DILLON, Mont. – The Montana Western men's and women's cross-country teams head to Ashland, Neb., this Saturday (10/24) to compete in the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic. The meet, hosted by Doane, will take place at Mahoney State Park.
SCHEDULE
Men's 8K – 9:00 a.m. MT / 10:00 a.m. CT
Women's 6K – 9:45 a.m. MT / 10:45 a.m. CT
RESULTS
Live Results can be found here.
LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs last met at the YellowJacket / Battlin' Bear Open (10/9). Montana Western's women's team finished fifth and the men's team finished seventh. The women's top finisher was Natalee Stevens in 11th place and the men's top finisher was Ryker Zuffelato in 37th place.
SAME TIME LAST YEAR
At the 2025 Blazing Tiger Classic, the men's team finished 24th and the women's team finished 26th.
Olivia Heiner was the women's top finisher, placing 61st of 275 runners with a time of 23:37.23 in the 6k.
The men's top finisher was Brant Heiner, who ran 27:03.56 in the 8k to take 125th of 341 competitors.
NATALEE STEVENS EARNS FRONTIER CONFERENCE RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Last week, freshman Natalee Stevens earned Erck Hotels / Frontier Conference Women's Cross-Country Runner of the Week. The award is Stevens' first conference weekly honor in her career. She ran a personal-best time of 23:58.3 to finish 11th out of 79 runners in the Women's 6k and was the top NAIA finisher at the meet.
LEADING THE PACK
Leading the Bulldogs for the third time this season, Ryker Zuffelato set a personal best in the 8k at the YellowJacket/ Battlin' Bears Open. He crossed the finish line in 27:38.4, shaving 18.9 seconds off his previous PR.
CAREFUL QUEEN, YOU DROPPED YOUR TIARA
Tiara Norris delivered an outstanding performance at the YellowJacket / Battlin' Bears Open last week, crossing the finish line with a personal-best time of 27:47.7. She shattered her previous personal record by 2 minutes, 13.5 seconds.
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
At the YellowJacket/Battlin' Bears Open in Billings, Blake Olson turned in a personal-best 8K of 29:35.1. The performance trimmed 2 minutes, 3.6 seconds from his previous record.
NEW SPEED UNLOCKED
Freshman Taylor Graham posted his best time 8k time of the season at the YellowJacket / Battlin' Bears Open. He clocked a 30:03.6, beating his previous personal-best mark by 1 minute, 35.1 seconds.
BORN TO RUN
The YellowJacket/Battlin' Bears Open brought out Noah Rovente's best as he rewrote his personal record book with a 28:09.5 in the 8k. Rovente lowered his PR by 1 minute, 17.7 seconds.
STANDING ON BUSINESS
Racing at the YellowJacket/Battlin' Bears Open, Gavin Jasper trimmed 55.1 seconds from his previous 8k best. His time of 27:43.8 at the Billings course marked a personal record.
NEW TIME JUST DROPPED
In Billings, Madison Lohmeyer raced to a new 6k personal-best of 26:11.4, trimming 34.7 seconds from her previous record.
WHO RUN THE WORLD?
Continuing a strong season, SheaLee Novak posted a personal-best 6k time of 25:40.2 in Billings. Her work lowered her previous PR by 6.7 seconds.
MEET DAY LINEUP
Representing the Bulldogs on the women's side in Nebraska will be Madison Lohmeyer, SheaLee Novak, Kaelyn Sangray, Justene Santi, and Natalee Stevens.
Taking the starting line for the men's team are Tristan Von Bargen, Brody Henry, Gavin Jasper, Cael Thilmony, and Ryker Zuffelato.
THE OPPOSITION
There are 40 NAIA teams competing on both the men's and women's sides. The Frontier Conference teams competing include Bellevue, Dakota State, Dickinson State, and Montana Western.
IN THE QUEUE
After the meet in Ashland, the Bulldogs will head to Billings, Mont., for the Frontier Conference XC Championships, hosted by Rocky Mountain.
For complete coverage of UMW Cross Country, be sure to follow us on social media at @umw_xc_track (Instagram), @UMW_XC_Track (X), and @Montana Western Athletics (Facebook) or visit our official website at UMWBulldogs.com.
#GOBULLDOGS!
