Yellowjacket Runners Heading for the Hills (Sept. 22, 2004)

BILLINGS, MT – With two races under their belts, the MSU Billings cross-country teams travel to Spearfish, SD, on Saturday for the Black Hills State Invitational.  The race starts at 10:00 a.m. at the Spearfish Country Club.  The meet will feature several Top 20 NAIA teams. 

The men will face No. 10 Black Hills State, No. 11 University of Mary and No. 19 Jamestown.  The women will be tested by No. 4 Black Hills State, No. 12 Jamestown, No. 13 Minot State and No. 19 University of Mary.

“The meet will be a preview of the Dac-10 Championship course hosted by Black Hills,” said Yellowjacket head coach Dave Coppock.  “This will be our toughest meet so far this season and will show us how much progress we've made.  Our women probably have the best chance to make a strong showing after coming off a dual meet win over Dickinson.  Heidi Robertson is running very well and Sarah Lord has is running a close second.  I’m looking for Chelsea Lynnes to be back to form this weekend as well; she's been a little under the weather lately.  She's been on this course (at the Spearfish Country Club) before and typically runs well there.”

Robertson won the women’s individual race at Dickinson State last week, covering the 5K course in 20:32.  She was followed closely by Lord with a third place time of 21:02, and Lynnes in fifth place in 21:54.

The Yellowjacket men have been led by senior Scott Brown in both meets this season.  He placed fifth last week, finishing the 8K race in 29:11—nearly a minute and a half better than his time from the previous week.  The team’s biggest individual improvement came from Joe Kragt, who trimmed over three and a half minutes off his previous time.

“The men are starting to come into shape and are running in a fairly tight pack,” added Coppock.   “There is just a little over a minute separating our five runners, which is a good sign.”