FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu September 9, 2016 Strong showing for men’s cross country against Yellow Jackets MSUB Cross Country on Facebook | MSUB Cross Country on ISSUU | Results
Tyus Mendoza (front) and Ronald Venema competed for MSUB at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invitational.
Jorey Egeland leads a strong showing for the Yellowjacket men’s cross country team against a regionally ranked Black Hills State squad in South Dakota. SPEARFISH, S.D. – For the second straight week, junior Jorey Egeland led the MSUB Yellowjacket effort during a men’s cross country event. Montana State University Billings was in South Dakota at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invitational hosted by Black Hills State Friday. Two Yellowjackets placed in the top-5 at the 6K distance on the course at the Spearfish Canyon Country Club. Egeland placed third in 20:29.3 with fellow junior Garrett Love finishing fifth in 20:43.5. The host Yellow Jackets won the team title with a score of 20. MSUB finished with 42 points and Dakota Wesleyan was third at 81 points. “I thought our team ran a really strong race,” MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. “They were able to break-up a really good Black Hills State pack that was very deep. BHSU has a lot of runners on their team and I though our men ran a
smart race on a very hilly course. I was pretty happy to have our runners competing with their top runners and finish the way they did.” BHSU claimed the top-2 spots with junior Joshua Davis winning the race in 20:11.1, just leaning ahead of freshman Chance Dooley who placed second in 20:11.5. The Yellow Jackets, from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, were preseason regionally ranked to finish sixth in the NCAA Division II South Central Region. Montana State Billings placed runners in the 3-5-11-13-17 places for its top-5. Junior Mark Hovland finished 11th in 21:01.1 just ahead of senior Josh Panasuk in 13th in a time of 21:05.8. Sophomore Tyus Mendoza moved up into the fifth spot on the day in 21:26.8. Freshman Ronald Venema finished in the top-20 at 19th in 21:34.3. Jacob Marshall (22:28.9), Isaiah Girard (22:45.7), and Kyle McLaughlin (23:31.5) also completed the course for MSUB. “I thought our top-5 were aggressive and ran really well,” Coppock commented “There was less than a minute between the 1-5 runners which is a good sign. Everyone seems to be getting into good shape with the kind of training we are doing which is nice to see. Next week will be another test when the team competes against some really strong competition at Montana State.” Jorey Egeland placed third at Black Hills State event.
THE BUZZ: The MSUB team average time in the race was 20:57, just behind BHSU at 20:33…Love picked as the St Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Meet with his first top-5 finish of the season. UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets stay in-state next week for the Montana State Invitational. The race kicks off a 9:00 a.m. at the Bridger Creek Country Club in Bozeman. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--