NEW ORLEANS, La. – The 2021 United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the 2021 all-region teams today.  The University of Colorado Colorado Springs cross country programs received seven 2021 USTFCCCA All-South Central Region accolades – Layla Almasri, Evan Graff, Kate Hedlund, Riley McGrath, Matthew Schramm, Mark Simmons and Afewerki Zeru.
 
A total of 200 men from 81 different programs and 200 women from 94 different programs earned the distinction of All-Region by virtue of a top-25 finish at one of the eight regional sites this past weekend. Only athletes from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.
 
On the men's side, four Mountain Lions garnered all-region honors, the most ever in the history of the program.  Afewerki Zeru ran to a runner-up finish to garner his third all-region award (2021, 2019, 2018).  Matthew Schramm, Evan Graff and Mark Simmons finished within five spots and five seconds of each other at Saturday's regional meet.  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.  Simmons and Schramm are earning their second career all-region award as both Mountain Lions were named all-region in 2019.
 
Layla Almasri led three women's cross country runners to all-region status.  Almasri, who was also named all-region in 2019, finished second overall at the regional meet on Saturday.  Riley McGrath and Kate Hedlund collected their first all-region recognition.  McGrath came in second for UCCS and 13^th overall with PR time of 21:09.1.  Also finishing in the 21-minute mark with a personal best time was Kate Hedlund (21:28.0, 24^th place).
 
The Mountain Lions women's program finished third at Saturday's regional meet to automatically qualify for the NCAA DII National Championship meet, while the men's fourth place finish earned them an at-large bid.  Both teams will be competing for the national title on Saturday, Nov. 6 from St. Leo, Fla.