BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's and women's cross country teams prepared to kick off their 2025 campaigns on Friday, taking part in the MSU Bobcat Twilight Friday night in Bozeman.
 
Featuring a mix of newcomers and new faces set to feature in the season ahead, the Yellowjackets competed against a mix of Montana competition at Dyche Field, including a combination of Division I, NAIA, and NJCCA programs. Both the men's and women's teams competed in 5K races, with the MSUB women's team ranking in fifth place with a score of 137, and the men's team coming in sixth with a score of 171.
 
For the Yellowjacket women, senior Cecily Eagleton finished as the team's top racer, coming in 26^th place with a time of 19:51.6. The time was an improvement on her previous 5K best of 20:18.0, set at last season's Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Riverfront Open. Behind her, a pair of freshmen made their mark with quality finishes, with Sarah Eichmann finishing in 30^th with a time of 20:00.3, and Micah Strong finishing in 36^th with a mark of 20:26.7. Rounding out the top five finishers for the Yellowjacket women were a pair of seniors in Toree Manning, who finished in 44^th pace with a time of 20:49.7, and Gabi Becker, who's 21:11.6 time ranked 52^nd at the meet. Both seniors' times were an improvement on their career best 5K marks.
 
Rounding out the list of finishers for MSUB was Chloe Shennum, who finished in 56^th with a time of 21:38.9, Kaelyn Sangray in 58^th with a time of 22:00.3, Gracyn Rock in 61^st with a time of 22:10.8, and Angela Russo in 64^th with a time of 22:47.2.
 
On the men's side of the competition, MSUB was paced by Will Hyatt, who placed 41^st with a time of 16.52.3. Behind him, the rest of the Yellowjacket's finishers consisted of three freshman and a transfer athlete. Top of that group was Bruce Reed, who ran a time of 17:53.4 to take 55^th place, followed immediately in 56^th by John Achter, who finished the race with a mark of 17:55.9. Coming in 67^th place was freshman Caleb Burton, who ran a time of 18:41.8, while Hunter Bailey rounded out MSUB's competitors with a 74^th place finish, collecting a time of 19:34.6.
 
THE BUZZ: Eagleton and Hyatt were named the Intermountain Health Athletes of the Meet for their respective teams.
 
UP NEXT: Following their preseason tune up, the Yellowjackets will open their slate of regular season meets next week, with both squads heading to Spearfish, SD to compete at the Gage McSpadden Memorial hosted by Black Hills State. Meet information for the meet will be made available on each team's schedule page online.