The Bobcat Cross Country corps had an outstanding day in Missoula, sweeping the team titles at the Montana Invitational on Friday. Montana State men led the pack with 38 total points, and the Bobcat women finished in the top spot with 36. (Men's Results | Women's Results)

Both races featured seven programs including meet host Montana, Eastern Washington, Flathead Valley, Gonzaga, Great Falls and MSU-Billings.

In the Men's 8K, MSU's Jacob Kirk was the top finisher in third place overall with a time of 25:20. Seth Grossman finished just four seconds behind Kirk in fourth place at 25:24. Trevor Polson (25:38) and Jake Turner (25:51) also crossed the finish line within the top10, coming in sixth and ninth, respectively.

Lynn Reynolds of Montana took the men's victory with a time of 24:44.

Forrest Jarvi, who finished in the fifth scoring spot for Montana State improved significantly relative to the pack, as well. The top four Bobcat runners impressively finished within about 20 seconds of each other.

The Women's 5K, which kicked off the meet, featured the return of Heather Haug. Haug won the race with a time of 17:46 ahead of Lindsey Drake of Gonzaga, who clocked in three seconds behind her. The Livingston native's victory marked her first collegiate cross country win.

“Throughout the race I was just trying to break out of my comfort zone and stay with the pack,” said Haug. “I really just so excited for our team. It's so exciting that both the men and women earned the team win today. This is really a huge confidence booster moving forward this season.”

The Bobcats also had their first four finishers within the top ten. Keely West, placed seventh with a time of 18:19, while Heather Demorest crossed just behind her in eighth at 18:22.

The MSU women had huge drops in their times from the 2010 race. Last year, Haug clocked with a time of 19:07, nearly 90 seconds slower than her winning time in 2011. West improved by 40 seconds and Demorest dropped nearly a minute off her previous best time at the University of Montana Golf Course.

Rounding out the top ten was ReBecca Sorenson with a time of 18:29 in 10^th place.

“Our kids did a nice job today,” said head coach Dale Kennedy. “The women's performance is truly beginning to tell me this is one of the best squads of the decade and that is so exciting. A lot fast times were recorded today and this was really a breakthrough meet for us.”

Montana State will take a week off from competition and will return on Oct. 14, when they travel to University Park, Pa. for the Penn State Invitational.