The Oredigger Cross Country teams competed in Dillon at the Montana Western Open today at Beaverhead Golf Club. The men's team finished a season best second amongst the five Frontier Conference schools while the women's team finished fourth.
Senior
Becca Richtman led the women's team again extending her winning streak to three with a time of 18:58. Also scoring for the Orediggers were freshman
Averi Parker, 14th in 20:39;
Carlin Manning, 23rd in 21:26;
Jessa Steele, 24th in 21:34; and
Karolyna Buck, 30th in 22:28.
Carroll won the meet with just 31 points, beating Montana Western's 67, Rocky's 82 and Tech's 92.
"Our women didn't seem to come out on the right end of the points today but they battled well," said Coach
Zach Kughn.
"Of course Becca continuing to win is exciting for us but it also looked like a few of our women really ran their best race today. Sometimes the scores don't always go our way but I think we have enough momentum moving into the conference championship."
The Oredigger men had a big day finishing a program best second in the men's race. The Orediggers scored 80 points, placing ahead of Carroll's 90, Montana Western's 106 and MSU-Northern's 118. Rocky Mountain led the Frontier teams with 59 points.
Freshmen
Henry Kakalecik led the team again and was the top Frontier runner for the first time in program history. Henry finished in the top spot with a new school record time of 26:56. Also scoring for the Diggers were freshmen
Ian Barville, 7th in 27:30;
River Sheppard, 16th in 28:34;
Drew Williams, 27th in 29:40; and
Charles Carriker, 29th in 29:53.
"The men were just a ton of fun to watch today," said Kughn.
"It's rare for me to feel like my expectations were exceeded or that I was satisfied with how we ran, but our men were awesome today. Henry ran out of his mind. He has consistently moved up each meet. The target is on his back now but it's exciting to have both a man and woman as the favorites for the conference championship in our first year as a program. The men's team received votes in the first national poll and I'm confident we did enough to get ranked in the next one after beating a ranked team today."
"We have to stay focused and put our noses down for two more weeks to finish the season strong. But we have talked all season long about being ready when it matters most at the conference championship November 6th and I think we are trending well."
