The Colorado Mesa University cross country teams had to race in a near underwater run at the Fort Hays State Open Saturday, Oct. 7. 

Overall the Mavericks finished in 11th place. RMAC rivals Western State took the team title. 

[media-credit name=”Courtesy Trevor Smith” align=”alignleft” width=”240″][/media-credit]

Melissa Anderson placed 43rd in the women’s gold event, a 5K. She covered the course in 19:42.7. It was tight race as just 1:42 differentiated Anderson and the winner. Ashlyn Brent was the second Maverick to finish. She placed 48th with a time of 19:46.5.

On the men’s gold race Mako Watanabe finished the 8K course race in 34th place with a time of 26:25.5 only five seconds away from a top 30 finish. 

Hunter Thompson was next for the Mavericks in 60th place with a time of 27:02.

Next up for the Mavericks is the RMAC Championships in Chadron, Neb. The event is scheduled to take place Oct. 21.