September 6, 2007

Jacket Harriers Open in S.D. Saturday

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings cross country teams open the 2007 season on Saturday at the South Dakota Tech Invitational.  Head coach Dave Coppock, entering his nineteenth season as the head coach at MSU Billings, has seven men and eleven women on the fall rosters.

“The South Dakota Tech Invitational is a good meet to open with since it’s fairly small, and I can really see how our runners are performing and see if we’re making any progress,” said Coppock.  “Black Hills State will be the favorite this weekend.  Their women are ranked fourth in the national NAIA preseason poll, and their men are ranked sixth, so we’ll get a taste of running against some good competition right away.”

Coppock has just one returning runner on the men’s team.  Senior Jarred Rensvold returns as the team captain after earning all-conference and academic all-district honors last year.  He’ll be joined by sophomore newcomer James Hopkins and freshmen Chase Berg, Ryan Ceynar, Joe Houghton, Kelley Miller, and Ryan Morrissey.

“We have a very young team, especially on the men’s side with only senior Jarred Rensvold returning,” said Coppock.  “Jarred has put in a lot of mileage over the past year and is running very well at this point.  Freshmen Ryan Ceynar and Kelley Miller, both from Glendive, are running very well and showed up in good shape.”

The women’s team has five returnees including seniors Colleen Dalimata and Erin Mueller.  Juniors Cierra Dornfeld, Erin Gannon, and Kym Island round out the upperclassmen.  Coppock has added a stable of freshmen, in part because of the addition of indoor and outdoor track and field programs that will allow year-round competition.  Newcomers for the Lady Jackets include Sarah Jackson, Mykel Ler, Dianna Stanley, Morgan Streeter, and Katie Thiel.

“On the women’s side, six freshmen will join five upperclassmen led by senior captain Colleen Dalimata,” Coppock said.  “Freshman Morgan Streeter from Ryegate looks especially strong and is set to run well in her first college meet.”

Including the South Dakota Tech Invitational, the Yellowjackets will run four meets in September and two in October, building up to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on October 20.

“Our primary focus this season is to run well in the conference championships,” Coppock said.  “The GNAC is a very strong distance running conference, and I have no illusion of finishing at or near the top this year.  We want to make a good showing and run competitively in the championship meet.  We’ll get some good experience for our young team at the Montana State Invitational next week and the Rocky Mountain Shootout at the University of Colorado later in September.  Both those meets will feature a large number of strong NCAA Division I and II teams.  I’m hopeful that our freshmen will develop over the season and are competitive by the time we get to the conference and the NCAA West Regional meets.”