Year two of the program reboot under head coach Sean Carlson featured a significant step forward for the Colorado cross country programs.
That effort continued through a solid performance at the NCAA Championships.
The Buffaloes rejoined the ranks of the nation’s elite distance running programs Saturday, with both programs finishing in the top 15 in the team standings at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.
The CU men finished 10th, using a balanced and consistent effort to offset a lack of individual dominance. The Buffs had only one runner crack the top 60 and barely so, with Dominic Serem finishing 58th. Yet all five of CU’s scoring runners finished between 58th and 92nd.
Serem finished the 10K men’s final in 29 minutes, 18 seconds, and the Buffs’ next finisher, Jake Liebert, placed 68th in 29:23.1. The CU men finished with 318 points, trailing ninth-place Eastern Kentucky by just two points.
The CU women placed 13th with 434 points, trailing Oklahoma State by only two points. Jessie Secor took top honors for the women, finishing the 6K women’s final in 19:42.4 to place 69th. Abbey Nechanicky finished 76th in 19:44.8.
“Women back in the top 15 and the men back in the top 10. We are moving the program in the right direction, and I am excited for the future with the majority of our team returning,” Carlson said in a release. “Our athletes showed real growth this season, and we are only scratching the surface of what this group can become. The foundation is strong, and we will continue building toward championship expectations.”
Oklahoma State won the men’s team championships, with the Cowboys landing three runners in the top six. New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel won the men’s individual title, as the Lobos were second, still 25 points behind Oklahoma State.
North Carolina State claimed the women’s title for the fourth time in five years, edging BYU by 16 points. Alabama’s Doris Lemngole won the individual title, finishing 13.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Jane Hedengren from BYU.