Bozeman, Montana - Joe Bendoski improved on his fourth place finish at last weeks BYU-��s Autumn Classic by finishing second at the Montana State Cross Country Invitational. Bendoski finished the five mile run in 24:46, nine seconds off the first place finish of Utah State-��s Trevor Ball.

-��He ran really well,-�� Utah Valley State coach Scott Houle said. -��He ran a great race from start to finish.-��

On the women-��s side, the top runner was freshman Kim Rowberry. Rowberry finished 16 th in the three mile run with a time of 18:24. This was the second straight meet a freshman was the first Wolverine runner across the finish line.

-��She really improved from her first race,-�� Houle said. -��Last week she took off to fast and today she paced herself well and for a freshman to do what she did is big.-��

As a team, the men beat Montana State in the double dual race while the women out ran Utah. The men finished third in the seven team race.

-��That is really big for us,-�� Houle said. -��For the girls, it was the time we have beaten an instate school since we-��ve been Division I.-��

Other individual top finishes included Mark Lott finishing ninth, Peter Holm 13 th and freshman Jacob Buhler 15 th.

-��Mark ran really well and Jacob Buhler had a really good race,-�� Houle said. -��He stayed close with Peter Holm which is good since he is an experienced runner.-��

On the women-��s side, Bekah Meier-Poppinga finished 18 th with a time of 18:28. Houle added that he was pleased with the race of freshman Ashley Evans in her first college race. Evans finished 22 nd in the meet.