JOPLIN, Mo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's cross country season came to a close Saturday morning after the Mountain Lions ran to a solid 19^th place finish at the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship meet.  The Mountain Lions posted 537 points in the 34-team meet.
 
INSIDE THE 2023 NCAA DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIP

• Course: MSSU Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course
• Location: Joplin, Mo.
• Distance: 10k
• Elevation: 1,004'

 
AROUND THE COURSE

• Jagger Zlotoff nearly earned All-America status, finishing just outside the top-40.  Two weeks after running a career best 10k time, Zlotoff bettered his mark this morning with a 45^th place finish in 30:27.9.
• Gavin Harden edged his previous 10k mark by three seconds and collected 83 points for UCCS after crossing the finish line 94^th overall in 31:05.6.
• Adding 97 points to the Mountain Lions score was Logan Cole who clocked a time of 31:17.3 to finish 109^th overall.
• Bringing in the Mountain Lion scorers were Brett Davis and Joseph Impellitteri.  Davis's time of 31:54.5 put him in 167^th place while Impellitteri posted a time of 32:09.9 for 194^th place.
• One second behind Impellitteri and in 195^th place was Michael Burke Jr. (32:10.0).  Jack Donze corralled the Mountain Lions on the course, posting a time of 32:17.5 to put him in 202^nd overall.

                       
RACE LEADERS

• Wingate University bested the defending national champion Colorado School of Mines by nine points to win the team title.
• William Amponsah of West Texas A&M University earned the individual title with a first-place finish in 29:04.3 to defeat all 263 competitors.

 
BEYOND THE FINISH LINE

• The Mountain Lions close out the season ranked No. 19 in Division II.
• UCCS finished tied with Mississippi College with 195 points, but Burke's sixth place finish for UCCS and 173 points gave the Mountain Lions the tie breaker over MC, as Mississippi's sixth place runner collected 195 points.  The Mountain Lions were also one point away from tying New Mexico Highlands University (18^th place, 536 points).
• Zlotoff, Harden, Davis and Burke all recorded 10k personal best times, just two weeks after setting previous career marks at the NCAA South Central Regional meet.
• Eight teams from the RMAC ran in today's championship meet.  The Orediggers finished second with 79 points, followed by Western Colorado University (fifth place, 168 points), Adams State University (sixth place, 169 points), Colorado Christian University (eighth place, 292 points), Colorado State University Pueblo (12^th place, 387 points), Fort Lewis College (13^th place, 445 points), NMHU and UCCS.

 
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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.