Big Sky cross country championships approaching

Saturday, February 27

Riverdale, Utah

Montana

Big Sky Conference Winter Championships

2/24/2021 5:05:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Performance Lists

By: Montana Sports Information

The 2021 Big Sky Conference Cross Country Winter Championships will take place on Saturday in Riverdale, Utah.

The women's five-kilometer race will start at 1:15 p.m. at the Riverside Golf Course, the men's eight-kilometer race at 2 p.m.

The NCAA last fall moved the traditional autumn race season to the winter, with the season condensed to the window between Jan. 30 and March 5.

There will be no regionals this season. Teams that are selected will advance straight to the NCAA Championships, which will be held on Monday, March 15, in Stillwater, Okla.

Big Sky teams have scheduled in a variety of ways to address the change. Northern Colorado and Portland State will arrive in Utah this week without having raced at all.

Six of the Big Sky's 11 teams will have raced once. That list includes Montana, which competed at the Idaho Orchards Invitational in Lewiston on Saturday, Feb. 6.

Those teams that have an eye on making nationals have scheduled accordingly in an effort to enhance their resumes with some head-to-head results.

Southern Utah will have raced four times before Saturday, one of those coming last fall. Northern Arizona, whose men's team is ranked second nationally, its women's team 16th, will have raced three times, once last fall.

NAU raced in Stillwater in October at the Oklahoma State Invitational and twice this month in Las Vegas.

Weber State has raced three times as well.

Montana will have just one race to its credit when the Grizzlies line up on Saturday afternoon. It was a small one in Lewiston but hugely important in the lead-up to the Big Sky championships.

"I was nervous," said coach Clint May. "Would they perform up to what their fitness was showing? And they did.

"I'm feeling like we're ready to run this week and run well. Hopefully even better than we did in Lewiston."

The Montana teams will be approaching their races differently on Saturday.

The men believe they are on the verge of a breakout championship meet, and if the Idaho Orchards Invitational is any indication, the Grizzlies are ready.

They won that race handily, with newcomer Joel Mendez finishing second and seven of his teammates also finishing in the top 11.

The recent past is a mostly forgettable history that Montana is attempting to distance itself from. The Grizzlies have finished 10th three times and 11th once over the last four Big Sky championships.

"The goal for the guys is to become relevant," said May.

That was far from the case 15 months ago in Greeley, when the top men's finisher for Montana came through in 51st place. The Grizzlies finished last.

"We weren't there last year. It's frustrating for a program when your scoring starts after other programs have already had their top five runners in.

"In the past, one or two guys on a good year have cracked the top 50. I believe we'll have five guys in the top 50 this year. If we do that, we'll win a battle that's been absent here for a long time. From there, we'll keep working to get better."

Montana faces a steep hill if it wants to reach the top of the Big Sky. But for May to realize his dream, the Grizzlies don't need to surpass Northern Arizona or Southern Utah.

His goal is to have a top-30 program and to take a team to nationals. In the Mountain Region, if he accomplishes the former, he'll reach the latter, no matter if the Lumberjacks remain one of the nation's best programs.

The Big Sky isn't a one-bid league in cross country like it is for so many sports. The Grizzlies can join the Lumberjacks at nationals. They don't have to defeat them to get there.

His intermediate goal? Acknowledge that Northern Arizona and Southern Utah and Weber State and Montana State are established powers. To reach sight of them, first he has to move to the front of the chase pack.

"There really is a division within our conference, with the top four programs," he said. "It's not that the second part of the conference is weak, it just identifies how strong the front end is.

"Our next mountain to climb is, can we become the front end of that (chase) group? We haven't been there. This men's team can be there. Whether we'll be the top of the rest this week, I don't know, but we'll be close enough that the rest will recognize Montana."

Mendez was a revelation in Lewiston earlier this month, finishing behind only Eastern Washington's Carter Ledwith.

"What we've seen in practice the last two and a half weeks has confirmed the success he had on that day," said May. "He's looking really good."

Another newcomer, AJ Eckmann, placed fourth. Then came Maxwell Scott, Nathan Carter, Hunter May, Kyle Peterson, Truman Cowan and Will Dauenhauer, finishing between sixth and 11th, separated by just 13 seconds. Strength in numbers.

Those eight athletes are the ones May will take to Utah this week. "When you're 10th or 11th out of 11 schools for four years in a row, it's very clear where your goal is. It's to get out of that," May said, pointing to his primary motivation.

The women's program has been more competitive, winning a Big Sky title as recently as 2010 and finishing fifth or sixth five times since then.

May's women's team doesn't have the depth his men's team does, and that changes how he'll evaluate its success. There are only nine Grizzlies on the women's team, eight of whom will be competing on Saturday.

They range from Beatrix Frissell, who was 10th at the 2019 Big Sky championships as a freshman, to some middle-distance runners who are prepping more specifically for the outdoor track season.

"On the men's side, you're going to see some pack running. You're going to see a team synergy," said May. "We won't be able to do that with the women.

"It's almost individual, and then let's see what that collectively brings out as a team score. I want them to be competitive within their sphere, which is different for each individual girl."

Frissell placed 10th, the final spot to earn All-Big Sky honors, 15 months ago in Greeley on a snowy course. Saturday afternoon should be in the 30s with some possible precipitation.

Northern Arizona is ranked in the top 30 nationally. Weber State is among those teams outside of the top 30 but receiving votes to be ranked.

"I would guess that the conference is tougher this year. There are a lot of returning women and some really strong transfers and strong freshmen," said May.

"To repeat as an all-conference finisher will require an even better performance from Bea than last year."

Frissell showed no sophomore rust when she finished third in Lewiston this month. She covered the five-kilometer course in a time of 17:02, finishing behind a runner from Idaho, another from Washington State.

"She's been running really, really strong and has every opportunity to do that this week," said May.

Outside of Frissell, the only Grizzlies going to Utah this week who competed in Greeley at the last Big Sky championships are Hannah Wylie and Rachel Torrey. Both will be racing on Saturday, as will sophomore Carly Dahms.

The rest will be newcomers: transfer Lindsey Gallagher and freshmen Amara Christensen, Emily Foote and Olivia Lackland Henry.

"We have goals. They are just not identified by place," said May. "If everyone can say, I had a really good day, sometimes that's what matters most."