THIS WEEK'S MEET

• The ninth-ranked University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's cross country program returns to action this Saturday at the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship meet.  Missouri Southern State University will host the Division II championships at the MSSU Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo. The women's 6k race will begin at 9 a.m. (MT) followed by the men's 10k race at 10:15 a.m. (MT).

 
MEET INFORMATION

• Course: MSSU Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course
• Location: Joplin, Mo.
• Distance: 6k
• Elevation: 1,004'

 
LAST TIME OUT

• Two weeks ago in Lubbock, Texas the Mountain Lions were competing against eight nationally ranked teams at the NCAA South Central Regional championship where UCCS ran to a fifth-place finish after collecting 125 points.
• The Mountain Lions were led by the duo of Anna Fauske and Kate Hedlund who both ran to all-region accolades.  Fauske finished fourth overall with a career best time of 20:40.44 with Hedlund just 13 seconds behind her for an 11^th place finish in 20:53.16.  Rachel Richtman clocked a time of 21:38.92 to finish third for the Mountain Lions and 31^st overall.  Just behind Richtman in 35^th place was Molly Breuer who crossed the finish line in 21:48.17.  Entering the race as an alternate, Emma Montoya stepped in and recorded a score for UCCS with a career best time of 22:05.42 and a 44^th place finish.

 
MOUNTAIN LIONS COMPETING AT NCAA DII CHAMPIONSHIP MEET (6K PR TIMES)
 

Name	6k	Race
Nadine Almasri	22:14.7	South Central Regional - 11/4/23
Molly Breuer	21:48.2	South Central Regional - 11/4/23
Anna Fauske	20:40.4	South Central Regional - 11/4/23
Kate Hedlund	20:53.2	South Central Regional - 11/4/23
Rachel Goodrich	22:43.5	RMAC Championships - 10/21/23
Emma Montoya	22:05.4	South Central Regional - 11/4/23
Rachel Richtman	21:38.9	South Central Regional - 11/4/23

 
 
THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thirty-four teams have been selected to participate in the NCAA Division II championships. The top three, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regional championships on Nov. 4, for a total of 24 teams. Ten additional teams were selected at-large. A minimum of 24 additional individuals were selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process.

 
NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

• This year's national championship meet will be the seventh straight year UCCS has competed in the national championship race under head coach Corey Kubatzky, and the 10^th time in the past 11 championships.  In 13 championship meets, the Mountain Lions highest team finish is fourth place, which they accomplished last year.
• Four Mountain Lions from the 2022 national championship meet will be competing on Saturday: Molly Breuer, Anna Fauske, Kate Hedlund and Rachel Richtman.  Hedlund paced the returners at last year's meet with a 20^th place finish in 21:08.2, followed by Fauske (24^th place, 21:09.2), Richtman (128^th place, 22:27.7) and Breuer (22:33.5).  Fauske and Hedlund will be running in their third straight national championship meet on Saturday.  Making their first NCAA Championship appearance in the black and gold are Nadine Almasri, Rachel Goodrich and Emma Montoya.
• Shannon Payne placed third at the national championship meet in 2008 (21:29) to own the best finish by a Mountain Lion. 

USTFCCCA ALL-AMERICA AWARDS

• USTFCCCA All-America honors are awarded to runners who finish in the top-40.

 
WEATHER FORECAST

• Saturday's forecast during the championship races in Joplin, Mo. will feature sunny skies with temperatures in the low 60's.

 
NATIONAL RANKINGS

• Each week the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announces Regional (Tuesday's) and National (Wednesday's) rankings.  In the last set of rankings (Nov. 8), the Mountain Lions were ranked No. 9.

 
2023 USTFCCCA DII NATIONAL & REGIONAL RANKINGS
 

Ranking	National	Regional
Week 1	No. 5	No. 3
Week 2	No. 5	No. 3
Week 3	No. 5	No. 3
Week 4	No. 7	No. 4
Week 5	No. 6	No. 4
Week 6	No. 10	No. 6
Week 7	No. 9	No. 5

 
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH COREY KUBATZKY

• Corey Kubatzky is in his ninth year with the UCCS cross country and track and field programs in 2023-24, serving as head coach for the women's cross country team as well as coaching the distance and middle distance women runners for indoor and outdoor track & field.  Kubatzky and the Mountain Lions are coming off a historic season in 2022 as the Mountain Lions recorded their highest finish ever in program history at the NCAA Division II National Championship meet.  In their first post-season race, the Mountain Lions ran to a third-place finish at the conference championships held in Durango, Colo., followed by another third-place finish at the South Central Regional meet as all five Mountain Lion scorers finished in the top 25 to garner USTFCCCA All-Region accolades.

 
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.