“Back to the old days.”
That’s what Adams State College Cross Country Coach Damon Martin said after watching both his men’s and women’s teams sweep the National Titles at the 2003 NCAA Division II National Championships in Raleigh, North Carolina. The victory ended Western State College’s run of four straight men’s titles and three straight women’s titles.
The Adams State men were led by National Champion Celedonio Rodriguez, who finished the 10K course in 30:25. Senior teammate Matt Levassiur was the next American to cross the line, finishing eighth in a time of 31:13. The title was the first for the Grizzly men since 1998 and was ASC’s collegiate record 17th all-time national triumph.
ASC’s women were led by sophomore Emily Mortensen who finished fourth after completing the 6K course in 21:16. The Grizzlies scored a dominating 63-point, 38-101 win over arch- rival Western State College. Western junior Alisha Williams, winner of both the RMAC Championship and North Central Regional Championship, finished sixth overall with a time of 21:38.8. BYU- Hawaii’s Chelsea Smith won the event in 20:33.9.
The title was ASC’s 12th all time and the first since 1999.
“I’m really proud of them. They handled themselves with class and were true champions,” Martin said about both teams.
Named National Coach of the Year, Martin has now coached 14 National Championship teams. “It can be easy for me to take this for granted but today was awesome for all of us,” he continued. They worked hard all year and wanted to get it done. It’s just great to see us back on top.”
“We had to do our thing. It was exciting to see that they had done their job and then we knew it was our time,” Rodriguez said about completing the sweep. The team title was the first that any of the seven men had been involved in. “The feeling is euphoric. There is no way to explain it and nothing compares to it,” Rodriguez said about the team and individual wins.
Abilene Christian, ranked second in the nation coming in, put three runners in the top 11 and was ASC’s closest competition. Harding had Jacob Rotich and Peter Kosgei go 2-3 to finish third with 86 points while Cal State-Chico used some solid depth to finish fourth with 147. WSC was next with 150 points. The Western men were paced by Mike Nagelkerke’s 13th place finish in a time of 31:30. Senior Chris Siemers, racing in his final race for Western, finished 21st in 31:47.
The titles completed perfect seasons for both Grizzly teams. Winners of all six meets they entered, ASC’s women took over the nation’s number one ranking with a Division II win at the CU Rocky Mountain Shoot-out on Oct. 4. The Grizzlies tied the Division I nationally-ranked University of Colorado Buffaloes on that day. The men also won the Division II title on that day taking over the nation’s number one ranking. They were second behind the Buffaloes in the unofficial overall standings on that day and were unblemished against Division II competition this year.
