ksparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

The CMU cross country men’s and women’s teams will send their runners to the NCAA South Central Regional race on Nov. 3 in Denver. Both teams just finished the RMAC race in Colorado Springs, in which both teams placed 10th in their respective races.

The men’s team was led by Ben Hunter, who placed 65th overall with a time of 28:39. He was followed by Andrew Mansfield in 68th (28:48) and Justin Shaver in 71st (28:55).

The women’s team was led by Shannon Emery, who placed 49th in 25:18. Following her was Melissa Bauer in 56th place (25:48) and Chelsea Lyons in 64th place (25:59), rounding out the top three finishers for the Mavs.

The Mavericks have had an up-and-down season. Their best race came at the Mountaineer Open in Gunnison, where they placed second overall.

With the Regional tournament looming, Mavericks’ coach Gig Ledbetter feels like he is sending his best seven runners from both teams.

On the men’s team, a few of the runners that coach Ledbetter mentioned as representing the Mavericks are Justin Shavers, Ben Hunter, John Cusick and Shane Niksic.

“I expect all of them to do really well,” Ledbetter said. “Most of our runners have experienced some injury, but they are finally all rested up and injury free, so expect them to surprise some people up at Regionals.”

Ledbetter also specifically mentioned Ben Hunter and the progress he has made.

“He has really come up from where he first started,” Ledbetter said. “In the beginning, he was our third or fourth runner, but he has now been consistently finishing second on our team, which has been a big surprise.”

Leading the women will be Shannon Emery and Melissa Bauer, who have consistently run well throughout the season.

“I expect them to do a little better than we did in RMAC,” Ledbetter said. “Since we are such a young team, as long as we can get some [personal records] and run as hard as we can and continue to improve, I feel like we can do really well in the Regionals.”

Following the South Central Regional race is the NCAA D2 National Championships, which take place Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo.