Cat-Griz, Cross country style

[Colter_Nuanez]

MSU press release

The Montana State men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete at the University of Montana Invitational, Saturday, Oct. 4 at the UM Golf Course in Missoula. The meet will also serve as the annual Brawl of the Wild Cat-Griz dual.

The women’s five-kilometer race is slated for 10:30 a.m., followed by the men’s 8K event at 11:15 a.m. Competing in the Division I race along with the Bobcats and Griz will be Gonzaga, Eastern Washington and Santa Clara. Carroll College, Great Falls and the College of Idaho will face off in the non-NCAA race.

The invitational will mark MSU’s second race of the season. The Bobcats have been off since the MSU Invitational on Sept. 20, where both squads defeated Montana in head-to-head action.

“It will be nice to race against some different teams on Saturday,” MSU Assistant Coach/Distance Coach Lyle Weese said. “On the women’s side, Eastern Washington was picked ahead of us in the preseason poll, so we’ll see how we stack-up against them.”

Weese will also look for a smaller split between his top five finishers.

“We need a smaller split,” Weese said. “I thought we were pretty solid between one and four at the MSU Invitational. We’ll look for someone to step-up in the five-seven slots.”

The Bobcat men will also look to knock off Montana, while trying to stave off Eastern Washington, as well.

“Eastern Washington really gave us a run for our money at the Big Sky meet, last fall,” Weese said. “Montana will challenge, as well.”

Like the women, Weese received a strong outing from his top four runners two weeks ago. Mike Asay, Jake Turner, Zach Kughn and freshman Matt Gotta will look to repeat their performances at the MSU Invitational.

“We’ll be looking for our fifth guy to get closer to the pack,” Weese said. “Ethan (Wilhelm) has really been running well, so he should help us on Saturday.”

Following the UM Invitational, the Bobcats will race at the Pre-Nationals, Oct. 18 in Terre Haute, Indiana.