COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's cross country team accounted for 24 team points to win the seven-team season and home opening meet Saturday morning.  The 17^th annual UCCS Rust Buster was held at Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs.
 
INSIDE THE UCCS RUST BUSTER

• Course | Location: Monument Valley Park | Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Course Length: 8k
• Elevation: 6,109'

 
AROUND THE COURSE

• All five Mountain Lion scorers finished in the top 10 among the 100 racers.  Jagger Zlotoff led all competitors with a time of 25:10.6, nearly 15 seconds faster than runner up Noel Lopez of MSU Denver.
• Newcomer Enzo Knapp clocked a time of 25:35.8 to place third followed by Jack Donze's fifth place mark of 25:41.3.  On the heels of Donze was Brett Davis who came in sixth place just .4 seconds after Donze, as Koy Cunningham posted the 10^th fastest time in the race to score nine points in 26:05.0.
• Placing second overall as a team were the Mustangs of Western New Mexico University (58 points), followed by MSU Denver (73 points), Colorado College (93 points), Regis University (146 points), New Mexico Highlands University (153 points) and Northern New Mexico College (218 points).

                       
RACE LEADERS

• Three of the top five runners this morning hailed from UCCS (Zlotoff – first place, Knapp (third place and Donze – fifth place).  Lopez' second place finish for the Roadrunners gave MSU Denver two of their 73 points as James Kurui chipped in a top five finish and four points for New Mexico Highlands University (25:41.3).

BEYOND THE FINISH LINE

• Competing in their first race in a Mountain Lions uniform this morning were Kyle Briggs, Tyler Campbell, Matt Campos, Alex Fernandez, Peter Harrison, Connor Kennedy, Enzo Knapp Nick Pascarella and TJ Saglembeni.
• Mountain Lion returners Donze (25:41.3) and Koy Cunningham (26:05.0) both improved on their career best 8k times this morning.

 
UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will head to MSU Denver for the Roadrunners Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 21.  The men's 8k race is slated to start at 9:15 a.m.

 
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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.