Men's Cross Country | 9/24/2023 9:07:00 PM

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Montana Tech Cross Country Teams ran in an out-of-state meet this weekend against a large field of harriers from all levels. The Oredigger men's team finished in sixth place and the women took seventh at The Master's Cross Country Invitational.

NAIA institution The Master's was the host of the event that featured NAIA and NCAA schools of all divisions. The Master's won the men's race and Biola won on the women's side. The Oredigger men finished second the women third among the NAIA schools. 

"This meet was really a culmination of all three years of our program's life finally coming together," said head coach Zach Kughn. "I feel like this was the first time we truly had both men's and women's teams come together and perform up to their potential." 

Edwin Kipainoi finished sixth overall with a time of 24:24.2. Justin Morgan was also in the top 20 in a field of 236 runners. Morgan took 12th place with a time of 24:34.3. Kipainoi was fifth among the NAIA competitors and Morgan was seventh. 

The men's team, which entered the rankings this week at No. 25, finished in front of No. 24 UC Merced who took 10th.  

"Both teams will move up in the national rankings after their results. More so, I'm proud of how everyone competed, they really went out there and competed well despite seeing a bunch of teams we never see."

Carlin Manning took 12th place overall with a time of 21:36.0 but was the third among NAIA schools. 

"The meet was full of a bunch of different teams: D1, D2, D3, NAIA, CCCAA. I can't wait to see us bring this confidence back to Montana and our conference and see how the rest of the season goes."