2023 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships – Saturday, Nov. 18 – 10 a.m. CT [Live Results] [Live Video] [Championship Central]
Joplin, Mo. – Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course

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NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The climax of the DII cross country season has arrived. On Saturday, the Colorado School of Mines Men's and Women's Cross Country teams will run for glory at the 2023 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Joplin, Mo., at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course on the campus of Missouri Southern State University. Opening the day will be the women's 6,000-meter race with a 10 a.m. (CT) gun. The men's 10,000-meter race is slated to start at 11:15 a.m. (CT). Ranked #1 in the nation, the men of Mines will chase a second straight national title. At #3 in the nation, the Oredigger women will chase history and their first national crown ever.
 
HOW TO WATCH
There will be free live video of Saturday's race offered at www.ncca.com/live. The web stream will start at 10 a.m. (CT) and run until the conclusion of the awards ceremony. There will also be free live results of both races.
 
WEATHER REPORT
For the first time in years, the forecast for the national race appears nearly perfect. Saturday's high in Joplin, Mo., is slated for 65 degrees with sunny skies and zero chance of precipitation. The day will start in the 30s before rising into the 50s right before the start of the women's race. There is only a light breeze projected and humidity should stay under 50 percent. Spectators might need layers, but competitors will be running in relative bliss.
 
COURSE PREVIEW (MAPS)
According to the homepage of Missouri Southern athletics at www.mssulions.com, the Tom Rutledge Cross Country course features a 5,000-meter loop on grass that finishes just south of the starting line through an arch that has the words MSSSU Cross Country going from pillar to pillar. The routes laid out for this year's championships feature a slightly rolling, serpentine path for both the men's and women's race. The women will essentially do one snake-like loop. The men will add a second loop to get to 10,000 meters. Also notable about the course from msssulions.com is that is has served as host to National Junior Olympic, and Junior National Cross Country Championships along with numerous conference, regional, and national championships at the NCAA level.
 
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
While it's not where it actually began, it's worth noting the Oredigger men won the first NCAA Division II Championship in Mines history – across all sports – at the very same Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course- in 2015. The seven runners for that team were Marty Andrie, Nathanael Williams, Dan Mahoney, Grant Colligan, Seth Topper, Josh Hoskinson, and Logan Winfield. Andrie, Williams, Mahoney, and Colligan finished with all-America status as Mines edged Adams State by a score of 100-127. The entire team was inducted into the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this fall.
 
WHO'S RUNNING?
Each team can enter up to 10 runners, but only seven will be running at the sound of the gun on Saturday. For Mines' men, Daniel Appleford, Logan Bocovich, Max Bonenberger, Alberto Campa, Duncan Fuehne, Andrew Kaye, Paul Knight, John O'Malley, JP Rutledge, and Loic Scomparin are all entered. For the women, it's Margaux Basart, Alexis Herr, Ashleigh Loe, Molly Maksin, Riley McGrath, Josie Mejia, Holly Moser, Clare Peters, Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge, and Grace Strongman.
 
SOUTH CENTRAL SATURATION
We won't cover the entire guest list for this weekend's race which features 34 teams for the men and 34 for the women with each field touting well over 250 runners. Instead, we will touch on the fact that the NCAA's South Central Region is absolutely loaded. Two weeks ago, Mines' men won the region title and the women grabbed team silver. From that very same region, nine men's teams, nine women's teams and five additional individuals were selected to compete for a national title. The list of men's programs and their current national ranking include #1 Mines, #4 Adams State, #6 West Texas A&M, #7 Western Colorado, #10 Colorado Christian, #18 Fort Lewis, #23 UCCS, #29 CSU Pueblo, and (RV) New Mexico Highlands. The list for the women features #2 Adams State, #3 Mines, #4 Western Colorado, #6 West Texas A&M, #9 UCCS, #12 CSU Pueblo, #15 Colorado Christian, #23 Dallas Baptist, and #27 Fort Lewis.
 
AVAILABLE HARDWARE
The team with the lowest combined score from its top-five runners will be crowned NCAA National Champion on the men's and women's side. The individual man and woman that cross the finish line first will also earn the national champion moniker. Additionally, individual finishers 1-40 in each race will be granted USTFCCCA All-America distinction. All other superlative awards are voted on by the coaches after the race.
 
ALL-AMERICAN LINEUP
Defending individual national champion Dillon Powell may have graduated, and the most decorated runner in Mines history Zoe Baker may be out of cross country eligibility, but the Orediggers still boast an all-American laden lineup. Mines' 20 total entries for Saturday's races have combined to stack up 39 USTFCCCA All-America finishes between cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. The men's entries have totaled 20 of those honors. Notable on the list are Duncan Fuehne and JP Rutledge. Fuehne finished #3 in the nation at last year's cross country championships. Rutledge was #6 in the nation in 2021. The Oredigger women boast a total of 19 all-America finishes including three from last year's cross country championships in Molly Maksin, Grace Strongman, and Riley McGrath.
 
RUTLEDGE AT RUTLEDGE
Saturday will be a homecoming for the Orediggers' JP Rutledge. While there is no known relation to Tom Rutledge, who Saturday's championship course is named after, JP Rutledge did spend the first four years of his collegiate career running for Missouri Southern. During his time with the Lions, Rutledge earned two all-America honors including his sixth-place finish at the cross country championships in Florida in 2021. On Saturday, he returns to his former home course to run one more time along with his wife and teammate Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge who competed at Emporia State before coming to Mines.
 
WHEN IT REALLY STARTED
Mines' women first qualified as a team for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in 2003. The Oredigger men made their first team appearance at the national meet in 2005.
 
ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN'
Saturday marks the 18^th straight appearance at the DII championships for the men of Mines. They have not missed a national meet since first qualifying in 2005. The Oredigger women will make their eighth consecutive appearance at the big race and 12th overall.
 
TOP TEAM FINISHES
The top team finish for the Colorado School of Mines Men's Cross Country team at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships is #1. The Orediggers first earned the title NCAA National Champion in 2015 at the very same Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. Mines' men hoisted the maple trophy again 2019 and most recently won the national title in 2022 – last season – making them the defending national champions. Furthermore, Mines' men have never finished lower than #9 as a team, and have finished #5, or better, every year since 2009, and #3 or better every year since 2015. The top team finish for the Oredigger women is #3. They first made the podium in 2019 before taking #4 in 2021 and then bronze again in 2022. Mines' women also earned top-five finishes in 2005 and 2018. Overall, the Oredigger women have finished top-10 seven times in 12 appearances at nationals.
 
BEST INDIVIDUALS
Last year, Dillon Powell raced to individual gold at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. He was the first to win an individual title in cross country in program history. Prior to his historic run, Kyle Moran and Dylan Ko had tied for the best national finish in program history with Moran finished #4 in 2019 and Ko taking #4 in 2021. Chloe Colligan (nee Cook), who is now an assistant coach for Mines, owns the top individual national finish for the women. She took #7 in 2019 as part of the Oredigger women's first podium appearance. She was also the top American runner in that year's race. Throughout the entire history of Mines cross country 34 men and 11 women have combined for 64 all-America finishes.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The last time the Orediggers were on the course in competition was Saturday, Nov. 4, at the 2023 NCAA South Central Region Championships. Mines' men punched their ticket to nationals by winning their fifth straight regional title and sixth out of the last eight available. The Oredigger women earned an automatic bid to the NCAA meet by taking team silver for a fourth consecutive year. All seven men were USTFCCCA All-Region and four women posted USTFCCCA All-Region finishes. Loic Scomparin led the men with individual bronze. Clare Peters was tops for the women as she finished #6.
 
THE BOSS
No, we're not talking about Bruce Springsteen, but the man we are talking about might be equally legendary in the world of cross country. Colorado School of Mines Cross Country Head Coach Chris Siemers is in his 12th season at the helm for the Oredigger men and women. Headlining his resume are three NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships which Mines' men brought home in 2015, 2019, and 2022. On the men's side, 34 individuals have earned 59 Cross Country All-America honors. That has led to seven RMAC crowns (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and six NCAA South Central Regional titles (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). No men's team coached by Siemers has ever finished lower than fifth in the nation. On the women's side, eight individuals have posted 11 Cross Country All-America finishes. As a team, the women earned their first national podium finish in 2019 by finishing third at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. They added a second in 2021 by taking fourth place. In 2022, the women matched their best finish in program history with a third-place finish for their third straight podium. Mines' women have finished as high as #2 at both the RMAC and regional championships on multiple occasions including 2023.
 
MORE SIEMERS
One section just wasn't enough for Mines' fearless leader. Thanks to the team accomplishments listed above, Coach Siemers boasts the following awards on his resume. He is a three-time USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Coach of the Year, a CaptainU Division II Men's Cross Country College Coach of the Year, six-time USTFCCCA South Central Region Men's Coach of the Year and seven-time RMAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. In the classroom, Siemers' squads have had 21 Orediggers rack up 43 CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors along with two Academic All-America of the Year awards. They have also brought home two Brechler Awards honoring the RMAC's highest team GPA. Finally, and arguably most importantly, Siemers was inducted into the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 30 as part of the men's 2015 national championship team.
 
HALL CALL FOR ART SIEMERS
On Sept. 30, former Colorado School of Mines Head Cross Country and Head Track & Field Coach Art Siemers was inducted into the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame. Siemers, older brother of current Head Cross Country Coach Chris Siemers, turned Mines into a distance running powerhouse. He arrived at Mines in 2002 and added head track & field coach duties in 2005. The elder Siemers remained in that position until 2012 when he became the head cross country coach at NCAA Division I Colorado State. On the course, he coached 21 cross country all-Americans and led nine appearances to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Read his full profile HERE.
 
MAKE IT TWO
Art Siemers was not the only cross country-affiliated Oredigger making history last month. Joining him on Sept. 30 inside Lockridge Arena was the 2015 men's cross country team. The 2015 squad was inducted into the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame after bringing Mines its first-ever national championship. The Orediggers captured the 2015 NCAA Division II championship, defeating RMAC rival Adams State to lift the first walnut and bronze trophy in school in history. Under national coach of the year Chris Siemers, Mines scored 100 team points to edge the Grizzlies by 27. Get the full rundown on the historic team HERE.
 
WORLD CHAMPION ON STAFF
In the June of 2022, Oredigger assistant coach, Colorado School of Mines graduate and Mines Athletics Hall of Fame member Dr. Mark Husted earned the title World Champion. He competed in three different events at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Finland where he took gold in the 5,000-meter run, silver in the 1,500-meter run and fourth in the world in the 800-meter run. While a student-athlete at Mines, Dr. Husted was a six-time USTFCCCA All-American and two-time NCAA Division II National Champion.
 
LEGENDARY ASSISTANTS
The Colorado School of Mines cross country coaching staff is chalk full of decorated alumni. While the aforementioned Dr. Husted has worked with the team since 2011, both Grant Colligan and Chloe Colligan (nee Cook) joined the staff in 2022. Grant Colligan competed in cross country and track & field at Mines from 2014-2020 and earned 10 USTFCCCA All-America awards while helping the Oredigger men win the first national championship in the history of Mines Athletics in 2015. He was part of the Hall of Fame induction on Sept. 30. Chloe Colligan, who competed at Mines as Chloe Cook from 2014-19 was a three-time USTFCCCA All-American including two honors in the mile. She was the #1 runner for Mines' women in 2019 when they took third in the nation, marking the first podium finish in program history. New additions for 2023 include volunteer assistants Steven Goldy and Max Sevcik. Goldy was a four-time USTFCCCA All-American between cross country and track & field and a member of the 2022 national championship team. Sevcik was a member of the 2019 men's cross country team and the 2022 squad, both which won national titles. He was also a USTFCCCA All-Region and First-Team All-RMAC runner for the cross country team. Goldy and Sevcik are both pursuing doctoral degrees from Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
No matter what happens on Saturday, the 2023 cross country season will come to a close for Mines. They'll quickly look to indoor track & field which begins for the Orediggers on Dec. 1 at the Mines Alumni Classic inside Steinhauer Fieldhouse.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines cross country on "X" (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @csmtrack. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.