SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs' rise to prominence in men's cross country continued Saturday as the Mountain Lions took 17th at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships at Cooper's Lake Campground.
Unranked and largely unnoticed just three weeks ago, UCCS stunned favored New Mexico Highlands at regionals on Nov. 8 to become one of a record five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams at nationals. Saturday, the Mountain Lions became the No. 17-ranked team in the nation.
"Three weeks ago, we weren't even ranked in the top 10 in the region," said UCCS coach
Mark Misch by phone. "Today, they're 17th in the country.
"They're just a bunch of hard-working guys."
Gabe Small led UCCS, finishing 72nd overall with a time of 32 minutes, 50 seconds.
Dan Pinter crossed the line eight seconds later.
Carlos Ruibal and
Mason Frank posted identical 33:37, followed by
Casey Weaver (34:09),
Alex Tiernan (34:25) and
Joel Kienitz (36:24).
Chico State's Scott Bauhs took the individual title with a time of 30:23. Adams State's Aaron Braun was second at 30:36, while Michael Crouch of Queens was third.
Adams State was the team winner, sweeping both the men's and women's races. It was the sixth time that the Grizzlies have won both the men's and women's championships in the same season.
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Western State took second, followed by Chico State and Abilene Christian.
The RMAC qualified five teams (UCCS, Adams State, Western State, Colorado Mines and Metro State) into the national meet. No conference has ever qualified as many schools in a single year.
Not only did the RMAC qualify more teams, each of those teams exceeded expectations based on the national rankings entering the event.
The following are the rankings of schools qualified for nationals from the Central region heading into the national meet followed by their finishing place:
Ranked 1) Adams St -finished 1st
Ranked 5) Western St - finished 2nd
Ranked 10) Minnesota St - finished 8th
Ranked 11) Co School of Mines - finished 9th
Ranked 19) Metro St - finished 14th
NR) UCCS - finished 17th
