BOULDER - In her most recent competition, Shannon Payne was impressive in an NCAA Division I cross country meet. Saturday, she did herself one better.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs senior outran 114 other competitors to win the 23rd annual University of Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout. Among the field were both Division I and Division II all-Americans.

"It was pretty exciting to have Shannon win the overall title," said UCCS coach Mark Misch. "She had a special race. Any time you can win at this level is pretty outstanding."

Payne covered the 5.8-kilometer course at Buffalo Ranch on CU's South campus in 21 minutes, 25 seconds. In second place, eight seconds later, was Adams State's Lavenna Mullenbach, followed by Mesa State's Alexis Skarda (21:49) and Adams State's Sofia Monroe (21:51). Six of the next seven finishers came from the host Buffaloes.

Payne and her Mountain Lion teammates took fourth place in the non-Division I team standings. Adams State was first, followed by Western State and Mesa State, all, like UCCS, from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Either Adams State or Western State has won every Division II national championship since 1993.

"The RMAC was well represented, that's for sure," said Misch. "They did a great job."

As has been the case the past three years, the CU Rocky Mountain Shootout broke the results down into two division, Division I and non-Division I. While UCCS' finish was fourth among the non-Division I schools, the Mountain Lions would have beaten both Air Force and Northern Colorado had the results been combined. In fact, only UCCS' sister school in Boulder would have finished ahead of the Mountain Lions among the Division I schools.

Kaitlin Frier was second among UCCS runners and 24th overall with a time of 23:23. Others included Lauren Bowers (34th, 23:57), Christy Severy (40th, 24:18), Melissa McKinley (45th, 24:28) and Tavia Hammond (52nd, 24:46).

Adams State's Aaron Brown won the men's race, which covered eight kilometers, with a time of 25:04.

The victories by Payne and Brown end a streak that has stood since 1991. A CU individual had won the shootout every year since 1991, either on the men's or women's side.

The UCCS men also took fourth place among non-Division I teams competing behind Adams State, Western State and Metro State.

The top finisher among the UCCS men was Gabe Small, who took 39th overall (21st among non-Division I runners) with a time of 27:22. He was followed by Dan Pinter (49th overall, 27:43), Joel Kienitz (60th, 28:09) and Carlos Ruibal (61st, 28:15).

"We've got three good weeks of training ahead of us before we get the (the RMAC Championships)," said Misch, "so that's our focus."