WSCU cross-country closes out season at Nationals in Spokane

Women third, men fourth place

For the 22nd time in 27 years, the Mountaineer women’s cross country team finished in the top three at the national championships while the men placed fourth in Spokane, Wash. on Saturday, November 23.
Paced by two All-Americans, the Mountaineer women scored 194 points, finishing behind Adams State (91) and champion Grand Valley State (54).
Senior Anna Marshall (Sr., Pueblo, Colo.) led the way for Western, finishing in 19th place. Marshall finished the 6,000-meter course in a time of 21:34.2 to earn her first All-American title. 

Julie Pack (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) earned her second cross country All-American title and third overall, finishing 35th with a time of 21:46.8. Pack was an All-American last year in cross country and earned All-American status in the 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2013.


 

Just missing the All-American cut was Western’s Melanie Becic (Jr., Portland, Ore.) who paced 44th with a time of 21:54.0, just four places off earning the honor. Amy Penn (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished 70th with a time of 22:22.8 and teammate Tara Richardson (Sr., Wiggins, Colo.) finished just behind in 71st place with a time of 22:23.0. Cassie Ortiz (Sr., Fort Collins, Colo.) finished 76th with a time of 22:25.2 and Torie Weprin (Jr., Lafayette, Colo.) rounded out the Mountaineer runners with a 129th-place finish (22:52.0).
Vegard Olstad (Jr., Gjovik, Norway) finished in second place individually to lead the Mountaineer men’s cross country team to a fourth-place finish. It’s the fourth time since 1986 the men have finished fourth at the national championships.

Western finished with a team score of 137 points, finishing behind Augustana (122), Grand Valley State (104) and Adams State (54). 

The Mountaineers had two runners earn All-American honors. Finishing second with a time of 30:01.7, Olstad earned his first cross country All-American title and his second overall while at Western. Garrett Wilson (Sr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) finished 15th with a time of 30:53.9, earning his first All-American honor.


Finishing just out of All-American status for Western was Ian Butler (Sr., Lakewood, Colo.) and Bryon Puentes (Fr., Downey, Calif.). Butler, an All-American last year, finished just two spots from the All-American cut-off in 42nd place with a time of 31:19.7. Puentes finished 48th with a time of 31:27.5.


Rounding out the race for the Mountaineer men were runners Keifer Johnson (Fr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Michael Cernoia (So., Pueblo, Colo.) and Tyler Saiz (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M.). Johnson, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, finished in 60th place with a time of 31:37.0. Cernoia ended the race in 105th place with a time of 32:20.9 and Saiz was just behind Cernoia in 106th place (32:21.0).