Impressive Day for Cross Country at Rocky Mountain Shootout

BOULDER, Colo. – Lisa Minnehan placed in the top-15, finishing in a time of 23:42, as the Montana State Billings women’s cross country team had another quality showing Saturday morning, competing at the Rocky Mountain Shootout, held on the campus of Colorado University.

“The women’s team was very competitive today and we really got a great effort from all of them,” said head coach Dave Coppock. “Lisa ran a very good time here and I think the team really set themselves up well for the conference meet here in a few weeks.”

MSUB scored 110 points, paced by Minnehan’s 12th place finish, placing fourth in the 11 team non-Division I meet. Mesa state took the team title with 33 points, placing five of its seven runners in the top 15, while Metro State and Black Hills State finished second and third.

Behind Minnehan was Mykel Ler, finishing in 20th with a time of 24:31. Leah Thompson was on her heels with a 21st place finish and a time of 24:34. Katie Thiel came across the line next for the Yellowjackets (25th) in a time of 24:42, while Mary Owen rounded out the scoring with a 24:55, finishing in 32nd place.

Sarah Jackson and Kristen Yeley finished the day for the Yellowjackets, placing 34th and 37th, respectively. Jackson came across the line in a time of 25:12, while Yeley finished the course in a time of 25:21.

On the men’s side, the Yellowjackets finished in eighth place in the team standings with 196 points, behind Garden City Community College. Led by Daniel Lombardi, MSUB had one of its top showings this season. Lombardi finished the course in a time of 28:28, placing him 27th overall.

“The men had probably one of their best showings this season,” said Coppock. “We still need to move up the pack but we’re running together in a group. We should be able to show better times on a flat course and the guys are improving and setting themselves up for conference.”

The next six runners for MSUB finished in pack led by Mark Bolt who finished 37th overall in a time of 29:18. He was followed by Tyson Vanderby in 40th (29:24), Taylor Canfield in 45th (29:44) and Ryan Blomback in 47th (29:50) to finish the scoring for the Yellowjackets. The group was rounded out by Travis Hutchinson (29:53) and Travis Buttelman (29:54).

The cross country team is set to run again next Saturday at the Yellowjacket Invitational being held at Riverfront Park in Billings, starting at 10 a.m.