Saturday, September 17
Bozeman, Mont.
All Day
University of Utah
at
Montana State Bobcat Invite
Utah Cross Country Wins Montana State Bobcat Invitational
9/17/2016 12:41 PM | Cross Country
Four Utah runners placed in the top-10 on Saturday.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Utah women's cross country team placed first at the Montana State Bobcat Invitational for the second year in a row Saturday morning in Bozeman, Mont. Utah had four runners finish in the top-10 at the Bridger Creek Golf Course to help lead the Utes to the team title.
"To come out and win this meet for the second year in a row is great. Our top four ran terrific. We have got to finish a bit better but that will clean itself up as we get more races under our belt. Overall, I thought they ran a terrific race, very controlled in the first mile and then really worked the back of the race. I am really proud of them for that effort and will build confidence for them," head coach Kyle Kepler said.
Of those top-10 finishers, junior Hannah McInturff led Utah finishing in fifth place in a time of 16:53.53. Coming in behind McInturff placing sixth was senior Giselle Slotboom. Slotboom finished the three-mile race in a time of 16:53.97. Junior transfer Grayson Murphy followed Slotboom, finishing the race in a time of 16:54.34 to earn seventh place.
Also finishing in the top-10 for the Utes was freshman Amanda Gehrich. Gehrich captured eighth place in a time of 16:57.18. Rounding out the team score for Utah, freshman Ashley Licata ran a time of 17:29.59 to finish in 25th place.
Placing behind Utah in the team standings was Weber State in second place, Wyoming followed in third, Utah State took fourth, while meet host, Montana State rounded out the top-five teams.
"We know we have very good competition in our region with nationally ranked Weber State and Utah State, who didn't race their top runner today. This will help us get ready for regionals racing against teams in our region and will make all the teams prepare better for the regional race," Kepler stated.
Junior Sadie Wassum finished in 28th in a time of 17:36.51, junior Becky Sarmiento placed 41st in a time of 17:53.10, senior Kate Stringfellow earned 45th place racing in a time of 17:55.31, and senior Dana Snell placed 50th in a time of 17:57.76.
Also racing for the Utes were junior Dakota Grossman (53rd, 17:59.65), junior Shaylen Crook (55th, 18:02.20), sophomore Caitlin Faust (65th, 18:13.47), sophomore Jade Mulvey (67th, 18:14.79), freshman Nicole Griffiths (101st, 19:07.99), and sophomore Megan Spehar (111st, 19:26.48).
Utah is back in action next week at the Nevada Chase Race in Reno, Nev., on Friday Sept. 23.
"It was really a team effort. I thought we ran really well today and did a great job. We are excited to race next Friday with a small group in Reno. We have a couple girls that didn't run here that will run and then we will add in some that need an extra race," Kepler said.
"To come out and win this meet for the second year in a row is great. Our top four ran terrific. We have got to finish a bit better but that will clean itself up as we get more races under our belt. Overall, I thought they ran a terrific race, very controlled in the first mile and then really worked the back of the race. I am really proud of them for that effort and will build confidence for them," head coach Kyle Kepler said.
Of those top-10 finishers, junior Hannah McInturff led Utah finishing in fifth place in a time of 16:53.53. Coming in behind McInturff placing sixth was senior Giselle Slotboom. Slotboom finished the three-mile race in a time of 16:53.97. Junior transfer Grayson Murphy followed Slotboom, finishing the race in a time of 16:54.34 to earn seventh place.
Also finishing in the top-10 for the Utes was freshman Amanda Gehrich. Gehrich captured eighth place in a time of 16:57.18. Rounding out the team score for Utah, freshman Ashley Licata ran a time of 17:29.59 to finish in 25th place.
Placing behind Utah in the team standings was Weber State in second place, Wyoming followed in third, Utah State took fourth, while meet host, Montana State rounded out the top-five teams.
"We know we have very good competition in our region with nationally ranked Weber State and Utah State, who didn't race their top runner today. This will help us get ready for regionals racing against teams in our region and will make all the teams prepare better for the regional race," Kepler stated.
Junior Sadie Wassum finished in 28th in a time of 17:36.51, junior Becky Sarmiento placed 41st in a time of 17:53.10, senior Kate Stringfellow earned 45th place racing in a time of 17:55.31, and senior Dana Snell placed 50th in a time of 17:57.76.
Also racing for the Utes were junior Dakota Grossman (53rd, 17:59.65), junior Shaylen Crook (55th, 18:02.20), sophomore Caitlin Faust (65th, 18:13.47), sophomore Jade Mulvey (67th, 18:14.79), freshman Nicole Griffiths (101st, 19:07.99), and sophomore Megan Spehar (111st, 19:26.48).
Utah is back in action next week at the Nevada Chase Race in Reno, Nev., on Friday Sept. 23.
"It was really a team effort. I thought we ran really well today and did a great job. We are excited to race next Friday with a small group in Reno. We have a couple girls that didn't run here that will run and then we will add in some that need an extra race," Kepler said.
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