MSUB Cross-Country Opens Season Saturday (9/6/06)

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings men’s and women’s cross-country teams kick off the 2006 season on Saturday at the South Dakota Tech Invitational.  It will be the first of seven scheduled races this year.

“It should be a relatively small meet with host South Dakota Tech, Black Hills State and us,” says Yellowjacket coach Dave Coppock, who is entering his eighteenth season.  “Tech will have a full women's team this year after a long absence.  Black Hills State will be very strong with both men's and women's teams ranked 6th in the pre-season NAIA National polls. Since it is a small meet, it's a good chance to see how we run head-to-head with a strong team like Black Hills without being buried in a huge pack of runners.  We can take a better look at how they're progressing.   It's not a fast course, but it's a good chance to get our new runners some experience in college competition.”

The Yellowjacket women will be looking for a new leader after losing last year’s top runner, Susan Kocab.  Coppock expects a mix of veterans and freshmen to fill the top spots this year, and he thinks the team may be stronger overall than it was in 2005.

“Our women's team looks much stronger than last year after last week's time trials,” says Coppock.  “We're only 20 seconds apart between our first and fourth runners with Cierra Dornfeld in the top position.  She's followed by Tiffany Piplica, Crystal Roseberry and Erin Mueller.  Although Black Hills is a very deep team, I think we'll be able to run competitively with them.”

The Yellowjacket men’s team won’t have enough runners on the opening weekend to score as a team.  Last year’s top runner, Sam Hartpence, has moved from student-athlete to assistant coach after finishing his degree last year.  Hartpence is teaching math classes at MSU Billings this semester.

“Our men's team will be short-handed until September 23 when their fifth man will be able to join the team,” says Coppock.  “However, they'll gain some valuable experience in these early meets.  Jarred Rensvold and Matt Roseberry will be in the top positions and look very strong at this point.”