Colorado Mesa University’s cross-country team hosted the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Championships for the first time since 2008 over the weekend. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams place within the top 10 on Saturday at Tiara Rado Country Club.
The women’s leader for the Mavericks was senior Ashlyn Brent who ended the day with a 37th overall finish. This contributed to the women’s 284 pointes grabbing them the ninth-place spot on the day.
“Our girls finished ninth which was incredible” Head Coach Tim Reetz said, “They ran some of their best times of the season, so it was awesome and I’m super proud of them. The RMAC is the toughest conference in America.”
Brent finished the 6-kilometer course in 22 minutes and 17 seconds which was a new personal record for her despite only being her second race of the season.
Adams State finished first out of the fifteen teams with a score of 21 points.
Some other notable finishes for the lady Mavericks were Cheney Singer who finished 63rd and Lindsey Parsons with the 68th spot…both finishing in just under 24 minutes.
Shortly after the women’s race ended, the men’s team stepped up to the line. The men’s race is a little different due to the fact that it’s an 8-Kilometer course rather than the 6-kilometer course the women use.
The Mavericks men’s team finished tenth with an overall score of 277. Colorado School of Mines took home the first-place honors with a score of 28.
CMU’s Jerod Kuhn led the pack for the Mavericks placing 32nd on the afternoon while racking in a total 30 pointes for the teams overall score. Kuhn’s finished with a time of 25 minutes 9 seconds.
Runners who also played contributing rolls to the Mavericks success were junior Trevor Smith finishing 47th overall as well as sophomore Tony Torres crossing the line in 67th place with a time of 26 minutes and 2 seconds.
Both squads had a very successful race which was much needed headed into Regionals. Personal records were broken and confidence was built.
“It’s been an awesome season every single runner has ran faster than they’ve ever ran in their lives,” Reetz said. “I think we’ve really come together as a team well. I’m super proud of them.”
The Mavericks are progressing every race and focusing on competing at a national level.
“We get to go down to Texas, down to sea level which always help us a little bit” Reetz said. “Improving upon last year and just building confidence, our big thing is to build confidence and get some big-time finishes.”
The Mavericks will continue their season by going down to Canyon, Texas for the Division II South Central Regionals on Nov. 9.
