RENO, Nev. — Montana State cross country concluded a successful season Friday, recording two top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Mountain Regional.

The Bobcat women started the day with a tenth place finish in their six-kilometer championship race before the men placed seventh in their ten-kilometer championship race at Washoe Golf Course.

Full results can be seen here.

Both teams faced freezing temperatures and falling snow throughout the morning and afternoon, achieving exceptional finishes despite the adverse elements.

Both teams also moved two spots higher than their USTFCCCA Mountain Region rankings after the women entered the competition projected to finish 12th and the men projected to finish ninth.

The women’s result was the team’s best since 2017, with a total of 287 points, the best since 2014.

Kyla Christopher-Moody (34th), Lindsey Paulson (47th) and Alex Moore (50th) all finished in the top 50.

Grace Gilbreth crossed the finish line as the No. 4 runner in 62nd, and Hannah Perrin was the Cats’ final scoring runner in 92nd.

Freshman Madi Siana and sophomore Annie Kaul finished the day 109th and 111th, respectively.

No. 1 BYU won the regional team title with 52 points, while No. 4 Northern Arizona finished second with 65 points.

“I thought our teams competed really well,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “The women started and jumped right into the race, did a great job and placed higher than they expected, placing higher than we have in a few years. J “I was really happy and very proud of how the women’s team started.”

The Montana State men delivered another courageous performance to cap a season characterized by tenacity and determination in the face of adversity.

The Bobcats fell short of making their third straight appearance at the NCAA Championships, but a heroic push put the Cats on the brink of history.

Only a three-point gap separated Montana State (190) from sixth-place Wyoming (185), a gap that likely made the difference in who advances to the national competition in Wisconsin next Saturday.

Making the effort even more remarkable was the fact that Montana State came as close as possible despite injuries to two star runners, Owen Smith and Levi Taylor, throughout the season.

Smith placed 28th as MSU’s No. 3 at last year’s Mountain Regional and Taylor placed 42nd as MSU’s No. 5, but both have been sidelined since September.

Friday in Reno, the Cats went 21-23-24-53-69 to close with 185 points.

“The men’s team also came out and put in a great performance, placing higher than expected going into the competition,” Weese said. “They pulled out all the stops and I thought we had a great run.”

In the final competition of one of the most decorated careers in Bobcat history, Kalispell native Ben Perrin placed 21st to earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors for the third time in his career.

Rob McManus was close behind in 23rd and Sam Ells placed 24th to join Perrin in earning all-region honors.

“Those three have been very consistent all year and they needed to be for our team,” Weese said. “Every time we’ve raced, they’ve shown up and done really well – that happened again today. It’s such a strong region. To get an all-region award is really impressive.”

Will Kelly was 53rd for the Cats, while Harvey Cramb came in 69th among MSU’s scoring runners. Eli Boppart ranked 95th and Michael Schumacher 104th.

No. 1 BYU won the regional team championship (52 points), with No. 6 New Mexico finishing second (61 points) and No. 8 Northern Arizona third (71 points).

Montana State now turns its attention to the indoor track and field season.