Mendez paces Griz in Bozeman

Saturday, September 18

Bozeman, Mont.

Montana

Montana State Classic

Photos: Montana State Athletics

9/18/2021 1:19:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Junior Joel Mendez ran to an 11th-place finish to lead the Montana cross country teams on Saturday morning at the Montana State Classic in Bozeman.

Mendez covered the five-mile course in a time of 24:56.

"He did really well. After the first mile he moved up about 15 spots," said coach Clint May. "The guys who were in front of him are good runners, so at some point you're not going to keep catching people. He did a great job."

He was followed in Montana's top five by freshman Jordan Hansen (20th, 25:34), junior Truman Cowan (22nd, 25:41), senior Ben Vanderbosch (25th, 25:51) and senior Will Dauenhauer (28th, 26:21).

Of the nine Grizzlies who raced on Saturday, the five who had competed at the same race at the Bridger Creek Golf Course previously all had PRs for the course.

Cowan took 73 seconds off his 2019 time, Vanderbosch 31 seconds off his 2018 time, Dauenhauer 32 seconds off his 2018 time.

"The guys did quite well. I was happy," said May. "I liked that they moved up through the race. We were the opposite of what we were at (the Clash of the Inland Northwest). We were controlled early, then we were moving up.

"At the same time, I don't think we left anything out there because they were too conservative. I think they did it about right and moved up well."

Montana, with 86 points, finished third in the team standings behind Utah State (24), which is ranked 17th nationally, and Montana State (35). The Grizzlies defeated Idaho State, which had 104 points.

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton won the race by a sizeable gap of 18 seconds, crossing the line in a time of 24:07. Montana State and Utah State claimed the top nine spots and 17 of the top 19.

The Montana women's team, which had just seven athletes, all in their first season competing for the Grizzlies, placed fifth out of five teams.

Utah State knocked off favored Weber State, outpointing the Wildcats 31-34. Montana State (67) was third, Idaho State (112) came in fourth, Montana (155) fifth.

Junior Bridget Boyle, a Bozeman High graduate and first-year Grizzly after transferring from Western Colorado, finished 49th in a time of 18:59 to lead Montana.

Rounding out the top five were freshman Kayla Ingraham (50th, 19:06), freshman Molly Sherman (54th, 19:27), junior Leah Gath (55th, 19:30) and sophomore McKinlee Mihelish (57th, 19:56).

"We're youthful but it was still a rough day," said May. "The times weren't very strong, and I can't put my finger on it."

Montana State's Camila Noe won the three-mile race in a time of 16:13. Utah State and Weber State runners claimed the next 12 spots.

The Grizzlies will race again on Friday afternoon at the Montana Open at the UM Golf Course. The men's seven-kilometer race will start at 4 p.m., the women's five-kilometer race at 4:45 p.m.