DENVER— The Colorado Mesa University men's cross country team placed 12^th and inside the top half of the field at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon here at Washington Park.

The Mavs finished six places better than they did at the 2023 regional in Lubbock, Texas posting a team score of 367 points.

Maverick redshirt sophomore Chase Brown led a group of five Mavericks inside the top 90 of the individual standings, placing 53^rd with a time of 33 minutes, 23.76 seconds on the 10-kilometer course grooved out of snowy conditions.

Fellow redshirt sophomore Drexel Cox, who had led the Mavericks at the RMAC Championships a fortnight earlier, was 60^th in 33:39.50.

Ryan O'Loughlin (34:19.40), Jackson Baker (34:26.47) and Kevin DeGree (34:27.81) then finished 82^nd, 85^th and 87^th to complete the Mavericks' team score.

Gustavo Rivera (35:15.51) and Triston Charles (38:21.50) also ran for the Mavs, placing 104^th and 152^nd, respectively.

The Colorado School of Mines, ranked second in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's national poll, won the team title with 40 points after placing three individuals in top six.  No. 5 Adams State took second with 59 points and had the individual winner in Romain Legendre, who finished in 30:53.55, more than 23 seconds ahead of West Texas A&M's William Amponsah, who led the third-ranked Buffs to a third place team score of 105 points.

Those three schools earned automatic spots into the NCAA Division II Championships on Nov. 23 in Sacramento, California as West Texas A&M edged seventh-ranked Western Colorado (106) for the last of those three spots.

However, the Mountaineers are likely still in good shape for a national championship berth as ten other teams will also be selected at-large from the eight regional meets that were all contested on Saturday.

No. 15 CSU Pueblo (145), No. 13 Colorado Christian (154) , No. 16 UCCS (189) and Fort Lewis (195) will also be hoping for team qualification spots.

Colorado Christian's Matthew Storer, who finished seventh, and New Mexico Highlands' Weldon Chebon, who took eighth, are also guaranteed spots as individuals as the top two runners from non-qualifying teams will also be selected for the national meet.

The Mavericks placed ninth in the later women's race, their best regional finish since 2016.