On the men's side, Treat and Barnes will likely be backed up by senior Casey Perry, junior Christian Dullock, freshman Scott McGowan and sophomores Dickie Bishop and Anders Brooker. Raunig said the team has a good chance to surprise some conference foes this year. They were ranked third in the preseason conference poll but hope to sneak up on the front-runners. The Bobcats were ranked fifth. On the women side, two seniors, Katie Kneeshaw and Kelly Rice, should back up Monro and Anderson.
Rice is questionable with a possible shin problem.
Julie Ham, a sophomore from Caramel, Ind., has showed promise in practice and should contribute. Junior Amy Farmer also has also shown potential to be a major contributor to the team's success this season. Northern Arizona was picked as the preseason favorite on both the men's and women's side. The Montana Invitational gets underway Saturday morning at the UM Golf Course. Montana will travel to Pasco for Big Cross next week and then will wait another two weeks until they fly to the Pre-NCAA meet in Ames, Iowa on Oct. 14.