Results

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Colorado School of Mines Men's and Women's Cross Country teams made history across the board on Saturday at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships as the Oredigger men raced to a NCAA Division II National Title and the women completed a national third-place finish at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course at Haggin Oaks.
 
It marks the men's second national crown in the last five years and highest finish in women's program history. Additionally, both teams posted their lowest team scores ever at a national meet and the men won by the largest margin since 1978 – over 40 years ago. The women finished with a score of 133 behind three all-America performances. Mines' men posted a score of 57, which was 79 points better than second-place Adams State. Six all-Americans fueled the Oredigger men's all-time low score. Both the men's and women's all-American totals are also the most in Mines cross country history.
 
Mines' historic day reached the individual level as well. Kyle Moran finished fourth in the nation in a 10,000-meter time of 29:54.3, marking the top individual finish in program history. Chloe Cook ran the women's 6,000-meter course in 20:24.0 and crossed the finish line as the #7 runner in the country. That performance also earned Cook top-individual finisher in program history. Furthermore, she became the first Oredigger woman to finish inside the top-10 at that national meet. Joining Moran as an all-American in the men's race were Dylan Ko (7th), Luc Hagen (15th), Ben Schneiderman (18th), Jake Mitchem (20th) and Derek Steele (38th). Cook's fellow all-Americans were Morgan Molesworth (16th) and Zoe Baker (19th).
 
Overall, the men's field featured Adams State (136) as runner-ups, Chico State (143) taking bronze and Grand Valley State rounding out the podium in fourth place with 177 points. On the women's side, Adams State claimed the national title with a score of 23. Grand Valley State finished second behind a score of 87 while Western Colorado made the last spot on the podium in fourth place thanks to its score of 192. In total, six RMAC programs finished inside the top seven across the men's and women's races. Individually, Stephanie Cotter of Adams State took gold in the women's race in a time of 19:15.5. Ezra Mutai of American International won the men's race, running 29:31.2.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday's festivities started with the women's 6,000-meter run. For Mines, the race proved to be one of patience, discipline and following its game plan. At the sound of the gun, Cook and Baker raced into the lead group and settled in at 13th and 12th through the first 800 meters. Molesworth's start in 27th place pushed Mines into fourth in the team standings after that first 800 meters. Then, over the next 5,000 meters, nearly every Oredigger made methodical, impactful moves through the pack.
 
Mines' biggest mover in that push was Brook Eberle who started in 83rd place and raced up to 47th, finishing in 21:04.6. Molesworth also bought into the methodical train of thought, going from 27th to 24th to 23rd and eventually finished inside the top-20 thanks to her time of 20:39.3. Baker maintained her position inside the top-20 throughout the race and took 17th in a time of 20:46.7. Maddie Geesen, Molly Maksin and Brin Strouse improved throughout the race as well and finished with times of 21:23.8, 21:37.7 and 21:46.8, respectively. However, Cook proved to be the outlier and it paid off. The redshirt senior veteran held strong just outside the top-10 throughout the whole race and then found another gear over the last 900 meters to move four spots from 11th to seventh, clinching her record-setting finish. As a team, Mines never fell below fifth place in the splits and held strong at #3 from 2,300-meters on.
 
Next up were the Oredigger men. After the women showed just how fast the course was running, some wondered if Mines' men might start further back in the pack. However, that quandary was quickly quashed. The first 800 meters of racing found Ko positioned in the lead pack in seventh place and the Orediggers sitting third as a team. After the next 800 meters, one mile into the 10K race, Hagen had joined Ko inside the top 20 and Moran made moves to 25th. That movement alone put Mines into first place and the Orediggers never looked back.
 
Several impressive individual performances highlighted the race for Mines. Moran made a case for performance of the day as he went from 39th to fourth. Mitchem stood out as well after running his way from 54th to 20th, posting a time of 30:17.3. However, most impressive was arguably Schneiderman. The redshirt senior veteran found himself in 75th place after 800 meters. By the end of the race, Schneiderman had clawed his way up to 18th for the first cross country all-America honors of his career in a time of 30:16.5. Ko and Hagen proved steady in seventh and 15th behind times of 29:54.3 and 30:13.5, respectively.  Steele rounded out the all-American contingency in 30th, fueled by a time of 30:40.0. Max Sevcik finished it off in 92nd thanks to a time of 31:28.7.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines' men have finished inside the top five in the nation every year since 2009.
- Saturday marked the Oredigger women's third top-five finish in program history.
- Cook finished as the #2 American racer in all of DII after running as the fastest American in the region and the conference.
- All five of the men's scoring runners hail from the state of Colorado.
- The previous top finisher for Mines' men was Grant Colligan taking fifth in 2017. For the women it was Sydney Laws taking 10th in 2009.
- The women's national bronze medal marks the top NCAA finish of any women's program in Mines Athletics history.
 
UP NEXT
Mines' runners now jump into indoor track & field season as the Orediggers host the Mines Alumni Classic & Multi Dec. 5-6 inside Steinhauer Fieldhouse. Live results of the event will be available 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.