MSUB men's cross country headed for west region race

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu November 5, 2015 West region championship, MSUB men’s cross country racing on familiar course MSUB Distance on Facebook MSUB Cross Country Stack on ISSUU Interviews with senior Matt Winter and head coach Dave Coppock NCAA West Region Championships Site

The MSUB men’s cross country team is headed for Oregon and the west region championships.

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The men’s cross country team is ready for the 2015 NCAA Division II west region meet being held at the Ash Creek Preserve.

BILLINGS, Mont. – The MSU Billings men’s cross country team is headed for the 2015 NCAA west region championship race taking place Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Ash Creek Preserve on the campus of Western Oregon University.

This year, the men’s 10,000 meter race is scheduled for an 11:15 a.m. Pacific time start.

Two weeks ago, MSUB finished fifth overall at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. This year’s west region race will host close to 30 teams from the GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and the PacWest. Last year, MSUB placed 17th as a team. Individually, Robert Peterson finished 13th overall, punching his ticket to the national event with a time of 31:29.05.

“It will be a tough meet with so many nationally-ranked teams in our region this year,” MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. “For the men we have Chico State (2), Alaska Anchorage (5), Cal Poly Pomona (6), Cal Baptist (14), San Francisco State (17) and Simon Fraser (21). We saw San Francisco State at Griak and didn’t run too badly against them even though we didn’t have our best day out there, so they may be a team to key off of.”

Coach Coppock is hoping for a top-10 finish for the men’s team this season. He is also looking for Peterson to capture one of the three individual spots open to advance on to the national race. “I think it would be reasonable for our team to try to crack the top-10 and finish up the season with a decent regional ranking. Individually, we’re looking towards Robert Peterson to capture one of the three places going to nationals. The top-3 individuals not on a qualifying team will advance.”

Last year from the west region, six teams advanced on to the national stage. This year, only four teams are eligible to go, which will make the individual berths an even stronger competition. “Because we only have teams making nationals this year, it’s going to be very tough to get one of those three individual spots,” Coppock continued “There are a lot of very good runners on those teams not ranked in the top-4 in our region.”

Joining Peterson on the MSUB squad are junior Garrett Love, senior Matt Winter, freshman Tyus Mendoza, and sophomore Jorey Egeland. “Those five runners make up our top finishers and they’ve all been running strong lately,” Coppock said. “They had an excellent conference meet finishing just behind Western Oregon, so that will be another team we’d like to finish ahead of this time out. I think we’re a better 10K team than 8K team, so that should help us.”

The west region race is the only race this season the men’s team will be racing a 10,000 meter instead of the 8,000 meter.

Live results will not be available. A full recap and results will be posted at msubsports.com following the conclusion of the event.

2015 NCAA Division II West Region Championships Date: Start Time: Location: Distance: Official Results: Social Media

Official West Region Page:

Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015 11:15 a.m. Pacific time Ash Creek Preserve, Monmouth, Ore. 10K | Course Map Championship Site @MSUBXC | #GNACXC Western Oregon Cross Country

--@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--