Montana State hosted the annual Fleet Feet Invite at Bridger Golf Course this weekend.
The Montana State women were paced by sophomore Heather Haug (Livingston) who finished 8th overall, covering the 3-mile course in 17:38.
“Heather had an outstanding race and was very solid,” Kennedy said. “She is way ahead of where she was on this course, at this same time, last fall.”
Utah Valley’s Mary Nothum won the women’s title in 17:10.
Perennial Big Sky power Weber State won the women’s team title with 36 points, followed by Utah Valley 50, Montana 64, Utah State 94, MSU 146, Utah 168, Concordia 237, MSU Billings 261, Dickinson State 276, Great Falls 295, Carroll 312, Rocky Mountain 323 and Flathead Valley CC 430.
Also contributing for MSU were Kala Jauquet, 35th, 18:49; Rebecca Sorenson, 36th, 18:50; Corrine Malcolm, 39th, 18:57; Larkin Guenther, 51st, 19:23; Madeline Fuchs, 58th, 19:30; Tara Will, 59th, 19:31; Morgan Dunley, 69th, 19:47; Christina Alexander, 79th, 20:11; and Carissa Storle, 88th, 20:31.
“We really showed our youth in the women’s race,” Kennedy said. “This was a tough experience, but we are training harder that what we ran today. We’ll continue to get better from this point forward.”
The Bobcats will be at the Montana Invitational on Oct. 3.
Montana State sophomore Patrick Casey (Laurel) out-kicked Montana’s Lynn Reynolds to capture the individual men's title.
Casey covered the 5-mile course in 24:54, while Reynolds placed second in a clocking of 24:55.
“It really was a spectacular race between Casey and Reynolds,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “It was a great race and they went stride for stride from the start. They really gave the spectators something to watch.”
Utah State captured the men’s team title with 42 points, followed closely by MSU 53, Weber State 70, Montana 76, Utah Valley 104, Great Falls 208, Dickinson State 223, Rocky Mountain 257, MSU Billings 259, Carroll College 283, Concordia College 303 and Flathead Valley CC 393.
The Bobcats also received strong performances from Matt Atkinson-Adams and Graydon Curry. Both runners placed in the top ten as Atkinson-Adams finished 3rd in 25:07; with Curry tenth in a time of 25:26.
“Both Matt and Graydon had solid races,” Kennedy said. “Our guys showed evidence of great possibilities for the season.”
Also contributing for Montana State were Tyler Noland, 14th, 25:47; Nick Atwood, 25th, 26:15; Carl Nystuen, 33rd, 26:36; Dan Jackson, 37th, 26:39; and Arick Zachman, 41st, 26:55.
“Now we know where we are and have a good starting point for the rest of the season,” Kennedy said. “I have a feeling its only going to get better.”