MSUB men's cross country is headed for Montana State

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu

September 17, 2015 Yellowjacket men’s cross country on the road to Montana State

MSUB Distance on Facebook 2015 MSUB Men’s Cross Country Individual Performances MSUB Men’s Cross Country on TFRRS MSUB Cross Country Stack on ISSUU

The 2015 MSUB men’s cross country team opened their season with two races at the Moda Health Alaska Invitational in Fairbanks, Alaska.

With two individual titles, and one team title already this season, the MSU men’s cross country team faces some much tougher competition this week in Bozeman, Mont.

BILLINGS, Mont. – With two individual titles and one team title under their belts, the MSUB men’s cross country team is headed to Bozeman, Mont., and some much strong competition at the Montana State University / Bozeman Running Company Invitational this Saturday.

The MSUB team started their season off with a bang at the Moda Health Alaska Invitational. Senior Robert Peterson won two individual titles and the team brought back a victory with an overall win in the 8K distance.

The Yellowjackets were in Fairbanks, Alaska for a Great Northwest Athletic Conference event hosted by Alaska to open the 2015 season. Day 1 of the event was on Saturday, Sept. 3 as the teams ran an 8K course on the Westridge Trails Nordic ski complex. Two days later, the teams finished the week with a 5K race.

Senior Robert Peterson completed the 8,000-meter men's race in 26:18.3, winning the race by 50 seconds. Two days later, he captured the title on the short course, the men's 5,000-meter race in 15:44.6, winning by 26 seconds over the second-place runner. In addition to his two titles, Peterson was honored as the GNAC Runner of the Week for Aug. 31Sept. 6.

“We’re hoping to carry our momentum from Alaska over to the MSU meet this week,” MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. “We had a week off from competition, so it’s been good to have a couple weeks to just focus on training.”

In Alaska, sophomore Liam McKay finished with two strong performances as the Canadian placed third in both distances.

Behind McKay, MSUB’s next four runners moved around in the 3-6 spots as Garrett Love, Mark Hovland, Jorey Egeland, and Matt Winter all paced the Yellowjacket in different spots during each race. Freshman Ivan Colmenero also made the trip with the ‘Jackets, rounding out the team that competed in Alaska.

MSUB won the team title in the 8K ahead of Alaska and Seattle Pacific. On Day 2, the Nanooks edged-out the ‘Jackets during the 5K, taking the team trophy and the overall win.

“We’re still at a phase in our training where we’re pushing the mileage and not tapering off too much for competition, so we’re running through this meet a bit; we still want to be competitive, but want to continue to focus on the championship segment of the season in late October and early November,” Coppock said. “The team has been putting in some significant mileage over the past three weeks with some individuals running as high as 100 miles per week. We’re continuing to push our long runs up to 20 miles in some cases.”

Montana State University / Bozeman Running Company Invitational Host Date Location Start Time Distance Teams Results

Montana State University Saturday, Sept. 19 Bridger Creek Golf Course 9:00 a.m.

5 miles DI: Montana State, Idaho State, Montana, Utah State DII: MSU Billings NAIA: Carroll College, Montana Western, Rocky Mountain College, Montana State Northern msubsports.com

At the Montana State University / Bozeman Running Company Invitational, the Yellowjackets will be up against schools from around the region, including NCAA Division I competition as well as NAIA schools.

“Individually, Robert Peterson should be able to run with some of the front runners in the men’s 5-mile race,” Coppock said. “As a team, our numbers 2-5 runners are really starting to pack up well in practice, so that should be a big help to us this weekend.”

MSU Billings took a travel roster to Alaska for the competition, so the bus ride to Bozeman, Mont., will include the full men’s contingent, giving everyone a chance to race this weekend.

Live results will not be offered for the event in Bozeman. Results plus a full recap will be available online at msubsports.com following the conclusion of the race.

--@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--