Results

DENVER, Colo. – Chandler Wilburn was the top performer for the Colorado School of Mines cross country teams on Saturday morning as the Oredigger men won their team title and the women finished fifth in a loaded field at the Roadrunners Invitational at Washington Park.
 
Wilburn was the top collegiate finisher in the men's 8K race, finishing third overall behind a pair of unattached runners. His final time was 25:04.55. His running mate was Mines alum and all-American Steven Goldy who ran unattached and finished fourth overall in 25:05.75. Wilburn's performance anchored a team score of 26 points which afforded the Oredigger men their second straight Roadrunners Invitational title. Their margin of victory was 63 points over MSU Denver which totaled 89 points in second place. In the women's race, Avary Catchings paced Mines with her top-25 finish. She crossed the line 22nd overall thanks to a 6K pace of 22:59.14. That mark led the Oredigger women to a fifth-place slot as a team in a field featuring NCAA Division I programs and nationally-ranked DII programs. Colorado State clinched the women's crown by way of 22 points.
 
The early race on Saturday was the men's collegiate competition, slated to traverse 8,000 meters at Washington Park in South Denver. With 20 Orediggers running in uniform, Mines could be seen up and down the field of more than 100 competitors. Eventual champion Emad Bashir-Mohammed separated from everyone early, but Wilburn and Andreas O'Malley settled in with the front pack and set the tone for their teammates running in small packs behind. As the race progressed, Wilburn maintained and eventually found separation as the top attached competitor. He came down the finishing chute with Goldy and collected the single point for Mines as a team. After him, the Orediggers' next four scoring runners were O'Malley (6th), Hayden Hooper (8th), Garrett Mackey (10th), and Curtis Smela (20th). Chris Pietrak and Calder Denham served as displacers and rounded out Mines' top seven. The remaining Oredigger runners all finished inside the top-100.
 
Temps remained cool and clouds stuck around for the women's 6,000-meter race. At the sound of the gun, Colorado State established dominance at the front, but a group of Orediggers found their pace close behind. As the race progressed, Mines maintained a quartet near the front and another quartet in the middle. The race to the finish line went as follows for the Orediggers. Catchings, as mentioned before, was 22nd, Kara Tokubo placed 26th, Sorrelle Salcido finished 33rd, Forest claimed 36th, Chloe Savoy was Lilly Lukens crossed 58th, and Olivia Tallent rounded out Mines' top seven in 63rd. Sash Kelly and Brooke Bundt also raced for the Orediggers.
 
Saturday marked a plethora of collegiate debuts for Mines' men and women. It was the first cross country race in an Oredigger uniform for Hayden Hooper, Curtis Smela, Chris Pietrak, Calder Denham, Quinton Rodriguez, Cole Fiorillo, Julian Ryter, Skyler Gillham, Daniel Falk, Jack Sheehan, Julien Frazier, Kai Wagner, James Beam, Gael McClain Martinez, Zach Dykstra, Jackson Rogers, Kara Tokubo, Sorrelle Salcido, Chloe Savoy, Lilly Lukens, Olivia Tallent, Sasha Kelly, and Brooke Bundt.
 
Mines' next races will be at the Lucian Rosa Invite on Sept. 27 in Kenosha, Wisc. A full preview and any live coverage information will be released the week of the race at www.minesathletics.com.
 
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.