RECAP: 2015 MSUB women's cross country

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

The MSUB women’s cross country team placed second at the 2015 Yellowjacket Invitational.

The 2015 women’s cross country team steadily improve their times during the season, culminating with several personal bests during the final race of the year.

BILLINGS, Mont. – The 2015 MSUB women’s cross country team worked hard during the season improving their times, ultimately culminating with several season bests at the 2015 NCAA west region race in Monmouth, Ore. This year’s MSU Billings team was a mixture of experienced veterans and newcomers. A trio of seniors and one junior led the Yellowjackets throughout the year with one sophomore and four freshmen supplementing the team scores during the three months of competition.

A trio of experienced senior leadership from Brielle Davis, Jinise Trueblood and Taylor Condon along with junior Rio Frame placed in the top spots all year for MSUB. Davis and Frame flipped placements with either runner finishing first

for MSUB in every race. Condon placed fourth or higher in every race for the team and twice was the runner-up for the ‘Jackets. Frame was first in five races for MSUB, but did not finish in two races in the middle of the season.

MSU Billings opened its 2015 season at the Moda Health Alaska Invitational in Fairbanks, Alaska on Sept. 3 and 5 with a 6K and a 5K. Frame finished first in both race for MSUB with a 6th and 9th place overall result. She was followed by Davis on both days. Sophomore Bailey Bomar was third during the opening race of the season with Condon taking that spot on Day 2.

The Yellowjackets finished third as a team in both races behind Seattle Pacific and Alaska. At the Montana State Invitational in Bozeman, Mont., on Sept. 19, Frame did not finish the race, but Davis completed the distance with a top10 finish placing 8th in a time of 19:20.16. Condon finished 18th overall with Trueblood placing 30th. Bomar placed fourth for the ‘Jackets in 43rd place. During her first collegiate competition, Devin McDonald finished in the fifth spot for MSUB in 58th overall.

At the very large Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn., the MSUB team was up against 345 individuals and 35 teams from around the NCAA. Davis ran an impressive race, pacing the Yellowjackets with a 24:46.3 time at the line for 63rd overall.

Condon was second for the team as MSUB placed 28th overall.

At their last collegiate home meet, Davis, Condon, and Trueblood all completed top-10 finishes for MSUB at the 26th Annual Yellowjacket Invitational held at Amend Park on Oct. 10. Turning in her best finish of the season, Davis finished as the runner-up at the home event, covering the course in 24:46.93.

Frame finished the 6,000 meter course in 25:06.59 for fourth place overall. She was followed close behind by a fifth place result from Condon in 25:13.44. Trueblood rounded out the top-10 finishes at ninth place with a time of 25:50.41.

MSUB and Rocky Mountain College hosted a dual meet at Riverfront Park in Billings, Mont., on Oct. 15. Back to full strength, Frame finished second with Davis at third, Trueblood fourth, and Condon fifth. The dual meet served as a warm-up event for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships run on a course at Lake Paddon Park in Bellingham, Wash.

Every MSUB competitor at the conference championships lowered her time from the Yellowjacket Invitational just two weeks prior.

Frame led the MSUB effort with a 52nd finish overall in 23:46.80. Davis was next at 67th in 24:16.70 with Condon right behind at 69th in 24:26.90. Rounding out the team’s efforts, Trueblood was 72nd in 24:33.80 with Bomar in 86th in 26:12.40.

Senior Taylor Condon at the west region race in Oregon.

“We didn’t finish as high either in the GNAC or the West Region as I’d have like to, but the women made good progress throughout the season,” MSUB head coach Davie Coppock said. “We lost our top runners to graduation from last year’s team which finished 6th in the GNAC and 13th in the Region.”

“This year we started a little behind as well with not putting the kind of summer training in that we needed, so it was definitely a rebuilding year,” Coppock continued. “The women did improve quite a bit over the season and I’m hopeful they’ll take that as a starting point for next year. We had a lot of new people this year, and it will just take a little while to adapt to college level running.”

All four underclassmen received good experience during the season. Sarah Beatty and Cate Klaudt both raced in the two Alaska races to start off the season and McDonald and Beatty made the trips to Washington and Oregon for the final two races of the season.

The MSUB women’s cross country team huddle before the NCAA west region race at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore.

At the west region race in Monmouth, Ore., at the Ash Creek Preserve, MSU Billings finished 25th at a team. Frame placed 117th overall with a time of 23:19.08. Behind her, Davis (121st 23:24.92), Condon (138th 23:48.71), Trueblood (147th 24:05.21) and Bomar (166th 25:04.42) rounded out the top-5 for the ‘Jackets.

“We were led by Rio Frame and Brielle Davis all season. Rio suffered a few nagging injuries mid-season, but ended up with good performances at GNAC and regionals,” Coppock said on the team’s top placers for the 2015 season. “Brielle put in a good summer of training and really improved over last year and was consistent all season.

She and Rio were able to push each other in those final championship races and really came through.”

Trueblood finished her cross country career at MSUB with three GNAC all-academic team honors. The senior majoring in health and human performance carries a 3.99 cumulative GPA. Frame was named to the all-academic team for the second team in her career with Davis picking up her first honor. Frame carries a 3.53 cumulative GPA in English with Davis earning a 3.67 in psychiatric rehabilitation.

Senior Jinise Trueblood

2015 MSUB Academic All-GNAC: Jinise Trueblood, Brielle Davis, Rio Frame

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