Cats finish second at Big Sky XC Championships

POCATELLO, Idaho – Montana State cross country had a pair of standout team performances at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships on Friday in Pocatello, with both the men and women finishing second for the second year in a row.

The Cats’ second-place finish marks the second time since 1992 that both teams have finished in the top two in the same conference (2023).

You can view the full results here.

“I thought we achieved very good results,” said the head coach Lyle Weese said. “More than the results, I thought we put in some incredible efforts across the board. The seven who started for the men and the eight who started for the women – they really went out and did well. They left no stone unturned differently influenced how they went about racing, they just went out and raced their best. It’s exciting to get good results, but it’s even more exciting to put in great efforts across the board.

On the men’s side, a quartet of Bobcats in the top 11 pushed the Cats to an easy second-place finish as a team.

No. 8 Northern Arizona captured their 11th Big Sky title in the last 13 years, going 1-2-5-8-9 and finishing with 25 points.

(RV) Montana State finished second, going 3-6-7-11-22 and finishing with 49 points, comfortably beating third-place Weber State (68 points).

The 49 points were the third-lowest team total since 2002, eclipsed only by the Cats’ 41 points in 2022 and 45 points in 2023.

Montana State has now finished in the top two at three straight Big Sky Championships – a first in school history.

Kalispell born Ben Perrin delivered another signature performance in his final conference championship game, finishing third individually to lead the Cats for the second year in a row. The veteran joins Steve Bishop (1977-81) and former teammate Duncan Hamilton (2019-22) as the only Bobcat men to earn All-Big Sky honors in four cross country seasons.

“It means a lot to complete my final conference cross country race with this team, and I’m very happy to have completed the entire conference,” said Perrin. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year, especially with some of our top guys out with injuries, but the whole team has dealt with it really well and we have a lot of momentum going into the regionals.”

Perrin finished sixth in both 2021 and 2022 and third in 2023 and 2024.

Fellow resident of Kalispell Sam Ells finished sixth overall, crossing the line for the eight kilometer race in 23:37.8. Last season’s Big Sky Freshman of the Year stayed in the top six throughout the race, got off to a fast start and stayed with the frontrunner.

Rob McManus was the third Bobcat to earn All-Big Sky honors, placing seventh with a time of 23:39.8. The Cashmere, Washington, native joins Perrin and Ells to become the first trio of Bobcat men to finish in the top seven in the conference since the Cats last won the Big Sky title in 2002.

“It was so exciting to have those three in the top ten,” Weese said. “And then Will Kelly was tenths of a second away from the top ten. It was really exciting to see four guys running towards the front of the race.”

Graduate student Will Kelly finished 11th, one spot short of earning all-conference honors.

Sophomore Harvey Kramb was the fifth and final scoring runner across the line for Montana State, finishing 23rd. Eli Bopart finished 29th, while Michael Schumacher finished 32nd.

In the second race of the day, the Montana State women impressed with a balanced team effort, scoring 7-9-10-13-15 to take second and finish with 54 points – their lowest total since last competing in the Big Sky title won in 1995 (40 points).

No. 3 Northern Arizona won their fourth straight title, finishing with a perfect score of 15 points as they went 1-2-3-4-5-(6).

Second-place Montana State’s total of 54 was well ahead of third-place Weber State, which finished the day with 78 points.

It is the second year in a row that the Cats have finished second – the first time since 1994-95 that the Bobcat women have finished at least second in the championship game in consecutive seasons.

Kyla Christopher-Moody used a late surge to finish seventh individually, following her ninth-place finish a year ago in Missoula. The three-time Big Sky Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week completed the three-mile course in 16:59.7, closing the final mile at a remarkable 5:19 pace. The graduate student earns All-Big Sky honors for the second year in a row.

She made the All-Big Sky team again and was a Bozeman native Grace Gilbrethwho finished tenth in the general classification in a time of 17:13.9. Gilbreth followed up her tenth-place finish last year in Missoula with another top ten result, staying in the top ten for every kilometer of the race.

Christopher-Moody and Gilbreth are the first pair of Bobcat women to earn All-Big Sky honors together in consecutive seasons since Theresa Zacher and Kathleen Monaghan in 1986-87.

“Grace and Kyla rode very well today,” said Weese. “They have raced well all season. They are definitely leaders in our team who do well in training, perform well in competitions and also set the tone for the team.”

Lindsey Paulsonnative of the Belt, placed 11th and just one spot out of all conference honorees. The No. 3 MSU runner crossed the line Friday in 17:25.5.

Bozeman native and senior Alex Moore ran what Weese called “probably her best cross country race ever” finishing 14th as fourth Bobcat in 17:41.1.

Sophomore Annie Kaul placed 16th and finished as the fifth and final scoring runner in 17:51.1, keeping the Bobcat points total to a minimum and keeping the pack close together.

Senior Hanna Perrin Placed 26th, freshman Madi Siana finished 29th and a freshman Niam Motley finished 45th.

NEXT

Montana State travels to Reno, Nevada, for the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships hosted by the University of Nevada on Friday, November 15.

#GoCatsGo