Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
NCAA Mountain Region Championship
Men Win Sixth Straight Regional Title
November 15, 2008 | Cross Country
FORT COLLINS, Colo. ? For the sixth consecutive year, the No. 16 University of Colorado men's cross country team took top honors at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship.
The Buffaloes recorded 42 points for the win to automatically advance to the NCAA Championship on November 24. The CU women were fourth for the second straight year and will have to wait until the at-large bids are announced on Sunday evening to see if they have qualified for nationals.
The CU men ran most of the 10k race as a pack and were all in the top-30 at the midway point. Junior Jordan Kyle led the Buffs for the fourth straight race. He finished sixth overall to earn his first All-Mountain Region honor. His time was 29 minutes, 52.8 seconds.
“We wanted to gradually work our way up in the pack,” Kyle said. “We wanted to expend the least amount of energy as possible in the first half and I think we accomplished that. I think we did really well and everyone is taking another great step forward for next week.”
David McNeill of Northern Arizona won the race in 29:18.3. There were 11 racers who finished under 30 minutes.
“The strategy was to recognize that this was our first 10k race of the season and that it was at elevation so we had to be a little careful at the end,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “I'm glad that they were able to stick to the plan. Of course we wanted to advance and I was confident that we would be close to the win if we ran intelligent.”
Kyle was happy with his performance and said, “It was good. It felt easy and like I was coasting in (at the end).”
Kyle was not the only Buff to finish in the top 10. Sophomore Richard Medina and Chris Pannone placed eighth and ninth, respectively. They finished a half second apart with Medina clocking a mark of 29:57.7 and Pannone setting a time of 29:58.2
“He (Richard) gets a little better every race,” Wetmore said. “He had a little interruption in late September/early October that set him back a bit, but he is coming around slowly.”
This was Medina's third varsity race of the season. He was the Buffs' fourth runner in the last two races. This is his first top-10 finish since the Iowa State Invitational in September.
“I feel pretty good about [the race],” Medina said. “I've been getting in shape as the season has been progressing, so I'm pretty satisfied in how it went.”
Junior Kenyon Neuman was the fourth CU harrier to cross the finish and did so in just over 30 minutes (30:04.1) and placed 13th overall. Senior Seth DeMoor once again came up big for the Buffs. For the second straight race, he was the fifth scorer, coming in at 30:11.8. DeMoor was 18th overall.
All five of CU's scorers were all-region honorees since they all finished in the top-25.
“We definitely wanted to do this race smart,” Medina said. “Lately we have all been coming in really close together as a team and we've just been more prepared mentally.”
Although they did not score for the Buffs, freshmen Matt Tebo and Christian Thompson ran at the championship. Tebo finished 26th (30:25.1), just out of all-region honors, and Thompson was 34th, finishing in 30:42.8.
The Buffs finished ahead of two higher ranked teams in the region. No. 7 Northern Arizona placed second with 65 points and No. 11 BYU was third with 70 points.
The women were ranked sixth in the region heading into the meet and have not been ranked in the poll since September. CU recorded 133 points. No. 9 Texas Tech, the reigning Big 12 Champion, won the race with 42 points behind Sally Kiyego's third consecutive region crown. No. 21 New Mexico recorded 70 points for second and No. 28 Northern Arizona totaled 92 points for third. The Buffs beat out No. 26 BYU as the Cougars notched 152 points.
“We came in ranked sixth and I don't think people expected us to do much today,” sophomore Laura Thweatt said. “Our goal was to make nationals, so hopefully we will be able to do that.”
“Honestly their best hope is that the team right behind them (BYU) has accumulated quite a few points throughout the year,” Wetmore said. “In this points system, BYU might just ?push' us in.”
Thweatt led the Buffs in her first regional race with a 14th place finish. She recorded a mark of 20:59.7. This was the first time Thweatt's career that she led the Buffs in postseason competition.
“It was a good race for me,” Thweatt said. “I probably went out too fast. I didn't have as strong of a last kilometer as I should have, but it was probably my best race effort this season.”
The women, just like the men, ran in a pack for most of the race. All five of CU's scorers finished in the top 36 to give the Buffs their fourth-place finish.
“It's not our race strategy, but we all train together and we hit the same times at practice, so that makes us all really close in races,” junior Emily Hanenburg said. “It's just such a blessing to be on a team like this. Everyone gives their all in every race and that is ultimately what matters.”
Hanenburg was the second scorer for CU. She finished in 21:12.8 and took 22nd overall to earn her first all-region honor.
“I feel like I went out there and gave it everything I had,” Hanenburg said. “I know that all of my teammates did too. Laura had an incredible race. She pulled us all through the race. That is the good about this team. We all do our part.”
Freshmen Emma Coburn and Kaylen Slack finished 30th and 31st, respectively. Coburn crossed the finish in 21:25.3 and Slack was just behind at 21:27.5. Senior Morgan Ekemo was the final scorer for the Buffs as she placed 36th overall and finished in 21:33.1.
Non-team scorers for the Buffs included freshmen Katie Cumming (58th) and sophomore Allison Sawyer (74th).
“We have run here multiple times, so we knew what kind of performances we needed to do well here,” Wetmore said. “They did a good job of executing their race plans and ran better than their ranking and about what we were hoping for.”
The NCAA Championship is Monday, November 24 in Terre Haute, Ind.
2008 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIP
Colandale Golf Course (Fort Collins, Colo.)
MEN'S 10K TEAM SCORES
1. Colorado, 42; 2. Northern Arizona, 65; 3. BYU 70; 4. New Mexico, 93; 5. Air Force, 173; 6. Wyoming, 182; 7. Colorado State, 211; 8. Weber State, 226; 9. Southern Utah, 229; 10. Utah State, 278; 11. Montana, 295; 12. Montana State, 313; 13.Texas Tech, 356; 14. New Mexico State, 424; 15. Idaho State, 451.
MEN'S FINISHERS (Top 25 and All-Region Honorees):
1. David McNeill, NAU, 29:18.3; 2. Kyle Perry, BYU, 29:29.0; 3. Mark Korir, UW, 29:33.4; 4. Japheth Ng'ojoy, UTEP, 29:35.9; 5. Patrick Mutai, UTEP, 29:47.3; 6. Jordan Kyle, CU, 29:52.8; 7. Stephen Shay, BYU, 29:57.4; 8. Richard Medina, CU, 29:57.7; 9. Chris Pannone, CU, 29:58.2; 10. Nicodemus Ng'etich, UTEP, 29:58.6; 11. Ben Ashkettle, NAU, 29:59.1; 12. Morten Bostron, NAU, 30:00.9; 13. Kenyon Neuman, CU, 30:04.1; 14. David Bishop, NMU, 30:06.0; 15. Matt Williams, AFA, 30:07.3; 16. Diego Estrada, NAU, 30:09.1; 17. Lee Emmanuel, NMU, 30:09.7; 18. Seth DeMoor, CU, 30:11.8; 19. Jason Holt, USU, 30:12.9; 20. Rich Nelson, BYU, 30:14.1; 21. Cameron Levins, USU, 30:17.8; 22. Jacob Kirwa, NMU, 30:20.6; 23. Rory Fraser, NMU, 30:21.1; 24. Sean Houseworth, AFA, 30:21.9; 25. Jacob Gustafsson, BYU, 30:23.8.
Other CU Finishers: 26. Matt Tebo, 30:25.1; 34. Christian Thompson, 30:42.8.
WOMEN'S 6K TEAM SCORES
1. Texas Tech, 42; 2. New Mexico, 70; 3. Northern Arizona, 92; 4. Colorado, 133; 5. BYU, 152; 6. Utah, 188; 7. Colorado State, 212; 8. Utah State, 218; 9. Wyoming, 234; 10. Nevada, 264; 11. Weber State, 269; 12. UTEP, 340; 13. Air Force, 347; 14. Southern Utah, 374; 15. Montana, 408; 16. New Mexico State, 426; 17. Idaho State, 439.
WOMEN'S FINISHERS (Top 25 and All-Region Honorees):
1. Sally Kipyego, TTU, 19:31.9; 2. Lillian Badaru, TTU, 20:12.3; 3. Veronica Pohl, NAU, 20:25.3; 4. Angela Wagner, BYU, 20:43.4; 5. Michelle Korrigan, NMU, 20:44.8; 6. Asia Diaz, TTU, 20:49.8; 7. Astrid Leutert, NAU, 20:50.3; 8. Gladis Kipsang, TTU, 20:50.7; 9. Allison Abbott, Utah, 20:52.4; 10. Natalie Haws, WSU, 20:53.5; 11. Lacey Oeding, NMU, 20:55.9; 12. Ellie Rastall, CSU, 20:57.2; 13. Emily Higgins, UW, 20:59.5; 14. Laura Thweatt, CU, 20:59.7; 15. Nell Rojas, NAU, 20:00.4; 16. Ashley Johnson, USU, 21:03.5; 17. Nicky Archer, NMU, 21:06.3; 18. Caroloyn Boosey, NMU, 21:08.1; 19. Leslie Luna, NMU, 21:08.5; 20. Ashley Gibson, NMU, 21:09.0; 21. Chelsea Diagrazin, UU, 21:10.3; 22. Emily Hanenburg, CU, 21:12.8; 23. Alysha Davis, UW, 21:17.3; 24. Jamie Smith, SUU, 21:21.5; 25. Chepleting Boit, TTU, 21:22.0.
Other CU Finishers: 30. Emma Coburn, 21:25.3; 31. Kaylen Slack, 21:25.7; 36. Morgan Ekemo, 21:33.1; 58. Katie Cumming, 21:57.3; 74. Allison Sawyer, 22:18.7.
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Players Mentioned
