UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash.— Colorado Mesa University redshirt sophomore
Kira MacGill became just the second Colorado Mesa University cross country runner to ever earn all-America honors as she ran to a 29
th place finish as an individual during the NCAA Division II Championships on Friday morning here at the Chambers Creek Regional Park.
MacGill posted a career-best 6-kilometer time of 21 minutes, 13.0 seconds to do so.
She joins 2-time all-American (2008, 2010) Alexis Skarda in the elite all-American club, which required a top-40 finish in Friday's race. The honor will be officially bestowed by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association early next week.
Earlier in the day,
Tony Torres placed 91
st in the field of 262 runners as an individual in the men's 10-kilometer race. Torres, a fifth-year senior from Oro Valley, Arizona, also ran a PR time of 31:10.3.
He and MacGill, a native of Littleton, Colorado, were the first two Mavericks to have qualified for the national championships since Alexia Chapman qualified as a women's individual in 2016. Torres was the first Maverick man to qualify since CMU qualified both men's and women's teams in 2014.
Skarda qualified as an individual 2008, 2010 and 2011 but did not race in the last of those years due to injury. She finished 19
th in 2008 and eighth in 2010.
MacGill was in all-America position at every split of the race, reaching as high as 28
th at the 2-mile split.
CMU's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals swept the titles in dominating fashion. The Colorado School of Mines' Dillon Powell won the men's individual title by 19.1 seconds in 29:28.0 and led the top-ranked Orediggers to a 134-point team win (43-177) over Wingate and the rest of the 34-team field. Colorado Christian also finished third with 191 points, the Cougars' best ever finish.
Meanwhile, Adams State's Stephanie Cotter won her second individual title, running away for a 42-second win. Cotter was clocked in 19:45.2 as she and her Grizzly teammates won the team crown by 51 points (75-126) over Grand Valley State. The RMAC had six of the top ten finishing teams as Mines took third with 164, ahead of UCCS (184). CSU-Pueblo, Western Colorado and Colorado Christian finished sixth, eighth and tenth, respectively.
