Men Finish Second at Regionals, Women Place Fourth

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The University of Colorado men's cross country team recorded a second-place finish on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship to earn their 28^th straight trip to the NCAA Championships, coming up on Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind.

The CU women finished fourth in their race and will have to wait to see if they have advanced. The NCAA announces the 31-team field on Saturday, Nov. 16.

The top two teams in each race receive an automatic berth, but Colorado Head Coach Mark Wetmore is quite optimistic the women will be joining the men in Terre Haute next Saturday.

"I'd be surprised if we don't advance," he said.

THE MEN'S RACE: With the top three teams in the nation racing against each other, No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 2 BYU and No. 3 Colorado, it was going to be a race to the finish.

NAU placed all five of its scorers in the top nine, which included the first three finishers, to win the meet with 21 points. BYU and CU battled it out for second place and after the completion of the 10-kilometer race, the Buffs edged the Cougars, 53-56. This was the second meeting between the two teams as they raced against each other at NCAA Pre-Nationals where BYU defeated CU by two points (81-83).

The top three teams were in a league of their own as they were the only teams to finish with less than 100 points. Utah State placed fourth with 106 points.

"I was happy with the men," Wetmore said "Nobody had a real bad day."

The Buffs ran a great team race. They started off fourth after the 1k split and from then on, were second or third. Senior John Dressel was the top performer for CU. He placed fifth, which tied his best regional finish. Dressel crossed the finish in 30:35.5.

"I'm glad he felt well and I know he was holding back a little bit," Wetmore said. "I'd like to think he can have another good race eight days from now. He's been solid for us for four years."

Dressel ran in the lead pack for the majority of the race with a few teammates as most of CU's scorers were right up there. One of his teammates, true freshman Kashon Harrison, ended up placing seventh overall. He finished his first 10k cross country race in 30:42.4.

Senior Joe Klecker and junior Eduardo Herrera also ran excellent races and finished 11^th and 12^th, respectively. Klecker (30:48.5) finished almost 1.5 seconds in front of Herrera (30:49.9).

Then there was redshirt freshman Gabe Fendel, who has been getting better in every race this season. He was CU's fifth runner and recorded an 18th-place finish in 31:03.7. Fendel, like the four who scored in front of him, ran in the lead pack.

Notably missing in the race for CU was junior Alec Hornecker, who had been a solid fifth runner for the Buffs this season, but there is no reason to worry.

"We will plug him back in next week and hopefully we'll get a better score," Wetmore said.

The Buffs also had two others in the race. Austin Vancil, a true freshman, finished 40th overall in 31:39.1, while junior Paxton Smith finished 51^st in 31:58.7.

NAU's Geordie Beamish won in 30:25.6 and was followed by teammates Luis Grijalva and Brodey Hasty, who finished second and third, respectively.

THE WOMEN'S RACE:
The Buffs, who were ranked eighth nationally, ended up fourth behind No. 3 BYU (70), No. 10 New Mexico (83) and No. 15 Air Force (107). CU's 113 points helped it defeat No. 9 Utah (116), which had edged them twice this season.

In this stacked region, the Buffs' main goal was to advance to the NCAA Championship and given the points CU has collected this season, the Buffs should move on.

Colorado senior Sage Hurta led the Buffs with a ninth-place finish. She earned a time of 20:09.4 in the 6-kilometer run. She ran a pretty steady race. She was 17^th after the 2k split and was 10^th at the midway point.

"This is a better race than a couple weeks ago," said Wetmore. "I know that she was deliberately being careful and saving a gear today. I think she's set up pretty well for next Saturday."

Second on the team for CU was Rachel McArthur. She finished 20^th overall after completing the course in 20:35.4. McArthur worked her way up in the field. Through the 2k mark, she was 33^rd, but by 3k, she had improved to 24^th. McArthur was 22^nd after 5k and raced past two to record the top 20 finish.

Right behind McArthur was teammate Holly Bent. Running in her first regional meet, she placed 21^st overall with a time of 20:37.0. She was very consistent as she stayed in the top 30 from 29^th at the 2k split, to 21^st at the end.

A very pleasant surprise for the Buffs was their fourth harrier, Karina Mann. This was the senior's first appearance at regionals and she made it count, finishing 27^th overall in 20:46.6.

"Karina did a great job today," Wetmore said. "Today was her best race ever for us in cross country season. She's had a solid season but this kind of capped it off today and helped the team advance."

The final scorer for CU was Annie Hill. She recorded a 35^th-place finish in 21:02.3.

Also racing for CU was Liz Constien. She placed 43^rd in 21:09.4.

Missing from the results was senior Tabor Scholl. She suffered an injury during the race and was unable to finish.

"We're lucky," Wetmore said. "We have Annie, Rachel, Holly. Karina had a good day. Someone had to fill in when someone else went down. It was not a brilliant day for any of them but this is a hard race for us every year in the aspect that we kind of come in looking beyond it which is kind of dangerous. Now we have to rest up, focus up and get Tabor's injury well."

New Mexico's Weini Kelati won the individual title in 18:58.7, almost a full minute in front of her teammate, Ednuh Kurgat (19:55.9).

ALL-REGION: The top 25 individuals in each race were named to the All-Mountain Region Team. CU placed five men and three women on the team. Those men are: John Dressel, Kashon Harrison, Joe Klecker, Eduardo Herrera and Gabe Fendel. The women are: Sage Hurta, Rachel McArthur and Holly Bent.

NCAA SELECTION SHOW: The NCAA will announce the additional 13 teams for the NCAA Championships during a selection show on Saturday, Nov. 16. The show will be streamed online at NCAA.com starting at 3 p.m.

UP NEXT: The NCAA Championships are Saturday, November 23, in Terre Haute, Ind., at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The women's race is first at 9:15 a.m. MT, while the men will race at 10:15 a.m. MT. More information is available at NCAA.com.

RESULTS:
2019 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS
Rose Park Golf Course (Salt Lake City, Utah.)

Women's 6k Team Results:
1. BYU 70; 2. New Mexico 83; 3. Air Force 107; 4. Colorado 113; 5. Utah, 116; 6. Northern Arizona 146; 7. Weber State 244; 8. Southern Utah, 267; 9. Utah State 269; 10. Colorado State 281; 11. UTEP 313; 12. Wyoming 317; 13. Utah Valley, 334; 14. Texas Tech 340.5; 15. Montana State 365; 16. Montana 402; 17. New Mexico State 405; 18. Idaho State 492; 19. Neveda 541.

Women's 6k Individual Results (top 10):
1. Weini Kelati, UNM, 18.58.7; 2. Ednah Kurgat, UNM, 19:55.9; 3. Erica Birk, BYU, 19:57.7; 4. Courtney Wayment, BYU, 20:03.5; 5. Camila Noe, MSU, 20:04.5; 6. Alison Pray, SUU, 20:06.0; 7. Olivia Hoj, BYU, 20:07.9; 8. Maria Mettler, AFA, 20:08.1; 9. Sage Hurta, CU, 20:09.4; 10. Mahala Norris, AFA, 20:09.5.

Other CU Finishers:
20. Rachel McArthur, 20:35.4; 21. Holly Bent, 20:37.0; 27. Karina Mann, 20:46.6; 35. Annie Hill, 21:02.3; 43. Liz Constien, 21:09.4

Men's 10k Team Results:
1. Northern Arizona 21; 2. Colorado 53; 3. BYU 56; 4. Utah State 106; 5. Weber State 158; 6. Wyoming 217; 7. Utah Valley 250; 8. Southern Utah 252; 9. Air Force 257; 10. Montana State 279; 11. Colorado State 305; 12. New Mexico 329; 13. UTEP 347; 14. Idaho State 399; 15. New Mexico State 407; 16. Texas Tech 413; 17. Northern Colorado 426; 18. Nevada 573; 19. Montana 576.

Men's 10k Individual Results (top 10)
1. Geordie Beamish, NAU, 30:25.6; 2. Luis Grijalva, NAU, 30:27.8; 3. Brodey Hasty, NAU, 30:30.8; 4. Conner Mantz, BYU, 30:32.6; 5. John Dressel, CU, 30:35.5; 6. Abdihamid Nur, NAU, 30:39.0; 7. Kashon Harrison, CU, 30:42.4; 8. Jacob Heslington, BYU, 30:43.3; 9. Ryan Raff, NAU, 30:44.1; 10. Daniel Carney, BYU, 30:44.3.

Other CU Finisher:
11. Joe Klecker, 30:48.5; 12. Eduardo Herrera, 30:48.9; 18. Gabe Fendel, 31:03.7; 40. Austin Vancil, 31:39.1; 51. Paxton Smith, 31:58.7.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Holly Bent

John Dressel

Gabe Fendel

Kashon Harrison

Eduardo Herrera

Annie Hill

Alec Hornecker

Sage Hurta

Joe Klecker

Karina Mann

Rachel McArthur

Tabor Scholl

Paxton Smith

Austin Vancil