FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Saturday, November 5, 2016 MSUB men host NCAA D2 Championships Saturday, finish 13th
Garrett Love just misses a top-50 finish in 51st for the MSUB men’s cross country team Saturday, as the ‘Jackets host the NCAA D2 West Region Championships at Amend Park. BILLINGS, Mont. – Senior Garrett Love ended his career as the top finisher for the Montana State University Billings men’s cross country team on Saturday morning at Amend Park, crossing the finish line in 51st place at the NCAA Division II West Region Championships hosted by the Yellowjackets. Love led the ‘Jackets, but Chico State stole the show with the top-three individual finishers, and easily claimed the team title with a stellar 45 points. The event returned to Billings for the second time in three years, as the ‘Jackets also played host for the 2014 championships at the same facility. Saturday morning’s early frost was melted away as the sun ascended into a cloudless sky, setting a perfect stage for the 10k men’s race starting at 10 a.m. “Garrett’s time was really fast, and the whole field today was really fast,” said MSUB head coach Dave Coppock. “He and Jorey did especially well, and they have been consistent all year.”
Chico’s William Reyes pulled away early and never looked back, breaking the course record with a time of 29:45.16 and a mile pace of 4:48. Teammates Kyle Medina and Falco Digiallonardo crossed the line in tandem behind the Wildcat senior, with the former taking second in 30:04.96 and the latter breaking the plane at 30:05.35. Great Northwest Athletic Conference runners rounded out the top5 at the event, with Edwin Kangogo of Alaska Anchorage taking fourth place in 30:07.58, and Isaac Derline of Western Washington in fifth place at 30:08.04. For the Yellowjackets, who finished in 13th place as a team, Love finished with a time of 31:42.23 while running at a pace of a 5:07 mile. “This was my final race and I really wanted to go out on top,” said Love, the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day. “The race started out fast but that was expected, and I think we did pretty good as a team.” Junior Jorey Egeland checked in at 60th place with a time of 31:57.47, and Tyus Mendoza finished in 87th at 32:41.48. Junior Mark Hovland just missed a top-100 finish, as he ran a time of 32:58.86 and took 101st. Ivan Colmenero finished strongly down the finishing stretch, and posted a time of 33:06.18 for 106th place. Mark Hovland (left) and Ivan Colmenero finished their fall season at the West Region Championships Saturday at Amend Park in Billings.
Also competing for the ‘Jackets were senior Josh Panasuk and freshman Ronald Venema. Panasuk crossed the finish line in 121st place with a time of 33:25.97, and Venema completed the field for
the ‘Jackets in 131st place with a time of 33:48.49. Finishing in second place as a team was Alaska Anchorage, which tallied 81 points and had three runners finish in the top-11. Cal Poly Pomona took third place with 90 points, the Academy of Art was in fourth with 156 points, and Cal Baptist rounded out the top-5 with 156 points. The Urban Knights won the tiebreaker over the Lancers, as their top-four runners all finished in the top-35.
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