RECAP: MSUB 2015 men's cross country

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu November 30, 2015 Recap: 2015 men’s cross country MSUB Men’s 2015 Results MSUB Cross Country Record Book

MSUB men’s cross country team at the 26th Annual Yellowjacket Invitational at Amend Park.

After finishing fifth at the conference championships in Washington, the MSUB men’s cross country improves to fourth two weeks later at the west region race as the team finishes the 2015 season on a high-note.

BILLINGS, Mont. – This season the MSUB men’s cross country team finished fifth during the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, but two weeks later improved their placement during the NCAA west region race in Monmouth, Ore. “I was really happy with the way the men finished up the season with some great performances at the GNAC and the west region championships,” MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. “We focused on keeping our mileage up during the regular season to be ready for the 10,000 meter distance at regionals and it really paid off with a 10th place performance.”

Liam McKay (front) leads a pack of runners at the Moda Health Alaska Invitational in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The 2015 team opened their season with two races at the Moda Health Alaska Invitational in Fairbanks, Alaska Sept. 3 and 5. MSUB picked up the team title in the opening 8,000 meter race followed by a team second place finish during the 5,000 meter race two days later.

Senior Robert Peterson swept both titles, completing the 8K in 26:18.3 followed by a win on the 5K short course in 15:44.6. Sophomore Liam McKay placed third in both races as the Yellowjackets came out of Alaska with good momentum heading into the Montana State University Invitational in Bozeman, Mont., on Sept. 19.

Up against NCAA Division I, Division II, and NAIA competition from around the region, Peterson continued his dominance with his third consecutive individual title cruising to the finish line 15 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, completing the 5-mile distance in 25:57.93.

The MSUB team placed sixth overall among the field. In Bozeman, junior Garrett Love placed second behind Peterson in 22nd place overall and senior Matt Winter moved up into the third spot on the team finishing 30th.

The ‘Jackets next headed to the Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. In 2014, Peterson was in a photo-finish for second place, placing third. This year, the senior placed fourth in the field of 391 individual entrants. Peterson was in the opening pack for most of the race, just falling off in the final stretch. Love was again second for the team, Winter third, sophomore Mark Hovland moved into fourth for the team, and for the second time freshman Tyus Mendoza made his mark with a fifth place team result.

MSUB finished 11th in the field of 38 NCAA Division II teams. The Griak was the largest race MSUB competed in during the season.

Heading into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, MSUB hosted the Yellowjacket Invitational at Amend Park and a dual-meet with Rocky Mountain College.

At the 26th Annual Yellowjacket Invitational, Peterson and the runner he ran neck-and-neck with at the Griak - Alec Baldwin from Black Hills State, were locked in a battle for the individual title.

Robert Peterson and Alec Baldwin raced to the finish line at the Yellowjacket Invitational.

The two runners quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the pack in the opening 1,000 meters.

Into the final loop, Baldwin pulled ahead of Peterson stretching a lead out as Peterson wound up second at the line. MSUB placed runners in the 2-5-8-12-13 spots finishing with 40 points.

At the home meet, Winter moved up to finish second for the team. Behind him, Jorey Eglend placed third for the team with Mendoza and McKay completing the top-5.

A week before the conference race, MSUB hosted a dual meet with fellow Billings institution Rocky Mountain College. The 4mile course run at Riverfront Park was a good warm-up for the larger race a week later. The Yellowjackets used the race to work on team strategy. Peterson won the race in 20:03 with Love and Egeland also placing in the top-5.

MSU Billings traveled to Bellingham, Wash., for the 2015 conference race contested at a course on Lake Padden Park.

The Yellowjackets finished fifth as a team in the field of 11.

Peterson finished 13th individually in 29:39.20.

Winter placed 29th overall in 26:35.10 and was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year for his performance.

Love was 18th (25:53.80), Mendoza finished 35th (26:39.90), and Egeland was 38th (26:49.80).

Two weeks later, MSUB headed to Monmouth, Ore., for the NCAA west region race. The team competed on the familiar Ash Creek Preserve course in the team’s only 10,000 meter race of the season.For the second time in his career, Peterson earned all-west region honors with a 13th place finish. The senior missed out on advancing to the national race, but did lower his time from last season by over 45 seconds. The MSUB Senior Matt Winter was named the 2015 GNAC Newcomer of the Year. team finished 10th overall and fourth in the GNAC schools.

“We were the fourth GNAC team at the west region race,” Coppock said. “We were able to beat some pretty tough teams at regionals and moved up a spot in the GNAC from where we finished at conference two weeks earlier.

Everything went pretty well as planned and we had our best 10K team performances ever, averaging 31:35 with six runners moving into our top 10 all-time performances. They all peaked at the right time.”

With all the hard training leading up to the west region race, each of the seven Yellowjackets competing at the west region race in Monmouth, Ore., finished with their best finishes all season. Coach Coppock saw a lot of improvement from all the athletes as several records were broken in the final week of competition.

“We were led all season by Robert Peterson, who narrowly missed a National championship berth by one place and one second,” Coppock continued. “He did make the All-Region team with a 13th place finish. Garret Love and Matt Winter were solid performers all year as well. Tyus Mendoza turned in some our top freshman performances we’ve ever had and ran the fastest 10k by a freshman as well. Jorey Egeland and Mark Hovland rounded out our top-6 and really helped pack up the team which definitely helped our scoring.”

MSUB 10,000 meter Top-10 Rk. Name 1 Robert Peterson 2 Garrett Love 3 Robert Peterson 4 Matt Winter 5 Tyus Mendoza T6 Mark Hovland T6 Brian Potter 8 Jorey Egeland 9 Daniel Lombardi 10 Chase Robinson

Time 30:15 31:12 31:29 31:36 32:24 32:28 32:28 32:29 32:53 33:11

Year 2015 2015 2014 2015 2015 2015 2011 2015 2011 2013

NCAA Division II All-West Region Robert Peterson, 2014 Robert Peterson, 2015 GNAC Newcomer of the Year Matt Winter, 2015 --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--