2009 season performance list
The University of Montana cross country teams, coming off a pair of third-place finishes at the Big Sky Conference championships, will compete at the 2009 NCAA Mountain Region Championships Saturday at Albuquerque, N.M. The men’s 10-kilometer race starts at 10:45 a.m., the women’s six-kilometer race at noon.
The races will be held at the University of New Mexico’s North Golf Course, which also hosted the 2002 and ’06 NCAA Mountain Regionals. The race site is located 5,085 feet above sea level.
The top two men’s and women’s teams in each race will earn automatic spots to the NCAA championships, which will be held Monday, Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind. In addition, the top four runners from non-qualifying teams will advance to the national meet as individuals, as long as they place in the top 25 overall.
Who’s racing: The Montana women’s team will be represented by senior Kim Tritz, juniors Brooke Andrus, Kara DeWalt, Katrina Drennen and Bridgette Hoenke and sophomore Kesslee Payne.
The Griz men’s team will be represented by seniors Mac Bloom and Michael Fisher, junior Collin Fehr, sophomores Robbie Brooks and Lynn Reynolds and freshman Quinton Decker.
Where they rank: The Montana men are ranked ninth in the current U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mountain Region poll. The Grizzlies are one spot behind Montana State and one place ahead of Weber State, which mirrors the finish of those teams (second through fourth) at the Big Sky meet.
Northern Arizona, which handily won the Big Sky championship two weekends ago, is atop the region rankings. The Lumberjacks are followed in the top five by Colorado, New Mexico, BYU and Utah State.
NAU (fourth), Colorado (fifth), New Mexico (12th) and BYU (14th) are all ranked in the top 15 nationally.
The UM women are ranked 10th in the Mountain Region. Among Big Sky Conference schools, Northern Arizona, which joined the NAU men in winning the Big Sky title, is ranked fifth and Weber State ninth. The Grizzlies finished two points behind the Wildcats at conference.
Texas Tech, which is ranked eighth nationally, is atop the women’s region poll. Colorado (sixth nationally), New Mexico (20th) and BYU (22nd) follow.
Montana experience: Every member of Montana’s women’s team has competed at at least one NCAA Mountain Regional. Tritz will be racing at the regional meet for the fourth time, Andrus, DeWalt, Drennen and Hoenke for the third time and Payne for the second time.
Drennen has finished as Montana’s top runner at her first two regionals, placing 29th overall as a freshman in 2007 and 35th last year as a sophomore.
The Griz men’s team is top heavy on experience. Bloom and Fisher will both be competing at the regional level for the fourth time. Reynolds, who was Montana’s top runner last year as a redshirt freshman and 35th overall, is racing for the second time.
Fehr, Brooks and Decker will be making their regional debuts.
The UM men placed 11th last year, the Montana women 15th.
Women’s outlook: “With a lot of the top teams in the region also being some of the top teams in the country, it’s going to be good competition, but I don’t think it’s over-our-head competition,” second-year coach Courtney Babcock said. “We were a lot closer to Northern Arizona at Pre-Nationals than we were at conference. If we can get back into that type of position, I think we have a good chance of mixing it up with some of the top teams.
“We have to race smart. We need to get out quick and give ourselves a chance to be in the mix early enough that we don’t lose that front pack in the first mile. You don’t want to go out too hard, but you want to be in a position where you can see if something is going on up front.
“We did a lot more work than we did last year, so we are much more prepared to race a 6k. Mentally more than physically going from (our usual) 5k to 6k can be a big step up for some of the girls. The nice thing about going to Pre-Nationals is that we have already raced one 6k.
“We know what Katrina can do. Kesslee had a great race at conference, so she’s shown she can race at that level, and Brooke is more than capable of being up there with Kesslee. And Kara is right there as well, so that whole group has a shot of mixing it up.”
Men’s outlook: “I think they’re better at the 10k distance (than the usual 8k distance),” Babcock said. “And the great part about this group? They know they’re better at the 10k distance, which gives them a mental edge going into it. We’ve practiced over-distance, so all of our long intervals and long tempo runs have been over six miles, so we’re more than prepared.
“Plus the guys are riding that momentum from conference where they now feel like they can mix it up with anyone. They know that they are better than other people thought at the beginning of the year.
“I think people they used to put on a pedestal, they’re now running with. I don’t think Michael Fisher ever saw himself kicking down NAU’s Ahmed Osman at conference, but that lets them see these guys are human and actually beatable.
“If you break it down individually, most of our guys can run with most of the guys out there.”