DENVER— The Colorado Mesa University women's cross country team and redshirt senior Kirstin Williams are on the bubble for NCAA Division II Championship selection after Williams led the Maverick women to their best regional championship finish in eight years on Saturday here at Washington Park.

Williams placed 30^th for the nation's 29^th-ranked Mavericks, who finished ninth with a team score of 239 points at the South Central Regional Championships.

The St. George, Utah native also qualified for last year's national championships and will be hoping for another trip and for Maverick company when the official selections are announced for the Nov. 23 national meet in Sacramento, California on Monday afternoon via NCAA.com.

The top three finishing teams from each of the eight regional championship meets that were contested around the country on Saturday earn automatic selection.  Ten other teams will be selected at-large.

The South Central Region is regarded as the toughest and deepest in the country with ten teams in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Poll, including top-ranked Adams State.  The region qualified nine teams for last year's national championships as CMU fell just one place short after taking tenth.

The Grizzlies successfully defended their regional title on Saturday, recording a team score of 37 points.  They placed four runners inside the top 10, including individual champion Tristian Spence, who won Saturday's 6-kilometer race with a time of 21:18.6, out-kicking UCCS senior Anna Fauske by 1.9 seconds.

The Colorado School of Mines, ranked fourth in the national poll, took second with 75 points while Fauske's Mountain Lions, ranked ninth in the national poll, took third with 120 points.

No. 11 Western Colorado (126), No. 6 West Texas A&M (136), No. 3 CSU Pueblo (150) are also looking strong for at-large choices after taking fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, while No. 15 Fort Lewis (198) and No. 17 Colorado Christian (203) were the only other two teams to finish ahead of the Mavericks.

In turn, CMU finished a place higher than 27^th-ranked Dallas Baptist, which took tenth with 292 points on Saturday.

That head-to-head victory may be the difference for national selection as the Mavericks' had all seven of their runners cross the finish line, well in front of DBU's fifth runner, who took 98^th overall, including 96^th amongst team scoring runners.

Williams finished in 23:04.9 to take 30th, just two places behind DBU's Margaux Basart.  If the top eight finishing teams all end up with national spots, Basart and Williams would claim the region's two automatic individual qualification spots.  Mia Salas of host institution MSU Denver is next in line after placing 33rd on Saturday.

Saturday was an overall team effort as the Mavs placed six runners in the top 70 of the 172-runner field while posting a 5-runner pack time of just 66 seconds.

Redshirt Junior Megan Hodges was the Mavs' second finisher, claiming a 40^th place finish in a time of 23:21.0, a one place improvement over last year's regional finish.

Redshirt sophomore Kate Linstedt was the next Maverick finisher, taking 49^th in 23:42.8.  She improved by 32 places from last year's regional.

Sophomore Autumn McQuitty finished 53^rd in 23:52.0 after taking 76^th a year ago in Lubbock, Texas. 

Redshirt sophomore Quin Gregg finished 67^th with a time of 24:10.8 to complete the Mavericks' team score in her first career regional while Kendall White finished just two places back in 69^th with a time of 24:15.2.

Redshirt junior Brooke Miller rounded out the Maverick contingent, placing 88^th in 24:53.9.

CMU's finish on Saturday was their best regional finish since placing eighth at the 2016 South Central Regional.  They last qualified for the national championships in 2014 but have had three individual qualifiers since, including Williams in 2023.

The Maverick men also improved upon their 2023 regional finish, taking 12^th, six spots higher than they finished a year ago.