Great Falls, Mont- The Montana Tech Cross Country teams got the 2023 campaign underway at the Providence Open in Great Falls. Orediggers Carlin Manning and Edwin Kipainoi won their respective races. The Montana Tech men finishing second in team scoring, and the women third.

Oredigger head coach Zachary Kughn "It was good to finally get our racing season underway after several months of summer training. You never really fully know where you stand until you actually race and see the other teams in the conference. It's very clear that the bar has been raised in this conference. The top three teams for both men and women are very good and I can see a scenario where all three schools are sending both teams to nationals this year."

Carroll's women finished on top of the 6k team results with a score of 32. Rocky's women were second with 33, Montana Tech in third with 67.

Oredigger Carlin Manning won the race in commanding fashion, finishing the 6k course in a time of 22:40.4, 30 seconds faster than second place Isabelle Ruff from Carroll College.

"Carlin Manning dominated the race from start to finish. She looked incredible out there and ended up winning by thirty seconds. I think this year marks a new era for women's distance running for us, it's now Carlin's era. We've never had a conference champion in cross country, not even Becca Richtman, but Carlin will be tough to beat this year." Coach Kughn 

Alyssa Jany finished in 16^th, and Alyssa Plant crossed in 18^th for the Orediggers.

Carroll's men won the 8k race with a total time of 2:08:29, and 36 points. Montana Tech finished with 46 points, and Rocky Mountain College third with 53 points.

Senior Edwin Kipainoi won the individual title with a time of 24:45.5, teammate Justin Morgan crossing in third with a time of 25:04.2

"Edwin and Justin also really impressed on the men's side. Edwin had oral surgery less than 48 hours before the meet but that didn't stop him from pulling away from the field the last two miles. Justin hung tough and wound up third behind two all-Americans. That's a really good 1-2 duo for us." Coach Zach Kughn

Sophomore Benjamin Zerr crossed with a time of 25:50.1, good for 9^th place, and Aidan Vlasaty crossed the line in 12^th place with a time of 26:18.0

The Orediggers will next compete in Santa Clarita, California at the Masters University XC Invitational.

"I'm excited to see us step away from the conference and see some teams we don't usually see. We are headed to California to run on a fast course at sea level and this will be essential for us to prove to the national raters that we have what it takes to be considered for an at-large bid."
 
        
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