Sixth-Ranked Men Win Mountain Regional

Saturday, November 10

Riverside Golf Course, Riverdale, Utah (Weber State)

TBA

Colorado

NCAA Mountain Region Championship

Photo by: Nina Van Ewijk, Colorado Sports Information

November 10, 2007 | Cross Country

By: Linda Sprouse, Assistant SID

OGDEN, Utah ? The University of Colorado sixth-ranked men's cross country team won the NCAA Mountain Regional for the fifth straight year to earn yet another trip 2007 NCAA Championship and a chance to defend their national championship from a year ago. The regional was held at the Schneiter's Riverside Golf Course in Ogden, Utah on Saturday, Nov. 10.

The top two teams from each region automatically qualify for the championship. Colorado recorded 47 points in the win, besting runner-up and No. 3 UTEP who finished with 59 points. Northern Arizona, the second-ranked team in the country, finished third with 84 points.

“The men did what we needed them to do,“ head coach Mark Wetmore said. “They executed their race plan well and so I am happy about that. I didn't plan on winning, but I knew that was possible. I think we are in good shape to move on in 10 days.”

The 13^th-ranked women's team placed fourth and will look for an at-large bid to the championship where they have placed second for the past two seasons. CU recorded 105 points in the effort. Colorado State, ranked 11^th, won the women's race with 75 points. Northern Arizona placed third (81) and BYU was third (90). The fourth-place finish is the lowest for the CU women since the Buffs placed fifth in 1991.

The 1-2-3 punch of Brent Vaughn, Stephen Pifer and Kenyon Neuman proved once again to be unstoppable for the Buffaloes. Vaughn led the men for the majority of the race until Pifer passed Vaughn with about 100 meters to go in the race. Pifer took sixth with a time of 30 minutes and 28.3 seconds and Vaughn was seventh with a mark of 30:29.1. Kenyon Neuman, who has placed second or third in every race for the Buffs this season, was just behind Vaughn at ninth (30:29.9) and was able to hold off Jon Cardenas of Northern Arizona (30:34.2).

“We just wanted to run very controlled through five miles and that is what we did as a team and it worked out well,” Vaughn said. “The point of the race is to move on to nationals and we did that and beat a couple good teams in the process.”

Colorado's men ran in a pack for the majority of the 10k race, with Vaughn slightly ahead for most of the race.

“They (Vaughn, Pifer and Neuman) were running comfortably and controlled and were helping each other and did what I hoped they would do,” Wetmore said.

Bradley Harkrader was CU's fourth scorer and earned his best finish at a regional by placing 12^th overall (30:48.0).

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the afternoon for the men was Chris Pannone. Pannone scored for the first time as a Buffalo. He recorded a 14^th-place finish and came across the finish line in 30:53.3.

“It feels really good,” Pannone said. “We had a couple of really good teams here; some of the best in the country. We were ranked sixth and had two other teams ranked ahead of us and so it felt really good to come in here and score for the team. I was really happy with my performance.

“We were all supposed to run as a pack for the first part of the race. I always had everyone in my sights and I knew that I was close. When I got to 5k, I wasn't exactly where I wanted to be and I knew I had to pick it up, be conservative and listen to my body. I knew a lot of guys would be getting excited and going out hard and would eventually drop out, so everything worked in my favor.”

Pannone just held off UTEP's Nicodemus Ng'etich, who was the no. 3 runner for UTEP.

“It was definitely his best race ever at Colorado,” Wetmore said. “It was the race that we have been waiting for him to have. And honestly it was the race he had to have. I told him if he wasn't helping our top five and helping our team score that he was going to be an alternate next week. So he rose up and ran very well.”

Richard Medina was 22^nd (31:10.1) as the sixth runner and Pete Janson finished 27^th(31:16.6) as the final harrier. The top 25 received All-Mountain Region honors.

“It feels great,” Pifer said. “It feels like we are coming home. Everyone is coming around. We had some big performances in Bradley and Pannone and just across the board today. Everybody seems to be looking like they will be running on all cylinders by NCAAs.”

On the women's side, Jenny Barringer paced the Buffs with a second-place finish. It was the second consecutive year at the regional that she has finished in the runner-up position. She finished in 19:43.9 and behind Texas Tech's Sally Kipeygo who ran the 6k course in 19:29.4. Kipeygo and Barringer were running 1-2 the entire race. Barringer finished about 51 second ahead of the third-place finisher in Northern Arizona's Iisa Paulson (20:34.8).

“I feel really good about the effort I put it and all of the preparation that I have going into nationals next week,” Barringer said.

Sara Vaughn was CU's no. 2, coming in sixth-place overall (21:00.2). She finished just behind CSU's top placer in April Thomas who came in at 21:00.0. Vaughn closed the gap between her and Thomas in the last 100 meters, but was unable to take the lead as Thomas just barely beat her to the finish.

Erin Marston earned her second straight all-region honor by placing 13^th overall. She finished in 21:17.4. Marston improved from a 24^th-place finish in 2006.

“Erin and Sara have been running really strong all season and it's really exciting to see them develop as cross country athletes over the last two years,” Barringer said. “I'm really proud about how all of the girls have done this year and I'm just going to wait for Monday (for the at-large announcement) and see what happens.”

There was a gap in the women's racers as CU's no. 4 harrier, Aislinn Ryan, finished 36^th. She recorded a mark of 22:03.1. Jen Hooper, a walk-on from Steamboat Springs, Colo., was the fifth racer to finish. She completed the race in 22:21.5. Allison Sawyer placed 75^th (23:00.6) in her first regional race.

Barringer and Vaughn will advance to the NCAA Championship either as individuals or with the team if CU qualifies. The at-large bids for the NCAA Championship will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 11.

“The front three ran the way we needed them to and expected them too,” Wetmore said. “Then the next four we were hoping for a pleasant surprise or two or four. Laura Thweatt (CU's no. 4 this season) sat this one out but it looks like she will be moving on to next week. I'm pretty sure that four will get through. It will end up a little more scary than planned but I think we will get through and be back to business in 10 days.”

The 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championship is Monday, Nov. 19 in Terra Haute, Ind. and will be hosted by Indiana State University at the La Vern Gibson Cross Country Course.

2007 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIP

Schnieter's Riverside Golf Course (Ogden, Utah)

MEN'S 10K TEAM SCORES

1. Colorado, 47; 2. UTEP, 56; 3. Northern Arizona, 84; 4. BYU, 113; 5. New Mexico, 125; 6. Air Force, 158; 7. Weber State, 170; 8. Utah State, 253; 9. Wyoming, 259; 10. Montana State, 278; 11. Texas Tech, 287; 12. Southern Utah, 305; 13. Colorado State, 315; 14. Idaho State, 326; 15. Montana, 384.

MEN'S FINISHERS (Top 15):

1. Lopez Lomong, NAU, 29:52.1; 2. Stephen Samoei, UTEP, 29:54.5; 3. Jeremy Johnson, New Mexico, 29:57.0; 4. Patrick Mutai, UTEP, 30:14.3; 5. Mark Korir, Wyoming, 30:15.8; 6. Brent Vaughn, CU, 30:28.3; 7. Stephen Pifer, CU, 30:29.1; 8. Kenyon Neuman, CU, 30:29.9; 9. Jon Cardenas, NAU, 30:34.2; 10. Morten Bostrom, NAU, 30:40.8; 11. Chandler Goodwin, BYU, 30:45.2; 12. Bradley Harkrader, CU, 30:48.0; 13. Seth Pilkington, Weber State, 30:49.8; 14. Chris Pannone, CU, 30:53.3; 15. Nicodemus Ng'etich, UTEP, 30:55.8.

Other CU Finishers: 22. Richard Medina, 31:12.3; 27. Pete Janson, 31:16.6.

WOMEN'S 6K TEAM SCORES

1. Colorado State, 75; 2. Northern Arizona, 81; 3. BYU, 90; 4. Colorado, 105; 5. Texas Tech, 113; 6. New Mexico, 202; 7. Weber State, 251; 8. Utah State, 260; 9. Wyoming, 261; 10. Nevada, 265; 11. Utah, 269; 12. Montana, 298; 13. Montana State, 308; 14. Southern Utah, 334; 15. UTEP, 380; 16. Air Force, 389; 17. Idaho State, 447.

WOMEN'S FINISHERS (Top 15):

1. Sally Kipyego, TTU, 19:29.4; 2. Jenny Barringer, CU, 19:43.9; 3. Iisa Paulson, NAU, 20:34.8; 4. Irene Kimaiyo, TTU, 20:57.2; 5. April Thomas, CSU, 21:00.0; 6. Sara Vaughn, CU, 21:00.2; 7. Sariah Long, Weber State, 21:06.2; 8. Gladys Kipsang, TTU, 21:10.7; 9. Angela Wagner, BYU, 21:12.1; 10. Gretchen Fagley-Johnson, Wyoming, 21:13.3; 11. Lesley Van Miert, NAU, 21:13.8; 12. Cecily Lemmon, BYU, 21:16.5; 13. Erin Marston, CU, 21:17.4; 14. Amanda Griggs, NAU, 21:20.5; 15. Kirsten Anthony, CSU, 21:21.5.