SAINT LEO, Fla. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's cross country program recorded their highest finish ever at a NCAA Division II National Championship meet, finishing fifth out 34 teams Saturday morning from the Abbey Golf Course in Saint Leo, Fla.  Competing in their eighth national meet, UCCS scored 254 points, besting their previous highest team finish of 11^th place (2012, 2004).
 
INSIDE THE NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

• Course | Location: Abbey Golf Course | Saint Leo, Fla.
• Course Length: 10K

 
AROUND THE COURSE

• Afewerki Zeru earned All-American honors after finishing 15^th overall in a time of 30:49.7.  Matthew Schramm finished second for the Mountain Lions and 51^st overall in 31:48.6. 
• Mark Simmons, Evan Graff, Gavin Harden and Branden Bohling each finished in the 32-minute mark.  Simmons crossed the finish line in 32:02.2 for 63^rd place, just steps ahead of Graff in 32:03.9 for 66^th place.  Harden earned a 91^st place finish in 32:26.7 to close up UCCS' scorers. 
• Bohling posted a time of 32:57.6 (130^th place) followed by Will Young in 162^nd place (33:22.0) to round out the Mountain Lions top seven.

RACE LEADERS

• Grand Valley State University won the team title with 43 points as the Lakers posted the top two individual finishers.  Isaac Harding was the first of 245 racers to finish the race as he posted a time of 29:58.3.  Teammate Tanner Chada was second in 30:07.1.

 
BEYOND THE FINISH LINE

• Zeru is the fourth Mountain Lion to earn All-America honors and the first since Moses Tum in 2004.  His 15^th place finish is the third best finish in program history (Tum – 8^th, 2004, Trent Briney – 11^th, 1998).
• The top four finishers for UCCS are making repeat appearances at the national meet.  Zeru, Schramm and Simmons have competed in three national meets while Graff has ran in two.
• Five RMAC teams finished in the top 10: Adams State University (second), Colorado School of Mines (third), UCCS (fifth), Western Colorado University (seventh) and Colorado Christian University (10^th).

 
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.