2015 MSUB Men's Cross Country Season Preview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu September 1, 2015 MSUB Men’s Cross Country 2015 Preview

2015 Montana State University Billings Men’s Cross Country Team

Coming off a historic 2014 season, this year’s MSUB men’s cross country team is using last year as a springboard and is ready to make an impact in the conference and region.

BILLINGS, Mont. – With MSUB winning the host bid for the NCAA Division II west region championships for 2014 and 2016, the Yellowjacket cross country teams are coming off a season of historic first for the programs. The men’s team finished 17th in the west region race run at Amend Park in south Billings last November.

“We had a very good season last year for both teams highlighted by a fourth place finish at the conference championships,” MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. “Also, Robert Peterson advancing and competing at the NCAA National Championship was a program first for us.”

This season the MSUB men’s cross team was selected to finish fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll released last week. The Yellowjackets placed fourth last year at the conference meet led by a third-place finish by Peterson.

Peterson was the standout story from last year’s team as the then-junior became the first Yellowjacket in the history of the program to advance to the NCAA national race. The Skyview High School graduate punched his ticket to Louisville, Ky., last season with a 13th-place overall finish at the west region race.

“He’s progressed really well over the years he’s been here. He’s put in the mileage and the work that it takes to get to that level. He’s really established himself as a top-tier runner in the GNAC and now he’s able to compete at a national level,” Coppock said on Peterson. “It’s also really helped our team by changing our focus as to what is possible out there.”

Right now it looks like we are in pretty good shape,” Peterson said on the start of the season for the Yellowjackets. “Last year we had a lot of younger athletes, but they worked hard over the summer, and look pretty good this fall.”

Senior Robert Peterson

Returning for the Yellowjackets this season are Peterson, junior Garrett Love, sophomores Jorey Egeland, Mark Hovland, and Liam McKay. Joining them on the roster are senior Matt Winter and freshmen Padon Little and Ivan Colmenero.

Love had two top-10 places last season and finished second for MSUB at the west region meet last year, crossing the tape in 33:14.8. McKay turned in an impressive freshman campaign culminating in a second-place result for the team at the conference championships. Egeland, from Billings Senior, and Hovland, from Billings West, made big strides last year.

Egeland placed ninth twice as a freshman, first at the Carroll College Invite and then at the Yellowjacket Invitational in 26:48.88. Hovland’s best finish was an 11th-place result, turned in at the Yellowjacket Invitational in 27:28.25.

Winter, a graduate of Billings Central, is a transfer from the University of Montana and has one year of eligibility left.

Newcomers Little (Columbus, Mont.) and Colmenero (Manhattan, Mont.) are also natives of Montana.

“Our men really haven’t lost anyone out of our top-5 last from year’s fourth-place GNAC team with the exception of Josh Panasuk, who will be redshirting this fall,” Coppock said. “It’s a long season and the key is always to keep everyone healthy and injury-free, but Robert Peterson looks stronger than last year, followed by Liam McKay, Mark Hovland, Garrett Love, transfer Matt Winter, Jorey Egeland and Ivan Colmenero.”

The MSU Billings men’s cross country team opens its season with two races in Fairbanks, Alaska. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the team will run an 8K starting at 3 p.m. Alaska time, followed by a 5K on Saturday, Sept. 5 starting at 9:45 a.m.

“The team swept the 8K there two years ago and got off to a great start that season,” Coppock said on the team’s competition in 2013. “We’ll just see how everyone has progressed since last year. Coming off an early time trial this first week of practice, I can tell that the returners really put in a solid summer of training and our sophomore men have progressed a lot over their freshman season a year ago.”

Returning to the Roy Griak Invitional in Minnesota this year will be another big highlight for the team. “That will give us a sense of how we stack up against several top, Division II schools from other regions as well as giving us the big meet experience we’ll need to compete well at our own West Region Championships in November,” Coppock said. “We’ll run up against around 38 teams in the Division II race in which there will be a lot of schools representing the Central and North Central Regions of NCAA DII. Robert Peterson took 3rd overall last year in a photo finish for the two and three spots, so we’re hoping for an exciting meet for him this year.

“Griak is pretty hilly, but the competition is crazy; there are so many teams, the atmosphere is really fun. I also think it’s a really good point in the season to see where our team is,” Peterson said on the Griak. “We can compare ourselves to other teams because there are a lot of nationally-ranked teams that go to that meet.”

The GNAC Championships this year will be hosted by Western Washington University on Oct. 24 followed by the NCAA west region meet on Nov. 7.

On the west region being held at the Ash Creek Preserve on the campus of Western Oregon University, both Peterson and Coppock are looking forward to the familiar territory. “This will be my fourth year racing there,” Peterson said. “So, I am really familiar with the course and every year we have proven that we are competitive at that course so I think it will be really good for the Yellowjackets.”

This year’s NCAA national race will be hosted by Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo., on Nov. 21. “I am actually really excited,” Peterson said on the national meet. “Last year was fun because it was a championship year, so four different sports were there, but it will be nice to have it earlier this year.”

Live results for the races in Alaska won’t be available, but a full recap, plus additional coverage can be found at msubsports.com, the MSUB Distance page on Facebook, MSUBXC on Twitter, and the MSUB Sports accounts on Instagram and Youtube.

2015 MSUB Cross Country Schedule September 3: Moda Health Alaska Invitational | Fairbanks, AK | Westridge Trails | 6K | 3:00 p.m.

September 5: Moda Health Alaska Invitational | Fairbanks, AK | Westridge Trails | 5K | 9:45 a.m.

September 19: Montana State Invitational | Bozeman, MT | Bridger Creek Country Club | 9:00 a.m.

September 26: Roy Griak Invitational | St. Paul, MN | Les Bolstad Golf Course| 10:00 a.m.

October 09: Yellowajcket Invitational | Billings, MT | Amend Park | 10:00 a.m.

October 15: Yellowajcket/Battlin’ Bear Dual | Billings, MT | Riverfront Park | 4:00 p.m.

October 24: GNAC Championships | Bellingham, WA | Lake Padden Park| 10:00 a.m.

November 7: West Region Championships | Monmouth, OR | Ash Creek Preserve| 11:00 a.m.

November 21: NCAA D2 National Championships | Joplin, MO | Lake Padden Park| 11:00 a.m. * All times local * With the exception of the National Championships, live results will not be available --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--