The Montana State cross country teams will compete at the University of Montana Invitational, Saturday morning at the UM Golf Course. The men's 8-kilometer race will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the women's event at 10:45 a.m.
Competing in the NCAA Division I race will be MSU, UM, Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and the Washington State women's squad.
The Bobcat men's team will enter the meet ranked fifth in this week's Mountain Region poll. Two weeks ago, Montana State ran away with the team title at the MSU Invitational.
Junior Patrick Casey will pace the Bobcats this weekend, and will be followed closely by Seth Grossman, Nick Atwood, Dan Jackson and Carl Nystuen in MSU's top five.
“This week we are focusing on reducing our pack time,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “I would like to see us get our 1-5 split from 53-seconds down to 40-seconds.
“I think we've had a couple guys turn the corner in their training the past two weeks,” Kennedy said. “We're looking forward to a great race.”
The Bobcat women's team will be looking to improve upon its sixth place showing at the MSU Invitational.
Junior Heather Haug is coming back from health issues that hampered her two weeks ago. She'll be joined in the top three by freshmen Heather Demorest and Keely West.
“The positive that came out of the MSU Invitational was our 23-second split from 1-5,” Kennedy said. “Now, we just need everyone to move up another level. We've been better in our training sessions and we'll need to upgrade our level of intensity.
“We have to use our experiences from the MSU Invitational as a stepping stone,” Kennedy said. “Not as a stumbling block.”
The UM Invitational will also serve as the annual Cat-Griz dual, as well. The race between the two intra-state rivals will be the 50th meeting for the men's squads.
The Bobcats won last year's men race, while the Lady Griz captured the women's team title.
The Grizzlies hold a 33-16 advantage (no race was held in 2008) in the all-time series dating back to the 1959 campaign. Since 2000, however, the Bobcats have won six of nine duals.
In the women's all-time series, Montana maintains a slim 14-13 edge since 1982.
