RMAC's

Mountaineer Men and Women both take Second At RMAC Championships

Oct 22, Pueblo, CO - The Western State women's cross country team finished 2nd at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship in Pueblo, Colorado Saturday in a battle between the 2nd and forth ranked teams in the nation. The Mountaineer women finished with 43 points, only 10 behind Adams State's 33. In the process, the Mountaineers crowns their forth conference champion since joining the RMAC with the women's team in 1982. Sophomore Esther Komen won the championship over the 6,000 meter course at the Elmwood Golf Course. Komen ran 21:42 to outdistance 2nd place Shannon Payne of UCCS by 8 seconds. Komen join Elva Dryer (twice), Tuma Urio and Alisha Williams as Western State conference champions. Komen was named RMAC Runner of the Year. The Mountaineers' junior, Agenes Kroneraff and freshman Elsa Goshu made the All-Conference team, finishing 5th and 10th. Goshu was named RMAC Freshman of the Year. Mountaineers freshman barely missed the All-Conference squad with an 11th pace finish. Sophomore Jenny Hockman was 15th, Junior Natalie Provost 18th and senior Jann Johnson 21st to round off the to 7 for WSC. Western State sophomore Lisa Thomas was 23rd and sophomore Molly Clauss was 36th. The Mountaineer women's next competition will be the North Central Regional Championships on November 4th in Wayne, Nebraska.

Led by sophomore Kim Hogarth's 2nd place finish, the Western State men's cross country team finished second to top ranked Adams State Saturday at the Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo, Colorado. Hogarth ran a blistering 24:49 over the 8,000 meter course, which is at an elevation od 4695 feet in elevation. He was joined on the All-Conference teams by sophomore Aaron Cark who finished 8th in the time of 25:25. The Mountaineers finished with 52 points to Adams States' 19. The Mountaineers showed great balance of depth in the meet, putting all 9 runners in the top 21. Behind Clark were senior Cole Murch - 13th, sophomore Jason Graham - 14th, junior Scott Dahlberg - 15th, senior Zach Cordel - 16th, senior Andrew Hoffman - 17th, freshman Aaron Flower 20th and junior Jesse Chettle rounded off the team with a 21 place finish. En route to their 2nd place finish the 6th ranked Mountaineers who are defending national champions, defeated 5th ranked Colorado Mines. The Mountaineer men, like the women, now get ready for the North Central Regional meet in 2 weeks.