MWC Championship Recap

While creative costumes abounded a snowy Fort Collins on

Halloween night, the CSU cross country teams bonded at a pre-race

banquet and in front of a hotel TV. The next morning as cavities

and hangovers blanketed the city, the team was up and running in

the Mountain West Conference Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

The women finished second and the men third.

Facing the two-time defending national champion Brigham Young,

the CSU women’s goal was to run their best and hopefully keep the

Cougars from a perfect score. They accomplished each.

Although BYU won, they did not finish one through five and the

Rams, led by Katie Yemm, finished strong.

“I’m impressed with the effort they gave,” coach Del Hessel

said. “They were the only team that even remotely challenged

(BYU).”

Yemm led for nearly three kilometers of the 6-kilometer race,

Hessel said. She finished ninth overall in 22 minutes, 17 seconds.

A host of Rams finished not far behind her.

The women entered the race feeling a little flat, but the

second-place finish gave the Rams a reason to be optimistic, Yemm

said.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” she said. “It was good to

see we could still race well when not feeling great.”

The women left the race with confidence; the men with a feeling

of dissatisfaction.

Austin Vigil paced the Rams, finishing the men’s 8k course third

overall in 24: 42. Bill Michel (fourth, 24:49) and Josh Glaab

(sixth, 24:59) finished in the top 10, but runner Mike Nicks

withdrew from the competition because of an illness.

The coaching staff chose to run Nicks, hoping he could run

through his sickness, but after racing in the top 10 for three

miles Nicks slowly began to sink back. Hessel made the call to have

him withdraw.

Air Force took advantage of the illness and finished first.

Nicks’ absence left a huge hole in the Rams finish. With him

they would have easily run away with the title, Hessel said.

“Sometimes you just got to have some good fortune to go along

with great talent,” Hessel said.

No such luck this weekend, but with two weeks to get healthy

both the men and women are looking to stomp the competition at the

upcoming Mountain Regional meet on Nov. 15.