National and season recap

Braving below-zero temperatures and a pack of competitors, the

CSU cross country teams competed at the NCAA Championships Nov. 24

in Waterloo, Iowa.

The men ran to a 17th place finish overall, the women to

28th.

Ear muffs, tights and gloves didn’t distract the runners from

the mission at hand.

“It made the race go out a little slower,” said sophomore Josh

Glaab of the sub-freezing temperatures. “Once we started running I

didn’t think of anything else (but running), I was so into the

race.”

Austin Vigil led the men across the finish line, finishing the

10-kilometer race 31st overall while clocking in at 30 minutes, 18

seconds. He became the first Ram since Bryan Berryhill, in 2001, to

receive All-American honors.

Glaab narrowly missed joining Vigil as an All-American. He

finished 40th overall in 30:25.

“My goal was to get All-American, but I’m really happy with my

place,” Glaab said. “We put down a good race.”

Coach Del Hessel agreed and added that Vigil and Glaab along

with senior Bill Michel, “all ran their best race of the

season.”

Michel followed Vigil and Glaab, finishing 72nd in 30:49.

The men joined a group of runners from the Mountain Region among

the top 20. Northern Arizona (3rd), Colorado (6th), Air Force (8th)

and Brigham Young (19th) along with CSU solidified the region as

the nation’s best.

CU sophomore Dathan Ritzenhein won the men’s individual title,

finishing in 29:14.

The women left Iowa disappointed with the results. They felt

their finish was not indicative of their talent, Hessel said.

A crash early in the race put the women at a disadvantage that

proved too much to overcome. At about the 400-meter mark of the 6k

a runner slipped and a pile-up ensued. The frontrunners missed the

collision and continued on pace; however, most of the field was

stopped. Jenifer Kintzley took the brute of the fall for the Rams

as she was knocked over. Her teammates kept their pursuit, but the

loss of ground was out of reach.

Nicole Feest finished first for the Rams and 80th overall, in

21:18.

The women continued their season-long trend of running together.

Michelle Carman (112th), Katie Yemm (118th), Crystal Clark (127th)

and Colleen Blair (137th) all finished within 16-seconds of each

other.

Shalane Flanagan from North Carolina won the women’s individual

title for the second consecutive year.

The season ended short of the teams’ high hopes, but the runners

and coaches are keeping their heads high. Only a handful of teams

had both a men’s and a women’s team competing at nationals, putting

CSU among the nations elite.