Montana State junior Patrick Casey finished third at the 2010 Big Sky Conference Cross Country championship on Saturday morning covering the 4.6-mile course in 22:09 to lift the Bobcat men's team to a second place finish at The Fairways Golf Course.
In addition, teammate Nick Atwood also recorded a top 10 finish placing ninth overall in a time of 22:26 for his third all-conference honor in his career. Atwood becomes just one of a handful of MSU runners to accomplish the milestone.
“Overall we had a solid race,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “One of our goals was to break up Northern Arizona's top five, and Casey and Atwood got the job done.
“The middle of our pack with Seth Grossman, Dan Jackson and Carl Nystuen ran well,” Kennedy said. “This is good affirmation for our team and hopefully we can have a big run at regionals.”
Also scoring for the Bobcats were Grossman, 13th, 22:50; Jackson, 14th, 22:55; and Nystuen, 17th, 23:10.
MSU's freshmen trio of Trevor Polson, Jacob Kirk and Seth Garbett finished 18th, 25th, and 44th, respectively.
NAU's David McNeil won the individual crown in a clocking of 21:28. He helped guide the Lumberjacks to the team title as well with 27 points. MSU followed with 56, Weber State 99, Sacramento State 134, Eastern Washington 137, Idaho State 151, Portland State 166, Montana 193, and Northern Colorado 250.
Led by junior Heather Haug's 16th place finish in a time of 16:31, the Bobcat women's team placed sixth.
Haug was followed by Rebecca Sorenson, 20th, 16:45; Lauren Kuennen, 38th, 17:14; Heather Demorest, 45th, 17:22; Tara Will, 454th, 17:38; Keely West, 50th, 17:46, and Elizabeth Narigon, 66th, 19:16.
“Heather Haug has done a nice job of returning to her form of last year,” Kennedy said. “And, I thought Rebecca Sorenson also run her best conference race. This season has been about development and they continue to progress very nicely.”
Montana won the team title with 49 points. UM was followed by Weber State 63, Idaho State 68, Sacramento State 105, Northern Arizona 124, MSU 168, Eastern Washington 197, Portland State 213, and Northern Colorado 237.
MSU will run at the Mountain Region Championships in two weeks hosted by the University of Utah.
