RMAC Sends Record Number to 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships

RMAC Sends Record Number to 2008 Cross Country Championships

By Lisa Elson, RMAC Media Relations Intern

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Nov. 11, 2008 – A record setting five men’s teams and three women’s teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference qualified for the 2008 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships. All but two of the top 19 runners in the men’s race and three of the top 10 runners in the women’s race were from RMAC schools.

The five men’s teams who qualified were Adams State, Western State, Colorado Mines, Metro State and UC-Colorado Springs. The three women’s teams were Adams State, Western State and Metro State. In addition to the team qualifiers, three individuals earned a spot in the race: Shannon Payne, UC-Colorado Springs, Alexis Skarda, Mesa State, and Laurent Ngirakamaro, N.M. Highlands.

Adams State’s men’s and women’s teams both took first place at the Central Regional meet in Kearney, Neb. The men, who have won three of the last four regional meets, were national champions in 2003 and look to take the title again this year. The men moved into the top spot in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association DII poll on Oct. 8, 2008 and continue to be ranked No. 1. The ASC women have been ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA poll all season and have won six of the last seven regional titles. The women look to claim their sixth back-to-back NCAA championship title.

Western State’s men took second at the Central Regional meet and their women took third. The men finished 19 points behind Adams State College, and 56 points ahead of third place Minnesota State Mankato. They have bounced back and forth in the USTFCCCA poll between fifth and sixth, but have held the fifth place spot for the majority of the season. The women finished just two points behind the second place team, Augustana College. They began the season ranked sixth in the USTFCCCA poll and have gradually moved up the ranks and recently took the fourth place spot.

Metro State’s men and women both finished fifth as a team at the regional meet. The men’s team began the season ranked 16th in the USTFCCCA poll but have dropped out in recent weeks.

Colorado Mines’ men’s team took the fourth place spot at the regional meet. At the 2007 NCAA Championships, the Orediggers finished in seventh. In the most recent USTFCCCA poll (Oct. 29, 2008), CSM was ranked 14th.

For the second time in school history, UC-Colorado Springs’ men’s team earned a trip to the national meet with a sixth place finish at the regional meet. Shannon Payne won the women’s race and earned her first trip to nationals. Winning the highly competitive Central Region makes Payne one of the favorites at nationals.
Freshman Alexis Skarda of Mesa State will accompany Payne as an individual qualifier. Skarda finished eighth in the central region. Skarda’s team finished in sixth place just outside of qualifying standards.

Laurent Ngirakamaro of N.M. Highlands makes a return trip to the national meet as the sole individual male qualifier from the RMAC. Ngirakamaro earned All-American honors at last year’s national championship with an 11th place finish.

The championship meet will be Nov. 22 at Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Pa. hosted by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. The men's race will begin at 10 a.m. Mountain time (noon Eastern) followed by the women's race at 11:15 a.m. Mountain time (1:15 p.m. Eastern).