Coming off of months of injuries, University of Colorado’s Dathan Ritzenhein was finally in fighting shape, and he proved his speed by setting a burning 4:43-per-mile pace to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country Championship. He outkicked Stanford’s Ryan Hall in the closing meters to win in 29:14 at the Irv Warren Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa on November 24. “This wasn’t the race that I had wanted, and I wasn’t feeling too good, but the outcome was good,” said Ritzenhein. “This was a hard season and I won them all. It was hard to get back into racing after taking that much time off. Every race was hard, but this was the hardest with Ryan pushing me all of the way to the end.”
“I was pretty confident that Dathan could win it,” said CU head coach Mark Wetmore, “but it was closer than I thought it would be, but obviously he’s a huge talent. He’s a hero today.”
The race was run on a course dusted with snow and temperatures hovering around three below zero. “I was feeling tense from the weather, but it was something everyone had to deal with,” said Ritzenhein. “You just had to adapt and adjust the race plan.”
It is just the fourth time that two different runners from the same school have won back to back individual men’s individual titles as CU’s Jorge Torres won the coveted crown in Terre Haute, Indiana last year. It is also the first time since 1987 (Joe Falcoln, Arkansas) and ’88 (Bob Kennedy, Indiana) that Americans have won two straight individual men’s titles.
Stanford, who controlled the race from the starting gun, took the men’s team title with 24 points, the second lowest point total in race history. And despite Ritzenheim’s victory, the Colorado men finished sixth in their poorest team finish since a seventh place effort in 1999.
In a strong showing, the Air Force Academy’s men’s team finished eighth. It is the highest national-team finish for a Falcons’ cross country team since placing second in 1967. “This is truly an incredible feat by Coach Stanforth and his runners. A Top 10 finish in NCAA Division I competition is something each member can be proud of for the rest of their lives,” said AFA Vice Athletic Director Brad DeAustin.
The Colorado women finished fifth to tie their finish from last year. North Carolina’s Shalane Flanigan won her second straight women’s title in 19:30. “As far as the women’s race, there was a crash just 200 meters into the race that took out a number of runners, Natalie Florence being one of them. That added a lot of points to our score, but she probably caught 100 people over the next 1,500 meters to make up some time. Kalin (Toedebusch) and Christine (Bolf) both ran very well. Kalin got stepped on and got a spike through her foot, but that happens in these races.”
Renee Metivier’s 15th place finish was the best for a CU women’s transfer since Colleen Glyde finished 15th in 1996. Though off her 2001 runner-up finish at Georgia Tech, Metivier was happy with the results as her first season as a Buff. “I was second two years ago, but I’m very happy with 15th. I won’t be next year (on her senior year expectations). I started out conservatively, and my plan was to stay with Natalie (Florence), but we got separated. I was about 30th at the two-mile mark and just continued to move up.” Villanova transfer Kalin Toedebusch scored as CU’s second runner for a second straight race and her 38th place finish was a career best for the junior who had run in two previous championships.