WHITEFISH, Mont. – The University of Providence cross country team was picked sixth in both the men's and women's preseason Frontier Conference coaches' poll that was released Thursday morning.
Carroll College was picked to win the conference on the women's side, while both Carroll and Rocky Mountain College tied for the number one spot on the men's side.
"It's about what I expected," head coach
Tony Arntson said. "The cross country crews in the Frontier are very, very solid. They are all great programs and there's a lot of great competition. We're still really young with a lot of new kids but I'm really excited about the fall."
This season will mark the first time the Argo cross country will compete in two season; the team didn't compete last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I know the kids are excited to compete again," Arntson said. "We have one athlete on our team that competed for us two years ago. Some of our incoming freshman missed their high school season last semester. Obviously competing and being around the other athletes in the Frontier will be a great experience for us."
With the team arriving on campus over the next few days, the team hasn't formally sat down and discussed expectations for the season yet. Arntson believes that the team's youth will allow for a large growth curve as the season progresses.
"Our goal is to get better period," he said. "We're still building a foundation. We got a lot of young kids. We have to get our base set early and just get better. We want to make sure that by the time we come to conference championships that we are way more competitive than we are at the beginning of the season."
One returner with high expectations for the Argos is Nash Grafe. The sophomore from Kalispell, Mont. had a successful freshman season two years ago, and was
named All-Conference in track and field last season.
"I think Nash has a chance to be really competitive this year, which is saying a lot because there are a lot of good runners," Arntson said. "He was a little injury plagued last year during his training and I think he's pretty healthy through the summer so I'm pretty excited to watch him."
The Argos will kick off their season on Sept. 13 at Montana Western for the Frontier Conference Preview.
| Women's Team |
Points |
| Carroll College (5) |
25 |
| Rocky Mountain College |
19 |
| Montana Western (1) |
17 |
| Montana Tech |
15 |
| Montana State-Northern |
9 |
| Providence |
5 |
| Men's Team |
Points |
| Carroll College (3) |
23 |
| Rocky Mountain College (3) |
23 |
| Montana Tech |
15 |
| Montana Western |
12 |
| Montana State-Northern |
12 |
| Providence |
5 |
