Montana State junior Patrick Casey (Laurel) ran his best ever 10-kilometer cross country race to finish 12th overall at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, Saturday morning at the Rose Park Golf Course.
Casey completed the race in 30:17, which was his best 10k by over 30-seconds. For his efforts, he garnered All-Region accolades, after just missing the honor by one place last fall.
Additionally, Casey put himself in position to earn a berth to the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.
For Casey to earn entrance into the national meet, Northern Arizona or Brigham Young must receive one of 13 at-large berths to the NCAAs. Heading into the weekend, NAU was ranked 7th and BYU 15th in the nation.
As a team, the Bobcat men placed ninth overall, short of its goal of a top four finish.
“We're disappointed,” said MSU head coach Dale Kennedy. “We ran well, but others team were better. It was a close race between Nos. 6-9.”
New Mexico won the men's title with 45 points. The Lobos were followed by Colorado 66, BYU 80, NAU 88, Ari Force 155, Wyoming 205, Utah State 209, UTEP 210, MSU 217, Colorado State 245, Utah Valley 289, New Mexico State 311, Texas Tech 341, Weber State 356, Idaho State 412 and Montana 440.
Senior Nick Atwood was MSU's second finisher, placing 38th in 31:05. He was followed by Seth Grossman, 44th, 31:16, Dan Jackson, 59th, 31:44, Carl Nystuen, 64th, 31:52, Trevor Polson, 91st, 33:07, and Jacob Kirk, 92nd, 33:14.
“We had some good performances, and I though Seth Grossman was solid,” Kennedy said. “Unfortunately, we came up a little short of what we needed to do.”
The Montana State women's team was led by Heather Haug, who placed 63rd overall covering the six-kilometer course in 22:15.
Haug was followed by Rebecca Sorenson, 112th, 23:19, Tara Will, 117th, 23:33, Heather Demorest, 125th, 24:12, and Elizabeth Narigon, 130th, 25:40.
New Mexico also won the women's team crown. MSU finished 19th overall.
“It was a tough day for our women,” Kennedy said. “We ran with just five of our eight kids and it wasn't easy. I thought Heather did a nice job and had a solid race.”
The Mountain Region meet is the last for the Bobcats this season.
