MSU-N grapplers start strong at Cowboy Open

The Montana State University-Northern cross country teams finished their third season as a program, posting good times at the 2017 Frontier Conference Championships.

The Lights and Skylights ran in the season-ending meet last Friday in Lewiston, Idaho, with the Northern women finishing fifth with a score of 144, and the men finishing sixth with a score of 143.

In the three years that Northern has competed in cross country, the Skylights turned in their best finish thus far, thanks to an outstanding, All-Conference run by sophomore Rachel David, and a solid pack time. David finished in 11th place overall in the women’s race with a time of 19:03. David became the first Northern runner to qualify for the NAIA National Championships.

MSU-N freshman Ashley McCready also had a great performance for head coach Chad Spangler’s team, as she finished in 23rd place with a time of 20:08.

Nicole Parson was next for Northern, finishing 36th with a time of 21:39, while McKenna Barkus (22:27), Breck Don (22:38) and Courtney Cota (22:50) finished 37th-39th, respectively. Carroll College captured the women’s championship with Lewis-Clark State coming in second.

In the men’s 8K race, Luke Karnauskas paced the Lights with a 20th-place finish. The former Havre Blue Pony came across the line in 26:37. The Lights also ran a strong pack time, with Beau Hyatt (27:45), Kai Krumweide (27:50) and Amos Taiswa (27:57) finishing in 34th-36th, respectively. Riley Dennis rounded out the scoring for the Lights with a 42nd-place finish at 30:00. LC State blew away the field to win the men’s title.

David, a former standout cross country and track runner at Havre High, will compete in the NAIA Women’s National Championship race Nov. 18 in Vancouver, Washington.