Northern cross country starts season, MSU-N riders compete in Dillon

Over the past few weeks, the Montana State University-Northern cross country teams and rodeo teams have been in competition. The MSU-N cross country teams began their seasons with meets in Great Falls and Helena over the past couple weeks. Meanwhile, the MSU-N rodeo teams wrapped up the fall portion of their season with a rodeo in Dillon this past weekend.

The MSU-N cross country teams began the season Sept. 23 in Great Falls with races against the University of Providence. On the women’s team, Brooke Holland led the Skylights with a time of 24:27.98 to finish fourth. Tamera O’Leary finished seventh with a time of 25:36.00. Mattiah Murillo took eighth with a time of 34:20.61. As a team, the Skylights had a team score of 1:08:33.23.

Against Providence, the MSU-N men’s team had a team score of 2:44:47.36. Field Soosloff led the Lights with a time of 29:13.28 to take second in the race. Jaden Koon had a time of 30:42.53 and August SpottedWolf had a finish of 35:44.57 to take ninth. Just behind him was Bridger Beach with a time of 36:06.65. Ethan Durward came in right behind Beach with a time of 36:32.76.

After being delayed from the beginning of the season, the Frontier Conference Preview Meet finally took place in Helena Sept. 27. In the women’s race, O’Leary led the Skylights with a time of 24:25.58 to take 38th. Katie Grimes finished right behind her with a time of 24:48.10. Murillo finished 44th in the race with a time of 28:07.76.

Koon led the Lights with a time of 30:51.23. SpottedWolf finished 37th in the race with a time of 32:54.6. Beach finished with a time of 35:44.12 and Durward was right behind him with a time of 36:05.37. The MSU-N cross country teams will next compete in Butte in the Montana Tech Invitational this Friday.

This past Friday and Saturday, the MSU-N rodeo teams competed in a rodeo in Dillon hosted by Montana Western. The MSU-N women's team rode well as it finished second in its rodeo with 345 total points. Montana State University won the women's rodeo with 350 total points.

Several Skylights rode well in Dillon over the weekend. Brittney Bo Cox won the barrel racing event with an average time of 35.51 seconds. In breakaway roping, Mikenna Schauer took first with an average time of 5.4 seconds.

Some riders on the MSU-N men’s team also did well in Dillon. Garrett Cunningham finished second in saddle bronc riding with a score of 140. In steer wrestling, Chance Story took fifth with an average time of 19.1 seconds in the event.

With the Montana Western rodeo, the MSU-N rodeo teams are done with the fall portion of their schedule. They will return from their break with a rodeo in Bozeman hosted by Montana State University starting on April 13, 2023.