Big Sky Conference

Freshmen lead MSU to top 3 finishes at Bozeman Running Company Invite

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Press Release

Behind standout performances from a few freshmen, the Montana State women’s and men’s cross country teams finished in the top three each at the Montana State-Bozeman Running Company Invite in Bozeman on Saturday afternoon.

The meet serves as Montana State’s only competition in the Gallatin Valley this fall.

Alyssa Snyder paced the Bobcat women, running the three-mile course in 17 minutes, 33.51 seconds to earn third place. Freshman Kaylee Schmitz came in 13th in 17:52.04 as the Bobcat women took third with 80 team points.

Makena Morley, a Bigfork native and University of Montana standout freshman, ran 16:43.87 to win the race by nearly 43 seconds. Utah State’s Kashley Carter was second in 17:26.47.

Utah placed five runners in the top 10 for a team score of 35 to win the team competition. Utah State put four between second and 12th to take second.

On the men’s side, Justice Lamer ran the five-mile course in 26:05.80 , less than a second off the pace of winner Colby Wilson of Utah State. The Aggies bested the Bobcats with 33 team points to MSU’s 59 as the Aggies played five runners in the top 11. Freshman Tyler Morgan of Laurel finished seventh in 26:25.26 as MSU put two in the top 10 and five in the top 20.

“It was exciting to see two top ten from freshmen for the men and another for the women,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “The athletes who were healthy ran very well, but we are encountering some adversity early on in the season. We’re going to have to build on that to get stronger as the season progresses.”

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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