GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Men's Cross Country team won the RMAC crown and the Oredigger women claimed silver on Saturday morning at the 2019 conference championships hosted by Colorado Mesa at Tiara Rado Golf Course.
 
RMAC Runner of the Year Dylan Ko carried Mines' men to their third title in the last four years as he raced to individual gold in a time of 23:20.9. Ko's 8,000-meter time was nearly 10 seconds faster than silver medalist Taylor Stack of Western Colorado who finished #5 in the nation at last year's NCAA Cross Country Championships. All five of the Orediggers' scorers finished inside the top 10 with Mines' top seven finishing 20th or better. In total, the Oredigger men claimed nine All-RMAC honors with Ko, Kyle Moran, Luc Hagen, Ben Schneiderman, Jake Mitchem and Max Sevcik earning first-team distinction while Bo Raadam, Joseph Wolfe and Miller Kettle claimed Second-Team All-RMAC accolades. Additionally, Moran was named the RMAC Freshman of the Year and head coach Chris Siemers was voted RMAC Men's XC Coach of the Year.
 
Chloe Cook was the lady who helped Mines' women match the best team finish in program history. Cook crossed the finish line in fourth place after racing the 6,000-meter course in 20:24.8, marking the fastest 6K time of her career. It was also the highest finish ever at a RMAC Championship for the redshirt senior. Cook's fourth-place finish highlighted a total of seven All-RMAC honorees for the Orediggers. Zoe Baker and Morgan Molesworth joined Cook on the first team. Maddie Geesen, Molly Maksin, Brin Strouse and Brook Eberle accounted for Mines' second-team contingency. In total, the Oredigger women placed eight individuals in the top 31.
 
In the team scoring, Mines' men put together a stingy total of 28 points, which was 45 less than second-place Adams State. Western State, which came in ranked #5 in the nation, rounded out the top three on the men's side with 76 points, just three back of #2-ranked ASU. For the women, the Orediggers were second only to Adams State which entered the weekend ranked #1 in the nation. Mines scored 60 points compared to ASU's 21. Western Colorado also rounded out the top three on the women's side with 88 points after entering the race ranked #6 in NCAA Division II.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday's sunrise painted a glow off the mesa's of the Colorado National Monument with the temperature below freezing. However, when the time to race arrived, temps had risen into the 50's and the skies were brushed with pure blue. With that as the backdrop, the 2019 RMAC Women's Cross Country Championships started the day with the pop of the starter's gun and a small plume of smoke. Mines' women would quickly position themselves near the front of the pack.
 
The duo of Cook and Baker entered the top 10 early and did not falter for the entire 6,000 meters as Cook crossed the line in fourth place and Baker (20:48.7) came in ninth as the second runner for the Orediggers. Molesworth dropped Mines' score even further as she came in 13th, running 21:01.3 with Geesen just five seconds behind in 15th, posting a time of 21:06.6. Then, Maksin (21:25.0) came in 19th, Strouse (21:32.8) finished 24th and Eberle claimed 28th place to round out the Orediggers' top seven. Melina Endsley and Mackenzie Duck capped Mines' contingency in 31st and 58th, respectively.
 
Less than 30 minutes separated the end of the women's race and the start of the men's race. But temperatures continued to rise and the skies remained pure blue. The sound of the gun once again brought a herd of Orediggers to the front of the pack. While Western State's Stack entered as the favorite and led most of the race, it was a late move from Ko that positioned the redshirt sophomore for Gold.
 
Entering the final 2,000-meter loop, Ko's teammates said he still trailed Stack by at least a football field. However, more than 100 meters was not too much for the young Oredigger to handle. With 1,000 meters, two turns and the home stretch still remaining, Ko kicked his pace into another gear and blew past Stack to build a 10-meter lead over the final straightaway. Ko only seemed to pick up speed down the home stretch and crossed the finish line in first place behind a time of 23:20.9.
 
The Orediggers' next runner finished 28 seconds later as Moran claimed fifth place in 23:48.0. Hagen and Schneiderman were neck-and-neck for sixth and seventh place as shown by times of 23:58.8 and 23:59.0. Then, Mitchem and Sevcik went ninth and 10th in 24:01.9 and 24:13.4 to give Mines six runners in the top 10. Raadam (24:36.5), Wolfe (24:55.2) and Kettle (25:02.8) rounded it out in 17th, 21st and 27th.
 
The final race of the day was the open event. Five men and one woman competed in an Oredigger uniform. Joe Vandiver took ninth, Trevor Lockman finished 11th, Nathan Davis was 17th, Andrew Kaye was 20th and John O'Malley took 38th on the men's side. Alex Raichart represented the women and finished fourth.
 
NOTABLES
- Through four races in 2019, Mines' men and women have finished no lower than second place as a team.
- Chloe Cook was the top American runner in the RMAC women's race as all three racers ahead of her hail from the country of Ireland.
- The first time the Oredigger women took silver as a team was 2017, scoring 61 points. Cook finished #9 in that race.
- Mines' men won their last RMAC title in 2017 as well. The Orediggers scored 26 points and Schneiderman finished 12th.
- Ko is Mines' first individual champion since Grant Colligan won gold in 2017, running a time of 24:59.9 in Chadron, Neb.
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers will take a week off before heading to the NCAA South Central Regional Championships hosted by West Texas A&M at The Range in Canyon, Texas on Nov. 9. Coverage information will be available the week leading up to the race at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines XC on Twitter and Instagram at @csmtrack. They can also keep up with all of Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.