BILLINGS, Mont. – Freshman
Nikki Aiken and senior
Rio Frame led the MSU Billings women's cross country team at the 27
th Annual Yellowjacket Invitational and NCAA Division II west region preview meet Friday at Amend Park.
The Yellowjackets placed three runners in the top-20 at the 6,000 meter distance. Aiken posted a Yellowjacket-best time of 24:49.09 for 14
th place with Frame just behind in 15
th in 24:56.85. Junior
Bailey Bomar had one of her top races, closing hard for 18
th place in 25:15.93.
"Rio and Nikki worked really well together today and helped push each other on the course," MSUB head coach
Dave Coppock said. "Bailey had one of her best races to far this season. She was a lot closer to our top-2, and Lydia was able to keep it close as well. Our top-4 are really coming along well. Catrina did well as our fifth runner and is working hard to close that gap. Krysten also had a good race today and finished one of her better races this fall as well."
Rounding out the top-5 for MSUB were freshmen
Lydia Foster (25:33.82) and
Catrina Schuchard (27:06.76). The Yellowjackets placed runners in the 14-15-18-23-33 places for their scoring top-5.
Adeline Straatmeyer from South Dakota Mines won the women's individual title for the Hardrockers, covering the course in 22:51.28. South Dakota Mines also won the women's team event, scoring runners in the 1-5-8-11-9 spots for its top-5, accumulating 44 total points.
Northwest Nazarene's Sierra Manzer was second overall (22:58.17), followed closely by Anysja Manzer in third (23:36.44). NNU was second in the team competition with 58 points (2-3-12-16-25).
"This is the first 6K they have run this season," Coppock said on the Yellowjacket team performance. "The 6K will be our conference and regional distance so I think it was important for them to run that as it gives them an idea of how far and long they have to be out there. It was a tough women's field and I think it was good for our women to see the schools from our conference and region which they usually don't see until much later in the season."
Competing at the event were NCAA Division II schools Montana State University Billings (GNAC), South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (RMAC), Northwest Nazarene University (GNAC) and San Francisco State (CCAA).
Behind South Dakota Mines and Northwest Nazarene in the scoring, Gillette College placed third with 65 points, San Francisco State was fourth at 77 points, MSU Billings placed fifth (103), while MSU Northern finished sixth (182).
MSUB Results:
THE BUZZ: MSUB's Bomar named the St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Day…the NCAA Division II West Region Championships takes place at Amend Park on Nov. 5, with the women's race set to begin at 11:15 a.m.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets are travelling to the Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder, Colo., hosted by Colorado University on Saturday, Oct. 1.
