JOPLIN, Mo. - All five University of Colorado Colorado Springs runners finished in the top 101 runners and matched the best finish in program history with a No. 11 finish at the 2012 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Championships this morning at the Missouri Southern Cross Country Course.
Emilio Trujillo led the Mountain Lions and finished No. 61 in the overall results with 30 minutes, 52.8 seconds on the 10-kilometer course. He led the scoring pack for UCCS, who all finished within a 40-second span on the course.
Oliver Williams made the third-largest improvement among any runner at the championships during the final five kilometers of the race and went from No. 121 to No. 75 in the overall results to finish second for the Mountain Lions in 31:01.1.
Mike English and
Ryan Derrick each improved 13 spots in the final half of the race to finish No. 80 and No. 92, respectively, in the overall results.
Luke Dakin rounded out the scoring runners with 31:30.5 to finish No. 101 in the field of 245 runners.
Sam Feldotto and
Matt Winfrey finished as displacers for the Mountain Lions.
The team finish matched the standing from the 2004 national championships in the largest field for a Division II national championship in history. The performance came in the second straight appearance for UCCS at the national championships and the fourth in program history.
The Mountain Lion distance runners will be off from competition through the rest of the semester before beginning the indoor season Jan. 18-19 at the CU Potts Invitational in Boulder, Colo.
