2024 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships  – Saturday, Nov. 23 – (M) 10 a.m. PT | (W) 11:15 a.m. PT [Live Results] [Live Video] [Championship Central]
Sacramento, Calif. – Arcade Creek XC Course

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RACING FOR NCAA GLORY
The climax of the college 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 2024 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Sacramento, Calif., at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course. The day will open with the men's 10,000-meter race at 10 a.m. (PT). At 11:15 a.m. (PT), the women will race 6,000 meters. Mines' men are ranked #2 in the nation and chasing a fourth national crown. The women are #3 in the nation and are racing for the first national title in program history.
 
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
An atmospheric river (don't ask what that means) has impacted Northern California bringing loads of moisture to the Sacramento area. That means the course will certainly be soft and a bit slower, but the forecast for Saturday brings a break to the rainy conditions. After some linger showers Saturday morning, the report calls for partly-sunny skies and a high of 60 degrees. A light jacket will be key and fans may want to prepare for a shift to more rainy conditions. Even so, as of Thursday afternoon, race day itself should be prime conditions for a national race.
 
COURSE PREVIEW
Saturday's course is essentially a flat grass oval through the heart of a golf course. The last time the national race was at Arcade Creek, the pro shop served as the start-finish line. The elevation ranges from 52 feet above sea level to 72 feet above sea level. So yes, it is definitely flat. The surface sticks to fairways and roughs while avoiding greens and is nearly 100 percent grass. Trees line the course allowing for some shade. The women's 6,000-meter race features a pair of 3K laps. The men's race covers 10,000 meters over three laps.
 
FIVE YEARS AGO
When Mines toes the line on Saturday, it will be five years to the date since the Orediggers raced at the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on the very same course. November 23, 2022, proved  to be memorable for both Mines' men and women. The men won the second national championship in program history and the women finished third in the nation – marking their first-ever podium appearance.
 
HEAVY ON THE SOUTH CENTRAL
The overall guest list for the weekend features 34 teams for the men and 34 for the women with each field touting well over 250 runners. Of those 68 programs, 16 are from the South Central Region which includes the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Lone Star Conference. On the men's side, the South Central Region will be represented by Adams State, Colorado Christian, Mines, UCCS, CSU Pueblo, West Texas A&M, and Western Colorado. Women's teams from the region include Adams State, Colorado Christian, Colorado Mesa, Mines, UCCS, CSU Pueblo, Fort Lewis, West Texas A&M, and Western Colorado. Furthermore, individuals from New Mexico Highlands, Fort Lewis, Dallas Baptist, and MSU Denver also qualified for the race.
 
OREDIGGER LINEUP
Mines' lineups for the men and women will look very similar to the rosters entered in the 2024 South Central Region Championships raced two weeks ago. However, there are a few small changes. The seven Orediggers scheduled to run for the men are Logan Bocovich, Max Bonenberger, Ethan Grolnic, Dawson Gunn, Paul Knight, Loic Scomparin, and Jeremiah Vaille. The lineup for Mines' women features Margaux Basart, Imani Fernandez-Gorbea, Lexi Herr, Emily LaMena, Ashleigh Loe, Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge, and Grace Strongman.
 
THE 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.
 
CALIFORNIA HOMECOMING
Decorated Oredigger veteran Loic Scomparin will be competing in the state he claims as home on the official roster. Scomparin, who has international ties as well, graduated high school from Dublin High School in Dublin, Calif. The distance from Scomparin's alma mater to Arcade Creek Cross Country Course is about 100 miles, depending on which route you choose.
 
GOING FOR SIX
Colorado School of Mines Men's Cross Country has won five straight NCAA South Central Region titles and six of the last eight. There was no regional race in 2020. During that same span, two different Orediggers have combined to win three individual titles. Grant Colligan, who is now an assistant coach for Mines, won NCAA South Central Region Runner of the Year in 2018 to fuel Mines' team title. Dillon Powell won back-to-back region crowns in 2021 and 2022. His 2021 first-place finish featured a 26.8-second margin of victory. It marked the largest margin of victory in a south central men's race since at least 2012. In 2023, the Oredigger men produced seven all-region runners on the way to a team score of 43 which edged runner-up Adams State by eight points. The men of Mines have not finished lower than second in the region for nine straight years.
 
WHEN IT ALL 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.
THEY SEE US ROLLIN'
Saturday marks the 19^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 ninth consecutive appearance at the big race and 13th 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 Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo. Mines' men hoisted the maple trophy again 2019 at the very same Arcade Creek course, and most recently won the national title in 2022. 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 – also in Sacramento – before taking #4 in 2021 and then bronze again in 2022 and 2023. Mines' women also earned top-five finishes in 2005 and 2018. Overall, the Oredigger women have finished top-10 eight times.
 
BEST INDIVIDUALS
In 2022, Dillon Powell raced to individual gold at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. He was the first Oredigger 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 in Sacramento. She was also the top American runner in that year's race. Throughout the entire history of Mines cross country 35 men and 14 women have combined for 72 all-America finishes.
 
REGIONAL REWIND
Mines last raced at the 2024 South Central Region Championships hosted by MSU Denver at Washington Park on Saturday, Nov. 9. The Oredigger men won their sixth straight regional title and the women were runner-up for a fifth consecutive season. Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge, Lexi Herr, Grace Strongman, and Emily LaMena were USTFCCCA All-Region finishers for the women. Jeremiah Vaille, Paul Knight, Logan Bocovich, Ethan Grolnic, Dawson Gunn, and Braden Struhs were USTFCCCA All-Region for the men. Eventually, Head Coach Chris Siemers was voted the USTFCCCA South Central Region Men's Coach of the Year.
 
THE BOSS
Still not Bruce Springsteen, but still potentially equally legendary. Colorado School of Mines Cross Country Head Coach Chris Siemers is in his 13th 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. Siemers' men's teams have had 35 individuals earn 63 cross country all-America honors. That has led to eight RMAC crowns (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and seven NCAA South Central Regional titles (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024). No men's team coached by Siemers has ever finished lower than fifth in the nation. On the women's side, 10 individuals have posted 15 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. The last two seasons have seen the women match their best finish in program history at the national race, taking third and extending their podium run to four straight. Mines' women have finished as high as #2 at both the RMAC and regional championships on multiple occasions including 2024.
 
MORE SIEMERS
One section just wasn't enough for a Mines legend. 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, seven-time USTFCCCA South Central Region Men's Coach of the Year and eight-time RMAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. In the classroom, Siemers' squads have had 23 Orediggers rack up 49 CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors along with three 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, 2023, as part of the men's 2015 national championship team.
 
HUSTED STRIKES GOLD – AGAIN
Oredigger assistant coach, Colorado School of Mines graduate, and Mines Athletics Hall of Fame member Dr. Mark Husted has won multiple world titles after a successful summer at the World Masters Athletics Championships. He took gold in the 5,000-meter run which added to his 5K crown won in 2022. While a student-athlete at Mines, Dr. Husted was a six-time USTFCCCA All-American and two-time NCAA Division II National Champion.
 
LEGENDS ON STAFF
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, and Dr. Chloe Gustafson came on board over the summer of 2024. 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 in 2023. 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. Gustafson ran for Mines from 2011-15. She was a two-time USTFCCCA All-American for the Orediggers including a seventh-place finish in the 3,000-meter run at the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, and a 13th-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.  Also on staff are 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 2024 cross country season will come to a close for Mines. They'll quickly look to indoor track & field which begins for the Orediggers Dec. 6-7 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.