Women Take Mountain Region Crown, Men Place Second

Friday, November 11

Logan, Utah

All Day

Colorado

NCAA Mountain Regional

Makena Morley led the top-ranked CU women to the 2016 NCAA Mountain Region Championship.

Photo by: Ken Moreland

November 11, 2016 | Cross Country

Men's NCAA Mountain Region Results Women's NCAA Mountain Region Results

Buffs Advance To NCAA XC Championships

By: Linda Sprouse, Assistant SID

LOGAN, Utah — For the fourth straight year, the Colorado women's cross country team is the NCAA Mountain Region Champion. The top-ranked Buffaloes placed all five scorers in the top 10 on Friday morning to earn one of the two automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA Championship in eight days.

The men, who were ranked second in the nation and third in the region heading into the meet, also earned an automatic berth to nationals, finishing second overall.

THE WOMEN'S RACE: Colorado dominated the team race, putting together a total score of 35 points to handily defeat No. 6 New Mexico (109), the reigning NCAA Champion, by 74 points. Air Force was third (111) and Pac-12 rival Utah was fourth (136). CU averaged a pack time of 20:21.62 on the 6-kilometer course. To put that into perspective, the runner-up, UNM, averaged 20:46.24.

The Buffs finished the race in a solid pack, finishing just a few seconds from each other. Sophomore Makena Morley led CU, tying for fourth overall (20:19.90). Right behind her was junior Kaitlyn Benner, who was sixth (20:20.30). Senior Erin Clark and sophomore Mackenzie Caldwell were seventh and eighth, respectively. Clark finished in 20:20.70 and Caldwell's time was 20:21.00. The final Buff to score was freshman Tabor Scholl, who was 10th with a time of 20:26.20.

Although they did not score, CU's other two racers placed very high. Sophomore Dani Jones finished 12th overall with a time of 20:27.50; while junior Melanie Nun was 21^st overall (20:50.80). With the top-25 finishes, all seven Buffaloes earned all-region recognition.

UNM's Alice Wright won the meet and was the only finisher to record a time under 20 minutes (19:59.90). UTEP's Winny Koech was second (20:17.10) and was followed closely by a pair of Air Force runners. Gillespie Carina was third (20:17.80) and Jaci Smith was fourth (20:19.90).

THE MEN'S RACE: Colorado's men, racing in their first 10k of the season, performed quite well, recording 76 points overall, which was three more than BYU's 79. Northern Arizona, the No. 1 team in the country, won the race with 60 points.

Redshirt freshman Joe Klecker recorded the best individual finish for CU in over 10 years when he crossed the line third overall. The last time a Buff earned a top three finish was in 2005 when current Colorado Assistant Coach Billy Nelson won the meet. Klecker, who was running his first collegiate 10k, finished in 30:59.20.

The pack Klecker ran in all came in within a few seconds. NAU's Futsum Zienasellassie was the region champion, finishing in 30:54.10, while UTEP's Jonah Koech was second (30:58.60). BYU's Nicolas Montanez was fourth (30:59.50), finishing just ahead of CU's No. 2 runner, sophomore John Dressel (30:59.70), who was fifth.

CU's third runner was junior Zach Perrin, who placed 16^th overall (31:16.70). After Perrin was senior Ben Saarel at 25^th (31:35.70). Sophomore Ryan Forsyth rounded out the team score with a 27th place finish (31:32.90). Klecker, Dressel, Perrin and Saarel all earned all-region honors with their top-25 finishes.

CU also had another pair of runners competing. Junior Christian Martin was 37th overall (31:49.80) and sophomore Ethan Gonzales finished 49th (32:14.70).

UP NEXT: The NCAA Championships are Saturday, Nov. 19, in Terre Haute, Ind. This will be the 32nd overall appearance for the women, while it will be the 42nd overall, 25th straight, appearance for the men.

QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Mark Wetmore
On the Women's Race:
"The strategy was to run near the top group and to just advance. We didn't talk to them about staying together, but they definitely were waiting and just letting the race unfold, being business-like."

On Makena Morley's Performance
"Makena [Morley] is from near here and had a bunch a family here, and I think she wanted to show off a little bit."

On the Fifth and Sixth Place Women Finishers
"To have our top six as close as they were on a day were they didn't have the pedal to the metal is encouraging."

On Women Being Prepared for Nationals
"I don't know if this prepares them. It could make them complacent, it could make them arrogant. I hope we can talk them down from this, get back to work and make them realize that there's a lot of good teams left in the country."

On Joe Klecker's Third Place Finish
"At 10,000 meters in elevation, as a freshman this is a really good run for him. This is the race he's been waiting for all season."

On Ben Saarel's Performance
"His finish was a little far back from him. But with him you never know what kind of academic load he had this week. He's a very serious student with an astronomical GPA, and generally swamped in school books. So he can probably go into the next race better rested."

On the Team Performance
"This is exactly what we were hoping for. That the women would advance easily, without have to go too deep into the well and the same for the men. The men came in ironically ranked second in the country but third in the region. We hoped to make second and advance, without having to wait till tomorrow. So I think we got everything we wanted."

RESULTS:
2016 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Steve & Dona Reeder Cross Country Course (Logan, Utah)

WOMEN'S 6K TEAM SCORES
1. Colorado 35; 2. New Mexico 109; 3. Air Force 111; 4. Utah 136; 5. BYU 146; 5. Colorado State 147; 7. Weber State 186; 8. Utah State 232; 9. UTEP 233; 10. Northern Arizona 262; 11. Wyoming 264; 12. Southern Utah 360; 13. Nevada 385; 14. Montana State 396; 15. Texas Tech 403; 16. Montana 411; 17. Utah Valley 473; 18. New Mexico State 487; 19. Northern Colorado 539; 20. Idaho State 545

WOMEN'S FINISHERS (Top 10 out of 135):
1. Alice Wright, New Mexico, 19:59.90; 2. Winny Koech, UTEP, 20:17.10; 3. Gillespie Carina, Air Force, 20:17.80; 4. Jaci Smith, Air Force, 20:19.90; 4. Makena Morley, Colorado, 20:19.90; 6. Kaitlyn Benner, Colorado, 20:20.30; 7. Erin Clark, Colorado, 20:20.70; 8. Mackenzie Caldwell, 20:21.00; 9. Ellie Child, Weber State, 20:21.90; 10. Tabor Scholl, Colorado, 20:26.20

Other CU Finishers: 12. Dani Jones, 20:27.50; 21. Melanie Nun, 20:50.80

MEN'S 10K TEAM SCORES
1. Northern Arizona 60; 2. Colorado 76; 3. BYU 79; 4. Colorado State 114; 5. UTEP 122; 6. Southern Utah 134; 7. Air Force 168; 8. Utah State 230; 9. New Mexico 237; 10. Weber State 266; 11. Wyoming 318; 12. Montana State 345; 13 Texas Tech 356; 14. Idaho State 408; 15. New Mexico State 419; 16. Utah Valley 434; 17. Montana 478

MEN'S FINISHERS (Top 10 out of 113):
1. Futsum Zienasellassie, Northern Arizona, 30:54.10; Jonah Koech, UTEP, 30:58.60; 3. Joe Klecker, Colorado, 30:59.20; 4. Nicolas Montanez, BYU, 30:59.50; 5. John Dressel, Colorado, 30:59.70; 6. Cory Glines, Northern Arizona, 30:59.90; 7. Tyler Day, Northern Arizona, 31:00.90; 8. Dillon Maggard, Utah State, 31:02.20; 9. Jerrell Mock, Colorado State, 31:02.70; 10. Benard Keter, Texas Tech, 31:07.70

Other CU Finishers:
16. Zach Perrin, Colorado, 31:16.70; 25. Ben Saarel, 31:25.70; 27. Ryan Forsyth, 31:32.90; 37. Christian Martin, 31:49.80; 49. Ethan Gonzales, 32:14.70