BOZEMAN, Mont. – Highlighting the Montana State Classic on Saturday at Bridger Creek Country Club, Montana State University Billings seniors Ase Ackerman and Kailee Stoppel were among the top non-Division I finishers.
 
Ackerman took 13th overall and finished ahead of all other non-Division I competitors on the 5-mile course, while Stoppel took 31st on the women's side and third among non-Division I runners on the 3-mile course. Overall the Yellowjackets saw strong improvement up and down their lineup coming off last week's season debut meet at the Gage McSpadden Memorial.
 
"The team did really well improving on what we talked about last meet last week," said MSUB head coach Jonathan Woehl. "We were a little overly aggressive and faded off, and this week we did a better job of being more controlled at the beginning and maintaining a consistent pace. That led to some good closing mile splits for the men and the women."
 
"On the men's side, Ase did a good job of going out and trying to be with that top group. MSU has a pretty special team right now, so for him to be right in there with them and the Weber State guys was good to see.
 
Stoppel crossed the finish line in 18:42.9 minutes, giving the Yellowjackets an upper-half finisher among the field of 80 runners. Stoppel hit the ground running Saturday after a sluggish start to her senior season a week ago, when she posted a time of 20:12.2 minutes in the 5k at the Gage McSpadden Memorial in Spearfish, S.D. "Kailee was very even through the whole thing," said Woehl. "She did a good job controlling the race."
 
True freshman Alahna Lien had a positive showing in her cross country collegiate debut, taking 52nd place with a time of 19:43.0 minutes to finish second on the team. Close behind Lien were senior Ally Whitmer and freshman Kaylee Dalling, who crossed the finish line less than one second apart. Whitmer ran a time of 20:06.9 minutes in her first collegiate 3-mile, and Dalling's time of 20:07.5 minutes was a notable improvement in her second collegiate meet, as she cruised past last week's 5k time of 21:27.5 minutes in South Dakota.
 
Freshman Carey Berendsen and sophomore Madeline Severson were the next Yellowjackets to finish, with times of 20:26.4 minutes and 20:34.1 minutes, respectively. Berendsen cut more than two minutes off last week's 5k mark of 22:32.6 minutes, and Severson was close behind as she improved on her first-ever cross country meet last week which resulted in a 5k time of 22:25.7 minutes.
 
Sophomore Kylee Halpin and junior Aspen Tolman worked together to post times of 21:00.0 and 21:06.0 minutes, respectively. Kit Wiersema also surpassed last week's 5k time of 22:21.5, and in her second collegiate meet freshman Toree Manning showed improvement with a time of 21:50.8 to better last week's 23:21.7 in her debut in the 5k.
 
Ackerman crossed the finish line on the 5-mile course with a time of 25:36.0 minutes, leading a field of seven Yellowjackets who competed on the men's side. Ackerman was the top finisher among non-Division I runners, taking 14th place overall but finishing behind only runners from Montana State and Weber State.
 
Senior Logan Straus was next to cross the line for the 'Jackets, taking 41st place with a time of 27:18.3 minutes Saturday. Freshman Wyatt May had a good showing in his first collegiate 5-mile, crossing the line in 27:46.5 minutes which was good enough for 52nd among the field of 85 runners.
 
Senior Bryant Edgerton finished just behind May, posting a time of 27:55.4 minutes to take 54th place. Jordi Peiro ran a time of 28:28.7 minutes, to finish 17 seconds off his comparable 8k mark of 28:11.2 which he set at the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
 
Freshmen Gaven McColloch and Kevin Graves also competed in their first collegiate 5-mile, finishing with marks of 29:16.3 minutes and 30:01.3 minutes, respectively.
 
Duncan Hamilton of host Montana State won the men's race with a time of 24:30.8 minutes, to edge his teammate Ben Perrin by 0.2 seconds. Montana State's Camila Noe claimed the women's title in 16:28.1 minutes, giving her a comfortable 10-second win over second-place Billie Hatch (unattached).
 
THE BUZZ: Stoppel was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Runner of the Day.
 
NEXT UP: The Yellowjackets stay in their home state for the Montana Open coming up on Sept. 30. The afternoon event, hosted by the University of Montana in Missoula, will kick off at 4 p.m.