Results
 
LAS VEGAS, N.M. –Saturday was a dominant day for the Colorado School of Mines Men's Cross Country team at the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. The Orediggers raced to their sixth consecutive RMAC title. Mines' women finished sixth.
 
The men of Mines put all five scoring runners inside the top-10 en route to a team score of 24. It marked a 21-point margin of victory over second-place Adams State. Loic Scomparin was the Orediggers' low stick, finishing runner-up only to individual champion Romain Legendre of Adams State. A fresh-look, postseason squad for Mines' women scored 151 points and finished sixth in the standings thanks to a pair of runners in the top-25. Imani Fernandez-Gorbea was the top runner for the Oredigger women, crossing the line 24th. Ava O'Connor from ASU was the individual champion in the women's race.
 
In the first race of the day, the men's 8K, Mines left no doubt. A quick sprint off the gun was required before the course narrowed after just 200 meters. The Orediggers managed the melee and settled in with Logan Bocovich, Max Bonenberger, Paul Knight, Matt Mettler, and Scomparin in the lead pack. Bocovich crossed the 2,200-meter mark in first place with his teammates on his tail. Legendre too over the lead by 4,400-meters, but Mines never surrendered its team position. Scomparin's second-place finish clocked in at 23:45.21. Knight and Bocovich finished right behind at third and fourth in 23:52.66 and 24:00.33, respectively. Mettler was sixth with a time of 24:14.29. Bonenberger capped the scoring by taking ninth in 24:21.5. Andreas O'Malley (21st, 24:50.39) and Braden Struhs (24th, 24:54.14) further asserted the Orediggers' dominance with top-25 finishes. Chandler Wilburn (39th) and Alex Shaw (49th) made it 9-of-9 inside the top-50 for Mines.
 
The women's race, which measured in at 5.8K was the second, and final, race of the day. It saw the Orediggers field a group of fresh faces with five different individuals making their collegiate cross country postseason debut. When the dust settled, Fernandez-Gorbea had pushed her way from outside the top-30 to a 24th-place finish thanks to a time of 21:20.86. Josie Mejia was two seconds behind in 25th, clocking a 21:22.04 pace. Callen Nash and Karina Andersen were Mines' next two finishers. Nash (21:42.66) crossed 32nd and Andersen (21:46.97) 33rd. Ashleigh Loe rounded out the Orediggers' scoring, finishing 42nd in 22:01.56. Avary Catchings (47th) added another top-50 finish to Mines' resume. Gabriela Kenly (56th) and Maria Forster (62nd) represented the remainder of the Orediggers' RMAC squad.
 
Scomparin, Knight, Bocovich, Mettler, and Bonenberger were First-Team All-RMAC for the men. They earned the distinction by virtue of their respective finishes inside the top-14. O'Malley and Struhs were Second-Team All-Conference for the men. Fernandez-Gorbea and Mejia were Second-Team All-RMAC for the women. Those accolades were based on finishing between 15th and 28th. Mettler, O'Malley, and Wilburn all made their postseason cross country debuts on the men's side. Andersen, Catchings, Fernandez-Gorbea, Forster, and Kenly did the same for the women. Bocovich and Scomparin were running in their first races of the 2024 season as well. As of the writing of this article, results for RMAC Coach of the Year voting had not been released.
 
The cross country postseason continues on Saturday, Nov. 9, at the 2024 NCAA Division II South Central Region Championships hosted by MSU Denver at Washington Park. A full preview and available live coverage information will be posted at www.minesathletics.com the week of the race.
 
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.