Northern harriers begin the season

The Montana State University-Northern cross country program is still in its infancy. And the Lights and Skylights started their second season as a program last weekend in Helena.

Northern took part in the Carroll College Early Bird Meet last Friday, where both MSU-N teams finished in sixth place, against mainly all Frontier Conference competition.

The Northern women scored a 136, but got strong individual performances, including an outstanding run by true freshman Rachel David, a former Havre Blue Pony. David placed 17th overall with a time of 21:38.31 in her first collegiate race and, with that run, the future looks bright. Former Havre High standouts McKenna Barkus and Breck Don came in just behind David. Barkus placed 33rd with a time of 23.44.14, while Don was 37th with a time of 24.:12.96.

Northern also got a 39th-place finish from another HHS true freshman, Kaitlyn Nystrom (24:35.29), while Courtney Cota was 41st (24:42.52), Savannah Rose was 47th (27:18.20) and Amelia Clark was 48th (27:18.32).

In the men’s race, head coach Chad Spangler’s Lights scored a 206 with Beau Hyatt their top finisher. Hyatt finished 39th with a time of 21:55.11, while Riley Dennis was 49th with a run of 22:28.84. Curtis Westenskow placed 51st (23:00.71), Tristan Belgarde finished 56th (23:52.29), Sundance Lodge placed 59th (25:14.57), Justin Seevers finished 60th (26:41.57) and Patrick Yohas placed 62nd (29:32.44.

Former Blue Pony Luke Karnauskas ran unattached in the race and finished with a solid time of 22:28.84. Meanwhile, other local standouts included Box Elder’s Shane Ketchum, who runs for Rocky Mountain College, and Havre’s Marc Klimas, who runs for UGF. Ketchum finished 15th, while Klimas placed 45th.

The Northern cross country teams are back in action Sept. 23 when they travel to Billings for the Yellowjacket Invitational, hosted by Montana State-Billings.

Carroll Early Bird Open

At Bill Roberts Golf Course, Helena

Women

Team scores – 1 Carroll 30; 2 Rocky Mountain 56; 3 Lewis-Clark State 97; 4 Great Falls 101; 5 Montana Western 102; 6 MSU-Northern 136

Top 10 Individuals

1 Leah Esposito, CC, 18:38.39; 2 Janie Reid, CC, 19:12.04; 3 Mackenzie O'Dore, RMC, 19:37.48; 4 Kaylee Marquardt, SPO, 20:00.27; 5 Baylee Green, UGF, 20:05.65; 6 Teal Bullick, CC, 20:12.10; 7 Mindy Kaufman, UMW, 20:16.76; 8 Jeanna Segaline, SPO, 20:18.17; 9 Beth Jansma, UMW, 20:28.22; 10 Cassidy Rude, RMC, 20:33.60;

Men

Team scores – 1, Spokane CC 41; 2 Rocky Mountain 42; 3 Carroll 44; 4 Montana Western 116; 5 Great Falls 129; 6 Lewis-Clark 131; 7 MSU-Northern 206.

Top 10 Individuals

1 Chance Hyatt, CC, 19:17.29; 2 Benson Koech, RMC, 19:18.47; 3 Corbin Carlton, SPO, 19:39.88; 4 Fred Petsch, RMC, 19:43.03; 5 John Cooney, CC, 19:43.26; 6 Baird Linke, CC, 19:49.42; 7 Isaac Petsch, RMC, 19:52.76; 8 Brandon Hartill, SPO, 19:52.84; 9 Teagan Osborne, SPO, 19:58.44; 10 Domenic Rehm, SPO, 20:06.70.