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.
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