FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu November 21, 2016 Recap: 2016 MSUB women’s cross country MSUB Cross Country on Facebook | MSUB Cross Country on ISSUU | MSUB Cross Country Records 2016 MSUB Women’s Cross Country Results
The trio of Rio Frame, Nikki Aiken, and Bailey Bomar anchored the Yellowjacket team during the 2016 season.
With all but one senior returning to the team, next year’s women’s cross country team is looking forward to continuing what they began during the 2016 season. BILLINGS, Mont. – The women’s cross country trio of Rio Frame, Nikki Aiken, and Bailey Bomar were the anchors for the MSUB program this year. With just one runner a senior, next year’s squad will be focused on improving the foundation built during the 2016 season. Frame, a four-member of the program was a strong leader for the Yellowjackets. The native of Glendive, Mont., was instrumental in guiding and challenging her teammates during the season. “Rio was certainly a team leader this year and ran fairly consistently at the top of our team all season,” MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. “We’ll definitely miss her as she moves on after graduation.”
Frame was bolstered in her leadership by the only other upperclassman on the squad in Bomar, a graduate of Billings West High School. The third member of the top squad, Aiken, is a redshirt freshman from Belgrade, Mont. The combination of Frame, Aiken, and Bomar was instrumental in supporting the Yellowjackets as the team moved through their challenging season. Frame was the top runner for MSUB in five events and Aiken three. Aiken had a top-10 finish at the Gage McSpadden Invitational hosted by Black Hills State with a sixth place result in 16:58. Frame was the top finisher for the Yellowjackets during her final collegiate race at the west region championships, completing the 6K course at Amend Park in 24:36.46. Bomar had a standout outing at the Rocky Mountain Shootout with a runner-up finish for the Yellowjacket squad, crossing the finish line in 48th place overall in 25:22. Frame finishes her career with the cross country team holding the fourth-best time in the program’s history in the 6,000 meters from 2014 of 21:48. This season she doubled her top-10 overall finishes and concludes her career with 10. “Rio, Nikki and Bailey ran in our numbers 1-3 spots all season set the stage for the rest of the team,” Coppock commented. “We’ll be counting on Nikki and Bailey to carry-on that role next season as we bring in some new runners.” Six underclassmen, one sophomore and five freshmen, made-up the remainder of the Yellowjacket roster. Sarah Beatty returned for her second season on the team and had one top-20 finish this season with a 20th place result at the Gage McSpadden Invitational, finishing the 4K race in 19:12.3. New to the team this year were true freshmen Lydia Foster, Catrina Schuchard, Ella McKenzie, and Krysten Mossburg. Foster and Schuchard were consistently the team’s fourth and fifth runners. Foster, a native of Gillette, Wyo., also had two third-place team finishes this year at the Gage McSpadden Invitational (14tt, 17:35) and the Montana State Invitational (25:33.82). Schuchard from Harlowton, Mont., had never competed in cross country before joining the team this season. She improved her standings and times throughout the season, culminating in a fourth-place result for the ‘Jackets at the west region championships with a time of 26:14.10. Closing the gap throughout the season, McKenzie and Mossburg had their best races late in the season. McKenzie competed as the seventh runner for the Yellowjackets at both the GNAC (26:30.30) and west region championships (26:14.10). Mossburg had a sixth place team result at the Yellowjackets Invitational (35th, 27:56). “Our freshmen made some very good progress this season and are beginning to adjust to the training and racing at the college level,” Coppock said. “It’s been quite a steep learning curve for them, but this season has been a good experience and they’ll know what to expect next year. Their summer training will be a key determinant as to how they perform next year.” The young team competed on several challenging courses during the season, culminating in the home-hosted NCAA Division II west region championships in Billings. At the Great Northwest Athletic Championships hosted by Western Washington, MSUB finished 11th of 11 conference teams. Aiken was the top Yellowjacket finisher in 64th place (24:56.5) with Frame (69th, 25:07.20) and Bomar (76th, 25:28.70) in second and third. The west region championships returned to Billings for the second time in three years. On the 6,000 meter course at Amend Park, 30 teams from the west region made the trip to the Magic City competing to advance onto the national
race in Florida. MSUB placed 29th of the 30 teams and was led at the event by Frame (151st, 24:36.46). Aiken was close behind (160th, 24:52.92), followed by Bomar (167th, 25:04.28). All three eligible members of the team in Beatty, Bomar, and Frame were named to the academic all-GNAC team for their performances in the classroom. Frame was the top honoree for the Yellowjackets with a 3.63 cumulative grade points average in English. She was one of just 13 conference selections being honored for the third time. Bomar was named to the list for the second straight year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.35 in psychology. Beatty was selected with a cumulative grade point average of 3.35 in the mathematics teaching discipline. To be eligible for the GNAC all-academic honor, student-athletes must be in at least their second year of competition at their current school, and hold a grade point average of 3.20 or higher. “While we’re still back a ways back in the conference and region, I think we made good progress with a fairly young squad,” Coppock commented on the roster. “The team gained a lot of experience in a variety of competitive situations and I’m hoping they come in next season well-prepared. I can’t emphasize the importance of summer training and keeping the continuity between seasons. The biggest challenge will be to not fall back each year and to start each season near the point where they left off in the previous year.” --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--