really happy with the way they engaged in the race.

"We weren't sitting as well at the halfway point. We weren't in a bad spot, but they really moved up the second half of the race. We probably picked up between 30 and 40 places with our top five, six or seven girls."

Montana had just one runner, sophomore Will Dauenhauer, in the top 20 in the men's race, which was dominated by Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs, counting both attached and unattached runners, had the top nine finishers across the line. Their team of attached runners won with 19 points. Their squad of unattached runners was second in the team standings with 56.

Idaho (88) was third, Lewis-Clark State (107) fourth, Montana (125) fifth. The Grizzlies edged sixth-place Eastern Washington by two points.

"The men's race was really competitive. It took Will until the last mile before he cracked into the top 20. Gonzaga was really, really strong," said May.

"We did the same thing on the guys' side. We did a lot of moving with one mile to go and really improved our overall team finish by finishing really well."

Dauenhauer ran the six-kilometer course in a time of 18:19, putting him 19 seconds behind Gonzaga's Cullen McEachern, who won the race. The Bulldogs' top nine had just a three-second split.

Sophomore Andrea Baratte placed 22nd, sophomore Ben Vanderbosch 29th, junior Kyle Peterson 30th and redshirt freshman Rogelio Mares 37th.

"There were maybe two or three (people between the two teams) who maybe didn't think they had a good day," said May.

"It wasn't that they did anything wrong in the race. It just didn't go as well or they didn't feel as strong today. But that's two or three out of 19. By and large, the overall feeling is we feel good about this being a starting point."

Montana won't compete again until the Montana State Invitational in Bozeman on Saturday, Sept. 21.