Women's Cross Country
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| The Rocky Mountain College Cross Country program consists of both Men and Women. Men compete in a distance of 8 Kilometers (4.97 miles) with the Women competing at a distance of 5 Kilometers (3.1 miles).
It takes passion and dedication to compete in the sport of Cross Country. The team practices six days a week with running two-a-days Tuesday's and Thursday's. The season begins in early fall and runs through November. However, the running never stops for dedicated runners. To be competitive in college it takes a year round approach. Being part of the Rocky Cross Country team brings a sense of pride and accomplishment. You will meet new friends, travel to new places, and experience the benefits of running. If your are interested please fill out a Prospective Athlete Form, and Coach King will contact you. |
11-10-08NAIA Announces National QualifiersNAIA announced the national qualifiers for cross country Monday evening. Amber Watson, a sophomore from Caotesville, IN, running in her first season of cross country was the top individual from the Frontier Conference to qualify for NAIA nationals. Nationals will be held at Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 22, 2008. Watson will be the only athlete from a Montanan College competing in the race. The 5K course has a repitition for having fast times. "If course conditions allow, Amber could run to a new personal best," said Coach King, "however, it's that time of the year where it could be a perfect day or have three feet of snow." Watson's best time of the season was last weekend at the Frontier Conference meet held in Lewiston, ID. Amber's time of 18:39 was good enough for a third place finish. If Amber ran that time at nationals last year she would have placed 45th out of 268, which would have been 14 seconds out of 30th place. Top 30 at Nationals are All-Americans. "This year is a year for experience for Amber," said Coach King. "Last year Watson ran several races unattached and steadily improved. She saw what it would take to qualify for nationals and went after it in the off season. The plan for nationals is to gain valuable experience for the future. Amber still has two more seasons and is determined to be an All-American." NAIA National Qualifiers Unaffiliated (American Midwest/Frontier) |
11-08-2008RMC Takes 3rd in ConferenceSeveral of the RMC women ran to personal bests in the Frontier Conference Meet held in Lewiston, ID. Leading the way for the Rocky team was Amber Watson with a third place finish in a time of 18:39. "Amber put her self out there and did what she had to do to qualify for nationals," said Coach King. "I'm very happy for her." Kristin Ballbach finished in 22nd place and also had a new personal best of 20:29. "Kristin had a race plan and stuck to it." Coach King stated. "If we would have had the conditions we did last year she would have been close to 20:00." Rounding out the rest of the team was Monica Sprung (27th) with a 20:51, Carrie Little (31st) with a 21:08, Shantel Besel (38th) with a 22:43, Mary Schvetz (41st) with a 24:27, and Kelly Houston (43rd) with a 26:59. Four of the top five women set new personal bests on their way to a third place finish in the Frontier Conference. "The fact that we can now compete in the Fonteir Conference is a huge step. Last year we struggled to even have a full team and this year we finsihed in the middle of the conference. We are definately moving in the right direction," said Coach King. |
10-24-2008Watson Paces RMC Again
Running in the number two spot for Rocky was Monica Sprung with a 53rd place with a time of 20:54. Carrie Little crossed the line in 57th place with a time of 21:06 with Kristin Ballbach (63rd) crossing the finish in 21:32. Mary Schvetz (81st) rounded out the Rocky Cross Country team. "We had some strong performances mixed with some poor performances this week," said Coach King. "We experimented with different race preparation techniques and realized we need to stick with what we have been doing. Practices are starting to show that the women are ready to run some fast times and set new personal bests. If conditions allow, I would expect to have my top three and possibly, top four, running under 20:30 at Conference." Next competition for the Rocky Cross Country teams will be back in Lewiston, ID on November 8th for the Frontier Conference Championships. |
10-11-2008Watson Places 6th in Strong Field
Amber Watson lead the team for the fifth race in a row. Watson ran the course in a time of 20:08 and placed 6th out of 58 runners. Carrie Little and "I was very impressed with Amber today," said Coach King. "She is starting to round into form and is setting herself up for a good conference race." Rocky's next competition will take place in Lewiston, Idaho, on October 25th competing against all Frontier Conference teams. |
10-04-2008Weather Prevents Fast Times in MissoulaRunning in rainy conditions, Rocky women ran well. The University of Montana did not score the race so no team scores were reported. However, Amber Waton lead the RMC women with a 27th place finish in a time of 20:01. Competing against several NCAA schools, Watson was the first NAIA runner to cross the finish line. Carrie Little cross the line in 21:16 with a 46th place. Kristin Ballbach was the third RMC runner and crossed the line in 57th place. Shantel Besel placed 64th with Kelly Houston placing 68th in the race rounding out the top five Rocky runners. Also running for RMC was Mary Schvetz who crossed the line in 69th place. The next competion for Rocky Mountain College will be at home on October 11 at Riverfront Park. |
09-20-2008RMC Women Run Well Dispite SetbacksAfter two weeks of hard practice, illness, and injury, the Rocky Cross Country team placed 11th out of 13 teams. "I was very proud of the women this weekend," said Coach King. "The team was not at full strength and we still beat some teams." Leading the team was Amber Watson (60th) with a time of 19:41. Carrie Little (71st) was the second Rocky runner with a time of 20:38. Kristin Ballbach (79th), Shantel Besel (95th), and Kelly Houston (104th) finished out the top five runners. This was the biggest competition of the year for the women. Fifteen teams were competing, however two did not field full squads. Several Division I and Division II schools were in Bozeman over the weekend. The women were able to defeat Dickinson State University and the University of Great Falls. It was the first time that the women defeated a conference team. "We are definately moving up in conference," King said. "I couldn't ask for anything more in just our second year." The next race won't be until October 4th in Missoula. That will give the team time to recover. The team should do much better in the next few weeks baring any injuries. |
09-13-2008Rocky Women place 4th in Spearfish
Next week, Rocky Cross Country will be competing in Bozeman, Montana, at the Montana State University Cross Country Invitational located at the Bridger Creek Golf Course. It is reported that there will be 17 teams competing in what is to be expected to be the toughest competition for the squad. |
09-04-2008Rocky Women run 1 & 2 in first race of the season
Shannon Bowers, running unattached for Rocky ran to a third place Next week Rocky will be competing in Spearfish, SD against Black Hills State University, Concordia Moorhead, Dickinson State, Gillette College, MSU-Billings, and South Dakota Tech. |
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Home > Athletics > Women's Cross Country
Rocky's Amber Watson just missed a top ten finish at the LCSC Invitational with an 11th place finish. Amber's time of 18:55 was a new personal record and ranks her 3rd in the Frontier Conference.
The forecast predicted cold snowy conditions and it did not disappoint. Race conditions included six plus inches of wet snow. With the tough conditions, the Rocky women still competed well running to a 5th place team finish.
Kristin Ballbach ran together with a 26th and 27th place finish. Shantel Besel crossed the finish line in 43rd with Monica Sprung rounding out the top five in 47th place. Also competing for the Rocky team was Kelly Houston and Mary Schvetz.
The Rocky Mountain College Women had a strong showing in their first race of the season. Amber Watson lead the way with a first place finish in a time of 20:02 with teammate Carrie Little finishing second in a time of 20:15. "It was great to see the hard work pay off," said Coach King. Last year MSU-Billings had seven women in front of Rocky's first. It was the first time that Amber finished in first place and a new personal record for Carrie. "All-in-all, it went better then I expected. The women have been doing very hard workouts this week and responded well to the tough training. I am very excited for this season."
finish with Kristin Ballbach placing 8th overall. Kelly Houston and Mary Schvetz also competed for Rocky and placed 14th and 15th respectively.