On Friday, October 29, both the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams contested the Big Sky Cross Country Championships. The race was held at Meriwether Golf Course in Hillsboro, Oregon. The men competed over the 8000m distance and the women over 5000m.
On the men's side, the Big Sky Championship race featured national NCAA powerhouse team Northern Arizona University. NAU have won three of the last four national championships and boast an impressive roster full of world-class athletes. As expected, NAU dominated from the early stages of the race, scoring just 30 points. Their top five finished 1-2-4-8-15.
For the Bengals, Zac Montoya was the top performer, placing a respectable 29th in a time of 24:42.9. Through the half-way stage of the race, Zak was followed by teammate Collin Dylla. Unfortunately, just before the 6000m mark, Collin was forced to retire from the race. It's unclear if he sustained an injury.
D'Artangnan Kilgore was the next finisher for the Bengals with a time of 25:44.5 and Eric Christen finished the race in 26 minutes. Brandon Walker, Dylan Mannion, and Sam Jones completed the scoring for the Bengals, completing the course in at 26:41.4, 26:46.5, and 27:00.2. The men placed ninth out of eleven teams.
On the women's side, NAU completed the clean sweep, scoring 37 points. Although NAU's women's team does not carry such a fearsome reputation as their male counterparts, the women have been steadily rising through the national rankings in the past decade. After this dominant performance, NAU's women may well content for the national title.
For the Bengals, Madi Kenyon was the top finisher in the 5K race with a time of 17:38.6. Katie Weedn completed the course in a time of 17:53.5 and Cassandra Vasquez followed with a time of 17:58.1.Laura Alicke finished with a time of 18:15.7 and Keely Woof completed the race with a time of 18:27.8. Mya McKown and Haven Lambrite were the final two finishers for the Bengal women. Overall, the women placed 7th out of 11 teams.
The Bengals now look ahead to the regional meet.
