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Ryan Cruz

2021 Men's Cross Country Season in Review

12/22/2021 2:21:00 PM

Men's Cross Country Season in Review
  • University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's cross country head coach Mark Misch led the Mountain Lions to their eighth NCAA Division II National Championship meet appearance, and their highest ever finish at the national meet.  UCCS, which has qualified for the national meet seven times under Misch (2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021), finished fifth out of 34 teams on Nov. 20, scoring 254 points.  The Mountain Lions previous best finish was 11th place in 2004 and 2012.
  • UCCS started the season with a strong performance at the 14th annual UCCS Rust Buster on Sept. 4, winning the eight team meet with 23 points. Afewerki Zeru won the individual title, besting all 93 finishers with a time of 24:19.7. Six Mountain Lions finished in the top 10 among all racers, and seven finished in the top 10 among collegiate racers.  Finishing third overall and second for the Mountain Lions was Evan Graff in 25:27.3.  Branden Bohling and Matthew Schramm helped the Mountain Lions go 1-2-3-4 to cross the finish line among collegiate runners.
  • Two weeks later at the prestigious University of Wisconsin-Parkside Lucian Rosa Invitational, the Mountain Lions dominated the eight-team field, scoring 19 points, 70 points fewer than second place Minnesota State Mankato (89 points). Zeru cruised to the individual win, crossing the finish line in 24:44.4, more than 40 seconds faster than second place. After UWP's Uriah Aili second place finish, the next five runners hailed from UCCS.  Graff placed third in 25:31.6, followed by Simmons (25:37.5), Bohling (25:40.3), Schramm (25:46.0) and Harden (25:53.5).
  • The Mountain Lions top runners would spend the next five weeks training for the post-season, beginning with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship meet on Oct. 23 in Golden, Colo.  The training paid off for UCCS as they finished third overall with 84 points, matching the program's best finish at a conference championship meet. Zeru finished runner-up to earn All-RMAC First Team honors.  His second-place finish is the highest any Mountain Lion has placed at a RMAC Championship Meet.  Schramm, Simmons and Bohling each earned All-RMAC Second Team accolades after placing within four spots of each other. 
  • UCCS went from Golden, Colo. to Lubbock, Texas for the 2021 NCAA South Central Regional championship meet, hosted by Lubbock Christian University.  Four Mountain Lions ran to all-region honors while the team finished fourth with 99 points. Zeru, Schramm, Graff and Simmons all finished in the top 25 to earn all-region accolades, the most ever by a Mountain Lion team.  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. Schramm, Graff and Simmons finished within five spots and five seconds of each other.  Schramm posted a 19th place finish in 30:59.84, followed by Graff in 20th place (31:00.61) and Simmons in 23rd place with a time of 31:04.69.  All three Mountain Lions also recorded personal best times.
  • The Mountain Lions fourth place finish at the regional meet earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA DII National Championship meet on Nov. 20 in Saint Leo, Fla., where the Mountain Lions made program history with a fifth-place finish.  Zeru earned All-American honors after finishing 15th overall in a time of 30:49.7.  Schramm finished second for the Mountain Lions and 51st overall in 31:48.6.  Simmons, Graff, Harden and Bohling each finished in the 32-minute mark. 
 
Award Winners  
Hot Takes
  • Zeru is the fourth Mountain Lion to earn All-America honors and the first since Moses Tum in 2004.  His 15th place finish is the third best finish in program history (Tum – 8th, 2004, Trent Briney – 11th, 1998).
  • UCCS has qualified for the NCAA National Championship meet eight times.  Before this year's fifth place finish, the highest a Mountain Lions team has finished at a National Championship meet was 11th place (2004, 2012).  The highest individual finisher at a NCAA National Championship meet was eighth place from Moses Tum in 2004 (32:22.1).
  • Four Mountain Lions made return trips to the National Championship in November.  Graff, Schramm, Simmons and Zeru all competed at the last NCAA Championship meet which was held in 2019.  Schramm, Simmons and Zeru also competed in their third straight national meet as all three ran in the 2018 national meet.  They become the first Mountain Lions to compete in three national meets in program history.
  • Zeru's second place finish at the NCAA South Central Region Championships is the highest by an individual in program history.
  • The 99 points are the fewest UCCS has scored at a regional meet.
  • Zeru earned All-RMAC First Team honors with his second-place finish, marking the second time in his career with the first team accolade (2019).
  • Schramm and Simmons both earned their third career All-RMAC Second Team award.  This is the third straight year Schramm received all-conference second team honors while Simmons earned the award in 2018 and 2019.
  • Bohling received his first career All-RMAC Second Team recognition with his 19th place finish.
  • UCCS' four All-Region and four All-RMAC performers is the most the program has ever received at a regional and conference championship.
 
National Rankings
  • UCCS started the 2021 season ranked No. 25 in the USTFCCCA Division II preseason poll on Sept.  1.  In the first regular season poll, the Mountain Lions moved up two spots to No. 23, but made their largest jump of the season in the second regular season ranking, announced on Sept. 22.  Following their dominant performance at the UWP Lucian Rosa Invitational, UCCS jumped to No. 13 in Division II.  For the next four weeks, UCCS maintained their ranking in the Top 15, moving between No. 12-14.  The Mountain Lions cracked the top 10 on Nov. 10 after finishing fourth at the regional meet, moving up to No. 9.  UCCS highest ranking in program history came on Nov. 20 after their fifth-place finish at the NCAA National Championship Meet propelled them to No. 5 in the country in the final ranking of the season.
 
2022 Outlook
  • Misch's outlook for next season leans on the past and the process it has taken the Mountain Lions to reach their most successful season.  "Our main focus is always the process, regardless of the personnel we have," said Misch. "We know what it takes to be successful in this sport; all of the little things that add up.  If you're expecting to be good a year from now, you need to be good today.   It doesn't just magically happen.  You have to be doing things better than people who may be better than you, but when you have an opportunity to race them, you may come out better because you're more prepared or you better utilized your talents and knowledge. That process doesn't really ever stop.  Everybody wants to be part of something that's successful.  Our standard doesn't really change, it's just a matter of people staying healthy and getting better and understanding the big picture of the process."
  • Following the 2021-22 indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, the Mountain Lions will prepare for the 2022 cross country season which will open on Saturday, Sept. 3 at the 15th annual UCCS Rust Buster.
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