LUBBOCK, Texas – Four University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's cross country Mountain Lions ran to all-region honors Saturday morning at the NCAA South Central Regional meet, hosted by Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas.  UCCS finished fourth with 99 points as Afewerki Zeru, Matthew Schramm, Evan Graff and Mark Simmons all finished in the top 25 to earn all-region accolades, the most ever by a Mountain Lion team.
 
INSIDE THE NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL 10K CHAMPIONSHIP

• Course | Location: Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course | Lubbock, Texas
• Course Length: 10K

 
AROUND THE COURSE

• Afewerki Zeru bested his previous personal best 10k time by more than a minute as he finished runner-up for the second straight meet.  Zeru crossed the finish line in 29:42.16.
• Matthew Schramm, Evan Graff and Mark Simmons finished within five spots and five seconds of each other.  Schramm posted a 19^th place finish in 30:59.84, followed by Graff in 20^th place (31:00.61) and Simmons in 23^rd place with a time of 31:04.69.  All three Mountain Lions also recorded personal best times today.
• Rounding out the fifth scorer for UCCS was Branden Bohling in a time of 31:31.30 for a 35^th place finish.  Running in their first career regional meet were Gavin Harden and Will Young.  Harden placed 49^th overall in 31:44.55 with Young earning a 58^th place mark in 32:08.62.

RACE LEADERS

• Colorado School of Mines bested all 26 teams after scoring 42 points.  The Orediggers' Dillon Powell won the individual title in 29:15.35.  Adams State University came in second with 54 points, followed by Colorado Christian University in third place with 91 points.

 
BEYOND THE FINISH LINE

• Zeru's second place finish is the highest by an individual in program history.
• All four veteran Mountain Lions – Graff, Schramm, Simmons and Zeru – ran to personal best 10k times today.  
• The 99 points are the fewest UCCS has scored at a regional meet.
• Bohling, Harden and Young competed in their first career 10k today.
• UCCS will await the at-large announcements for the NCAA Division II national Championship, which will be announced on Monday, Nov. 8.

 
UP NEXT

• An at-large bid for the Mountain Lions would qualify them for the national meet in St. Leo, Florida on Saturday, Nov. 20.

 
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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.