Men Dominate To Win Pre-Nats, Women Tie For 7th

Pre-Nationals Results
| Bronco Invite Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Jake Hurysz raced to a fourth-place individual finish to help the University of Colorado men's cross country team to the team title at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational on Saturday morning at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park.

The CU men were ranked seventh nationally heading into the weekend and defeated No. 3 BYU, which placed second, by 55 points. The Buffs finished with a team score of 79 while the Cougars recorded a score of 129. No. 15 Oregon placed third in the meet with 152 points.

"We knew they were pretty fit heading into this meet, but they are pretty young and we weren't sure how they would respond to a meet of this caliber," coach Mark Wetmore said. "This is a lot faster meet than what they've seen this year. They responded well, better than I hoped, and put them in a nice position for the conference meet."

The CU men finished 4-11-12-22-23. Hurysz came across the finish line in 23 minutes, 19.5 seconds, just ahead of three runners that finished in under 23:21. UTEP's Anthony Rotich won the 8-kilometer race in 23:01.0.

"His (Jake) workouts have been good leading up to this meet and he has taken a big step in his fitness since a year ago," Wetmore said. "He was a little conservative today and is still learning his own fitness. He closed very well and is progressing very nicely."

Blake Theroux and Hugh Dowdy placed 11th and 12th, respectively. Theroux finished .04 seconds in front of his teammate as he clocked a time of 23:38.8. Dowdy was just on Theroux's heels with a time of 23:39.2.

CU's fourth and fifth harriers also came in together. Pierce Murphy was 22nd and Martin Medina took 23th. They both came into the finish with the time of 23:49.5.  Aric Van Halen and Connor Winter also ran for CU but did not score. Van Halen was 27th (23:52.2) and Winter placed 35th (23:55.7).

The No. 18 CU women's team tied No. 24 Villanova for seventh-place as both teams scored 273 points. Shalaya Kipp was the top runner for the Buffs, coming in at 21st in her first race since the steeplechase preliminary rounds at the Olympic Games in August. Kipp finished the 6k course just out of the top-20 in 20:28.7.

"She was a little further back than what we had hoped for today, but she didn't have a lot of rest this year between her track season and cross country," Wetmore said. "Shalaya will continue to train and we will keep getting rid of the rust as the season progresses."

Freshman Carrie Verdon took 37th overall in the meet, crossing second for the Buffs in 20:53.7. Jana Stolting was CU's third harrier to finish, doing so in 55th place (21:07.4). Rachel Viger was 66th (21:13.9) and Courtney Bouchet rounded out the team score by taking 94th (21:31.5).

The Buffs other runners in the women's race were Lara Darco and Camille Logan. Darco took 105th (21:37.3) and Logan placed 113th (21:41.9).

"We knew we weren't entirely ready for this meet and that we have some work to do," Wetmore said. "Shalaya and Lara hadn't run this season and Carrie is just a freshman, so we had cautious expectations for this race. Now it is time to get back to work and improve on today's performances."

Kipp echoed Wetmore's remarks.

"Our women's team will leave Kentucky knowing there is improvement to be had and we are very optimistic for rest of the season," she said. "This was our first opportunity to all race together and work together. Now it's time to get back to work and prepare for conference in two weeks."

Another part of the CU team was competing at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational on Saturday on the other side of the country in Sunnyvale, Calif. The CU women placed sixth with 187 points and the men also took sixth with 201 points. Cal State San Marcos won the women's race with 104 points and San Francisco took the men's title with 146 points.

Diana George was the top finisher for the women, crossing the 5k finish line 13th overall in 17:29.6. Staci Foster was second for CU with a 26th-place finish (17:46.8). Nikki Look was 32nd (17:52.1), Catrina McAlister was 41st (17:59.8) and Becky Popiel placed 145th (19:56.4).

David Kilgore led the men with a 10th-place finish, crossing in 24:18.0. Jerome Perkins took 15th overall (24:24.6) and Dillon Shije was 25th (24:35.7). Ryan Savercool was 77th (25:17.9) and Jeff Warren rounded out CU's score with a 111th-place finish (25:34.0).

"Our teams did well in Santa Clara and had some nice individual performances as well," Wetmore said. "It was a very nice run for David up front (10th). We are happy with the progress everyone is making."

The Buffs will be off next weekend before competing at the Pac-12 Championship on Saturday, Oct. 27, in Santa Clarita, Calif. UCLA will host the meet.  

NCAA PRE-NATIONALS
E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park (Louisville, Ky.)

Top 10 Men's RED Team Scores: 1. Colorado, 79; 2. BYU, 127; 3. Oregon, 152; 4. Florida State, 275; 5. Duke, 287; 6. Virginia Tech, 288; 7. Tulsa, 292; 8. Villanova, 338; 9. Georgetown, 351; 10. Florida, 369; 10. Eastern Michigan, 369.

Top 15 Individuals: 1. Anthony Rotich, UTEP, 23:01.0; 2. Paul Chelimo, UNCG, 23:14.0; 3. Terefe Ejigu, EMU, 23:15.7; 4. Jake Hurysz, CU, 23:19.5; 5. Trevor Dunbar, 23:02.5; 6. William Mulherin, VT, 23:20.5; 7. David Rooney, MSU, 23:20.7; 8. Jared Ward, BYU, 23:22.4; 9. Parker Stinson, UO, 23:24.8; 10. Jakub Zivec, FSU, 23:29.3; 11. Blake Theroux, CU, 23:38.8; 12. Hugh Dowdy, CU, 23:39.2; 13. Jim Spisak, DU, 23:40.6; 14. Nate Jewkes, SUU, 23:42.1; 15. Andy Heyes, Tulsa, 23:42.4.

Other CU Finishers: 22. Pierce Murphy, 23:49.5; 23. Martin Medina, 23:49.5; 27. Aric Van Halen, 23:52.2; 35. Connor Winter, 23:55.7.

Black Unseeded 8k Individual Results (CU Individuals Only)

(1.  Joseph Chebet, WKU, 23:56.7) 4. Matt Biegner, 24:21.4; 11. Morgan Pearson, 24:35.1; 14. Jonny Stevens, 24:40.9

Top 10 Women's RED Team Scores : 1. Florida State, 72; 2. Oregon, 87; 3. Michigan, 141; 4. Georgetown, 163; 5. Texas, 184; 6. William & Mary, 266; 7. Colorado, 273; 7. Villianova, 273; 9. Florida, 308; 10. UC Davis, 320.

Top 15 Individuals: 1. Aliphone Tuliamuk-Bolton, WSU, 19:43.9; 2. Risper Kimaiyo, UTEP, 19:46.0; 3. Alexi Pappas, UO, 19:56.9; 4. Violah Lagat, FSU, 20:00.6; 5. Jordan Hasay, UO, 20:02.4; 6. Colleen Quigley, FSU, 20:06.4; 7. Emily Lipari, VU, 20:06.9; 8. Cally Macumber, UK, 20:09.0; 9. Sara Sutherland, UT, 20:10.7; 10. Jillian Smith, UM, 20:13.7; 11. Katie Clark, BU, 20:14.4; 12. Sarah Sumpter, UCD, 20:15.0; 13. Julie Accurso, OU, 20:15.6; 14. Amanda Winslow, FSU, 20:15.9; 15. Amanda Mergaert, UU, 20:19.2.

Other CU Finishers: 21. Shalaya Kipp, 20:28.7; 37. Carrie Verdon, 20:53.7; 55. Jana Stolting, 21:07.4; 66. Rachel Viger, 21:13.9; 94. Courtney Bouchet, 21:31.5; 105. Lara Darco, 21:37.3; 113. Camille Logan, 21:41.9

Black Unseeded 6k Individual Results (CU Individuals Only)

(1.  Kayla Lampe, USC, 21:03.5) 16. Liz Tremblay, 21:49.7

SANTA CLARA BRONCO INVITATIONAL

Baylands Park (Sunnyvale, Calif.)

Women's Team Finishes

1.  Cal State San Marcos, 104; 2. Long Beach State, 110; 3. New Mexico State, 111; 4. British Columbia, 140; 5. Fresno State, 184; 6. Colorado, 187; 7. Cal State Fullerton, 204; 8. UC Davis, 224; 9. Santa Clara, 227; 10. UCLA, 235; 11. Sacramento State, 236; 12. St. Mary's (Calif.), 239; 13. Idaho State, 250; 14. Chico State, 253; 15. The Masters, 332; 16. San Diego, 383.

Women's 5k Invitational (CU Finishers Only)

(1. Taylor Dutch, unattached, 16:59.1) 13. Diana George, 17:29.6; 26. Staci Foster, 17:46.8; 32. Nikki Look, 17:52.1; 41. Catrina McAlister, 17:59.8; 145. Becky Popiel, 19:56.4.

Men's Team Finishes

1.  San Francisco, 146; 2. UC Davis, 158; 3. Chico State, 186; 4. American River, 191; 5. UCLA, 197; 6. Colorado, 201; 7. Sacramento State, 208; 8. New Mexico State, 213; 9. British Columbia, 226; 10. Cal State San Marcos, 227; 11. Fresno State, 230; 12. California, 266; 13. Santa Clara, 278; 13. St. Mary's (Calif.) 278; 15. Idaho State, 296; 16. The Masters, 317; 17. Long Beach State, 385; 18. Cal State Fullerton, 410; 19. San Diego, 444

Men's 8k Invitational (CU Finishers Only)

(1. John Gilbertson, The Masters, 23:40.3) 10. David Kilgore, 24:18.0; 15. Jerome Perkins, 24:24.6; 25. Dillon Shije, 24:35.7; 77. Ryan Savercool, 25:17.9; 111. Jeff Warren, 25:34.0.