2009 season performance list
The University of Montana cross country teams will travel to Greeley, Colo., this weekend for the 2009 Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships. The races will be held Saturday morning at the Boomerang Golf Course.
The men’s eight-kilometer race begins at 10 a.m. The women’s five-kilometer race starts at 11 a.m.
The Montana women’s team will be represented by senior Kim Tritz, juniors Brooke Andrus, Kara DeWalt, Katrina Drennen and Bridgette Hoenke and sophomores Mary Kettering and Kesslee Payne.
The Griz men’s team will be made up of seniors Mac Bloom and Michael Fisher, junior Collin Fehr, sophomores Robbie Brooks and Lynn Reynolds, redshirt freshman Cody Lund and true freshman Quinton Decker.
Northern Arizona, which swept the women’s and men’s titles in both 2007 and 2008, are the unanimous favorites to repeat in 2009.
The Montana women, who were fifth last year, were picked by the Big Sky coaches in the preseason for a fourth-place finish this season, behind NAU, Weber State and Sacramento State.
The UM men, who placed fourth last year and were just three points behind third-place Eastern Washington, were picked for a fifth-place finish in 2009 behind Northern Arizona, Weber State, Montana State and EWU.
Women’s breakdown: The Grizzlies will be as close to full strength Saturday as they’ve been all fall. Drennen, who is seeking her third All-Big Sky Conference finish in three seasons, has led the team at all three races this fall. Payne and Andrus, in some order, have finished second and third.
DeWalt missed the season’s opening meet at Montana State but has steadily moved up the team standings the last two races as she’s regained her fitness. She ran fourth for the Grizzlies at NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., two weekends ago.
Hoenke has been in the top five all season, and Kettering is coming off her best career race, finishing sixth overall at Idaho’s Inland Northwest Classic two weekends ago in Moscow, Idaho, running a five-kilometer 18:30.
“With Kara being hurt early, I don’t think we’ve had our best day yet. And that’s fine, because we’re going into Saturday’s race under the radar a little bit,” second-year UM coach Courtney Babcock said.
“At Pre-Nationals, Kara had only been running for three weeks, so to have two more weeks of training under her belt is going to be a big deal. I’m excited to see what she’ll be able to do. If we can get Bridgette up a little higher (in the standings) and keep the gap among our top five a little closer together, I think we can have a pretty strong race.
“On paper we’re probably fourth or fifth, but I think the women’s is going to be a very tight race. I think at Pre-Nationals we showed that we can compete with Northern Arizona, and that was a good confidence-builder for the girls.”
Last year’s individual champion, Veronica Pohl of Northern Arizona, is back to defend her title. The top seven from last year started the season, but Weber State’s Natalie Haws, who placed fifth last year, is done for the season with a broken foot.
NAU’s Astrid Leutert was second in 2008, Drennen third, Northern Arizona’s Nell Rojas fourth and Sacramento State’s Kristina Holtz and Renisha Robinson sixth and seventh.
Drennen was beaten to the line by Leutert last year, but Drennen was 13 seconds faster than the Lumberjack two weekends ago in Indiana.
Drennen was sixth at the Big Sky meet as a freshman in 2007.
“Getting third last year, I think Katrina is more than capable of doing the same thing again this year,” Babcock said. “Veronica Pohl is one of the top runners in the country, so she’ll be tough, but Katrina beat Leutert at Pre-Nationals, so I think anything less than top three would be disappointing for her.”
Montana is ranked 13th in this week’s USTFCCCA Mountain Region rankings, coming in behind Big Sky teams Northern Arizona (sixth), Idaho State (10th) and Weber State (11th).
Sacramento State, the surprise runner-up in 2008 and the No. 3 pick in this year’s preseason poll, is not ranked among the top 15 schools in the Western Region.
Men’s breakdown: The Montana men’s team has been piecing its season together with pool work, cough syrup and some key workouts as nearly every member of the team has dealt with either an injury or sickness this season. At its best, which is what Babcock is hoping for Saturday, the team could challenge for a top-three spot in Greeley.
Reynolds has been his usual swift self, pacing the Grizzlies at the Montana State meet (second overall), Montana’s home meet (third overall) and NCAA Pre-Nationals (123rd overall), despite a lack of volume the last two months.
The team’s two seniors, Fisher and Bloom, on paper and when at full strength, would round out UM’s top three, with Decker and Fehr, both in their first year in the program, close behind to fill out the Grizzlies’ scoring quintet.
Brooks is also in his first year in the program. Lund, who was hobbling last week, is a late fill-in this weekend for true freshman Max Hardy, who has walking pneumonia.
“The guys have been a little beat up and sick, which is a reverse of last year when the women were a little beat up and the guys were healthy,” Babcock said. “We’re just trying to keep everyone healthy and capable of racing Saturday. They know it’s better to get to the line maybe even slightly undertrained and healthy than not getting to the line at all.
“That being said, I think a top-three spot is really realistic for these guys, because they are strong and very capable.
“Obviously Northern Arizona is very strong, and Montana State is going to be tough, but I think Weber is right there with us. And we should be ahead of Eastern (Washington).
“The key is being aware and being in the moment throughout the entire race and not losing focus when you get to that three- and four-mile mark. Every second and every point counts, and that comes down to just taking a corner or two a little better than somebody else.”
The Northern Arizona men rank second in the Mountain Region and in the top five nationally. NAU took the top three individual spots last year, with David McNeill, Ben Ashkettle and Diego Estrada. All three are back, and the trio is joined by Jordan Chipangama, who was third overall and the team’s top finisher at NCAA Pre-Nationals.
Among the chasers, Montana State defeated both Weber State and Montana at MSU’s meet to open the season. The Bobcats also topped the Grizzlies at UM’s home meet two weeks later, but Montana closed the scoring gap with stronger performances from Fehr and Decker.
Montana is 15th in the latest Mountain Region poll, behind No. 2 NAU, No. 8 Montana State and No. 11 Weber State.
Reynolds placed 12th last fall as a redshirt freshman, finishing 20 seconds out of the top 10.
“Lynn should be top 10 this year, regardless if he’s been sick or hurt,” Babcock said. “It’s tough (to get into the top 10) because the NAU guys could take the top five spots, but at the end of the day, Lynn is enough of a competitor and fit enough that anything outside of the top 10 would be disappointing for him.”
Up next: Montana will compete at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday, Nov. 14.