Men Place First, Women Second at Joe Piane Invitational

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The University of Colorado cross country teams were finally able to get their varsity racers on the course here Friday at the Joe Piane Invitational at Burke Golf Course, as the men's team captured the team title in the 'Blue' division race and the women recorded a runner-up finish.

Although the Buffaloes ran a month ago at the Wyoming Invitational, this was the first time CU put its varsity teams on the course as several athletes ran unattached in the prior meet.

"We had the results today that we needed on both the men's and women's sides to be in good position in November," head coach Mark Wetmore said.

The men recorded an impressive 36-point victory over No. 14 Ole Miss (71-107) and finished over 100 points in front of the third-place finisher, No. 15 NC State (177). The women lost to Utah, 110-116, but bested No. 17 Florida State (129), No. 8 NC State (139) and No. 6 Washington (144).

CU's men were ranked fourth in the USTFCCCA Poll heading into the meet and were the highest ranked team in the men's field which featured 11 teams in the top-30. The top-ranked CU women ran in a field that included nine other ranked teams.

WOMEN'S RACE:
Colorado placed four women in the top 25 of the 5-kilometer race and were led by senior Sage Hurta. The three-time All-American recorded a time of 16:29.82 and was followed closely by teammate Tabor Scholl, who was 12^th overall (16:32.46).

The other two Buffs who finished in the top 25 were redshirt freshman Annie Hill and junior transfer Rachel McArthur. Hill recorded a 20^th overall finish in 16:42.61, while McArthur was right on her heels, finishing 21^st in 16:44.86. Colorado's final scorer was senior Karina Mann, who finished 53^rd (17:08.12).

"That's a good race for where we are in our development for the season," Wetmore said. "Sage was a little higher at 4k than she was at 5k, so I think she might have been overly optimistic along the middle parts of the course. Annie has been away from cross country racing for two years and I'm happy with that race. All in all the women were pretty good. We might still yet plug in one or two more people who are back home healing up from minor bumps and bangs. We got what we needed from this weekend."

The women ran a smart race and had two others entered, although they did not score. Redshirt freshman Bailey Nock was 79^th overall (17:24.75) and freshman Rylee Robinson was 81^st (17:27.56). The Buffs were happy with their performance, but know there is time to make the improvements needed for the postseason.

"Utah is a little better than we thought, but we know we are a little rusty," Wetmore said. "This is our first race. We know how conservative we ran it."

Weini Kelati (New Mexico) won the meet in 16:01.61, over 10 seconds in front of the runner-up, Wisconsin's Alicia Monson, who crossed the finish in 16:13.73.

MEN'S RACE:
Like the women, the men had a good showing, placing all five of their scorers in the top 30 as all moved up well during the race. Joe Klecker, a two-time All-American, was the third overall harrier, CU's first, to finish the 5-mile race in 23:17.83. He was joined in the top 10 by fellow senior John Dressel, who was 10^th overall in 23:32.44.

Junior Eduardo Herrera had a nice race and finished 14^th (23:36.64). He was followed closely by true freshman Kashon Harrison, who placed 18^th after clocking in at 23:43.14. The Buffs fifth scorer was senior Alec Hornecker. He was 26^th in the meet, finishing in 23:57.65.

The Buffs had two other harriers in the race. Redshirt freshman Gabe Fendel recorded a time of 24:14.73 for 46^th and Paxton Smith was 86^th (24:36.54).

"This meet had a lot of teams in the top 30, it didn't have many in the top 10," Wetmore said. "We are happy with how we did; we're happy with how the fellas moved up along the way in the race. We need to get Gabe (Fendel) a little fitter, but this was Kashon's first real college race and it was Alex Hornecker's first time in a cross country uniform for us. Like in the women's race, we got what we needed."

Alabama had the top two individual finishers with Vincent Kiprop (23:09.88) and Gilbert Kigen (23:17.70).

UP NEXT: The Buffs have a small group competing at the Roadrunner Invitational, Saturday, Oct. 5, in Denver.

JOE PIANE INVITATIONAL BLUE DIVISION RESULTS
Women's Team: 1. Utah 110; 2. Colorado 116; 3. Florida State 129; 4. North Carolina State 139; 5. Washington 144; 6. Wisconsin 157; 7. New Mexico 181; 8. Notre Dame 244; 9. Minnesota 265; 10. Ole Miss 288; 11. Boston College 194; 12. Indiana 321; 13. Butler 325; 14. Alabama 415; 15. Colorado State 419; 16. Arizona 439; 17. Iowa State 459; 18. Weber State 470; 19. Auburn 487; 20. North Carolina 511; 21. Purdue 518; 22. Iowa 542; 23. Utah Valley 603; 24. Bradley 654.

Top 10 Individuals:
1. Weini Kelati, UNM, 16:01.61; 2. Alicia Monson, Wisconsin, 16:13.73; 3. Joyce Kimeli, Auburn, 16:20.69; 4. Melany Smart, Washington, 16:22.79; 5. Ednuh Kurgat, UNM, 16:23.81; 6. Anna Rohrer, Notre Dame, 16:24.71; 7. Bailey Hertenstein, Indiana, 16:26.68; 8. Cailie Logue, ISU, 16:27.67; 9. Elly Henes, NC State, 16:29.27; 10. Sage Hurta, CU, 16:29.82.

Women's Individual (CU Only): 12. Tabor Scholl, 16:32.46; 20. Annie Hill, 16:42.61, 21. Rachel McArthur, 16:44.86; 53. Karina Mann, 17:08.12; 79. Bailey Nock, 17:24.75; 88. Rylee Robinson, 17:27.56.

Men's Team: 1. Colorado 71; 2. Ole Miss 107; 3. North Carolina St. 177; 4. Purdue 178; 5. Notre Dame 187; 6. Indiana 195; 7. Michigan 213; 8. Wisconsin 244; 9. Eastern Kentucky 254; 10. Florida State 266; 11. Georgetown 269; 12. Iowa 282; 13. Wyoming 288; 14. Gonzaga 310; 15. Weber State 321; 16. Alabama 426; 17. New Mexico 445; 18. Colorado St. 468; 19. Bradley 470; 20. Belmont 495; 21. North Carolina 536; 22. Arizona 582.

Top 10 Individuals:
1. Vincent Kiprop, Alabama, 23:09.88; 2. Gilbert Kigen, Alabama, 23:13.70; 3. Joe Klecker, CU, 23:17.83; 4. Kyle Mau, IU, 23:23.34; 5. Oliver Hoare, Wisconsin, 23:24.91; 6. Yared Nuguse, Notre Dame, 23:28.10; 7. Ian Shanklin, NC State, 23:29.64; 8. James Mwaura, Gonzaga, 23:30.80; 9. Ezekiel Kibichii, Eastern Kentucky, 23:31.30; 10. John Dressel, CU, 23:32.44.

Men's Individuals (CU Only): 14. Eduardo Herrera, 23:36.64; 18. Kashon Harrison, 23:43.14; 26. Alec Hornecker, 23:57.65; 46. Gabe Fendel, 24:12.73; 86. Paxton Smith, 24:36.54.

Men Place First, Women Second at Joe Piane Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

John Dressel

Gabe Fendel

Kashon Harrison

Eduardo Herrera

Annie Hill

Alec Hornecker

Sage Hurta

Joe Klecker

Karina Mann

Rachel McArthur

Bailey Nock

Rylee Robinson

Tabor Scholl

Paxton Smith