The University of Colorado women’s cross country team won the 2018 NCAA Championship on Saturday morning as senior Dani Jones captured the individual title at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. CU’s men also returned to the podium with a fourth-place finish.
This is the third title the women’s team has won; all coming since 2000. Just like in 2000, the women took home the team and individual titles as Kara Grgas-Wheeler (now Goucher) won that race. CU also won the team title in 2004.
“This is incredible,” Jones said in her post-race interview. “We were just talking about the 2000 team that won the individual and team title 18 years ago. We did it again and it’s unbelievable.”
The conditions were definitely tougher than in recent years at the championships with temps in the upper 20s and low 30s and 5-10 miles per hour from the North. But the Buffs used that to their advantage, defeating the New Mexico handily 65-103. Oregon placed third (160) and Michigan was fourth (213).
“All season we wanted the hardest conditions,” Jones said. “We wanted the winds and everything. We woke up and were all happy this morning.”
The race went out at a more conservative pace and no one really seemed to want to push the pace too early, which was a little bit of a surprise.
“I did expect to go earlier, but Anna (Rohrer) always does a tremendous job of keeping the pace honest, and so does Allie (Ostrander),” Jones said. “My goal was to just give myself a chance and stay in there. It worked out well.”
“I’m very pleased with her race,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “She did everything she planned to do. She was calm and responded when she needed to. I felt that if she was near it with 500 to go that she could win the race. I told her that. Heather (Burroughs) told her that. She told her that.”
The women put on a show, placing six harriers in the top-40. Jones, a two-time Pac-12 Champion, recorded a time of 19:42.8 in the 6-kilometer race, out-kicking New Mexico’s Weini Kelati down the final stretch. Kelati ended up second (19:45.3).
Not too far behind Jones was fellow senior Makena Morley, who finished eighth in 20:00:01. She ran a solid race behind the leaders.
“I just stayed back a little bit,” Morley said. “I fell at 1k and got stepped on. I was just watching Dani and I kicked at the end because I saw my teammate win it. I never kick and I kicked. I didn’t really know where I was.”
After Morley was junior Tabor Scholl, who placed 15th overall (20:09.9). Another pair of teammates was just a short distance from her with Sage Hurta and Tayler Tuttle finishing 22nd and 24th, respectively. That was all the Buffs needed, but they got more than they asked for as senior Val Constien finished 30th overall as their sixth runner. All six of those runners recorded their best finish at NCAAs, while freshman Holly Bent was 80th overall in her first NCAA race.
“I’m as happy as I could be,” Wetmore said. “We had seven good races. Every one of the women is going home feeling well about themselves. They were in it the whole way. They were aggressive and confident the whole way. They have every reason to be really proud.”
After heading into NCAAs ranked No. 1 the last two years and recording a pair of third-place finishes, this team knew what they had to do for each other to finally do what they had been trying to for the last few seasons.
“We just all love each other so much,” Morley said. “With the strength we have and the bond we have, we were going to go out there and do it for each other. I was dying, but I was like, ‘I’m not giving up now!'”
Despite the windy, cold condition, Wetmore doesn’t think the weather affected the races that much.
“It was cold, it was a little wind and a little slippery, but if you notice, our women ran faster here than they did five/six weeks ago in good weather,” he said. “I don’t think it was a particularly slow day, just a little uncomfortable.”
Not to be outdone, the men finished higher than on the form chart, capturing a fourth-place finish. CU recorded 178 points and bested Pac-12 Conference Champion, Stanford, by 23 points (178-201). Northern Arizona won its third straight title with 83 points, while BYU (116) and Portland (160) finished second and third, respectively.
The Buffs, who were ranked eighth heading into the meet, had a strong showing with three in the top 11. Joe Klecker led the Buffs with an eighth-place finish, clocking in at 29:15.0. Right behind him in ninth was teammate John Dressel, who recorded a time of 29:16.9. Ryan Forsyth just missed a top-10 finish, clocking in with a time of 29:21.0 for 11th. All three recorded the highest NCAA finishes of their careers.
Eduardo Herrera was the fourth Buff to finish at 43rd (30:02.0). CU’s final scorer was Ethan Gonzales, who came in 147th overall (31:02.4). Sixth for the Buffs was Paxton Smith, who recorded a time of 31:12.3 for 163rd, while Gus Newcomb was 222nd overall (32:08.8).
“We came in (ranked) eighth. I felt deep in my heart that if we ran well, we could be on the podium,” Wetmore said. “The front three guys exceeded my aspirations completely. I was hoping for one guy in the top 10 and we almost had three. Lalo was a little beat up and held on for us. We ended up fourth and I thought we could.”
NOTES: In total, Colorado has won eight NCAA team titles, three on the women’s side and five on the men’s side.
Jones joined an elite group of Buffs to win NCAA cross country titles with the win. The last Buff to do so was Dathan Ritzenhein in 2003 and the year prior, Jorge Torres won the crown. Adam Goucher was the NCAA Champion in 1998 and the first Colorado runner to win an NCAA individual title was Mark Scrutton in 1982. Mary Decker (now Slaney) won the AIAW championship title in 1978. Kara Grgas-Wheeler was the first female Buff to win an NCAA title in 2000.
This was the first All-American honor for Ryan Foryth, Makena Morley, Tabor Scholl, Tayler Tuttle and Val Constien…It is the second honor for Joe Klecker and is the third award for John Dressel, Sage Hurta and Dani Jones.
CU was the top Pac-12 program in each race and had the best combined finish (5). Stanford was second (10); its women and men both finished fifth.
NCAA Cross Country Championships
Women’s Team Standings—1. Colorado 65; 2. New Mexico 103; 3. Oregon 160; 4. Michigan 213; 5. Stanford 232; 6. Boise State 288; 7. BYU 310; 8. Notre Dame 313; 9. Washington 321; 10. Wisconsin 325; 11. Michigan State 341; 12. Portland 344; 13. NC State 367; 14. Arkansas 398; 15. Iowa State 403; 16. Florida 455; 17. Indiana 455; 18. Columbia 468; 19. Oklahoma State 481; 20. Penn State 482; 21. Princeton 488; 22. Ole Miss 509; 23. Furman 527; 24. Villanova 547; 25. Southern Utah 564; 26. Florida State 584; 27. Oregon State 600; 28. Georgia Tech 653; 29. Minnesota 673; 30. Dartmouth 751; 31. Texas 862.
Women’s Individual 6-Kilometer Leaders (253 finishers)—1. Dani Jones, CU, 19:42.8; 2. Weini Kelati, UNM, 19:45. 3; 3. Jessica Hull, UO, 19:50.4; 4. Alicia Monson, Wis., 19:55.2; 5. Ednuh Kurgat, UNM, 19:55.8; 6. Allie Ostrander, BSU, 19:56.9; 7. Erica Birk, BYU, 19:58.1; 8.Makena Morley, 20:00.1; 9. Charlotte Prouse, UNM, 20:02.1; 10. Anna Rohrer, ND, 10:02.4.
CU Finishers: 15. Tabor Scholl, 29:09.9; 22. Sage Hurta, 20:20.4; 24. Tayler Tuttle, 20:23.4; 30. Val Constien, 20:31.3; 80. Holly Bent, 20:57.2.
Men’s Team Standings—1. Northern Arizona 83; 2. BYU 116; 3. Portland 160; 4. Colorado 178; 5. Stanford 201; 6. Washington 213; 7. Iowa State 220; 8. Wisconsin 240; 9. Colorado State 309; 10. Boise State 342; 11. NC State 342; 12. Wyoming 371; 13. Oklahoma State 378; 14. Notre Dame 401; 15. Oregon 407; 16. Eastern Kentucky 430; 17. Ole Miss 431; 18. Indiana 469; 19. Michigan 483; 20. Air Force 498; 21. Southern Utah 523; 22. Princeton 557; 23. Villanova 577; 24. Bradley 580; 25. Arkansas 602; 26. Syracuse 603; 27. Texas 630; 28. Iona 634; 29. Purdue 702; 30. Tulsa 777; 31. Florida State 845.
Men’s Individual 10-Kilometer Leaders (252 finishers)—1. Morgan McDonald, Wisconsin, 29:08.3; 2. Grant Fisher, Stanford, 29:08.8; 3. Edwin Kurgat, ISU, 29:09.0; 4. Isai Rodriguez, Oklahoma State 29:10.5; 5. Aaron Templeton, Furman, 29:11.9; 6. Tyler Day, NAU, 29:12.9; 7. Amon Kemboi, Campbell, 29:14.6; 8. Joe Klecker, CU, 29:15.0; 9. John Dressel, CU, 29:16.9; 10. Conner Mantz, BYU, 29:17.1.
CU Finishers: 11. Ryan Forsyth, 29:21.0; 43. Eduardo Herrera, 30:02.0; 147. Ethan Gonzales, 31:02.4; 163. Paxton Smith, 31:12.3; 222. Gus Newcomb, 32:08.8.
By: Linda Sprouse, Associate SID