GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University cross country teams will race for the second consecutive Saturday when they head to Denver for the Roadrunners Invitational, hosted by MSU Denver.
Saturday's event will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a men's 8-kilometer race. A women's 6K race will follow at 9:15 a.m. Both will be held at Washington Park.
Regional Preview & Deep Fields
Saturday's races will give the Mavericks and other teams to preview the course, which will later be used for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships on Nov. 9.
As such, many of the top squads from both the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference the Lone Star Conference are expected to race on Saturday.
Runners from 19 different men's teams and 17 different women's squads are expected to compete in Saturday's meet.
The list of nationally ranked teams competing includes, for the men, No. 2 Colorado School of Mines, No. 6 Adams State, No. 14 CSU Pueblo, No. 18 Fort Lewis and No. 20 UCCS. For the women, ranked teams include No. 1 Adams State, No. 9 UCCS, No. 12 Colorado School of Mines, No. 19 Fort Lewis and No. 23 Colorado Christian.
Who's Competing
The Mavericks have entered 11 men and 11 women in Saturday's race. Here's the list of the CMU runners expected to compete.
Men: Jackson Baker,
Chase Brown,
Triston Charles,
Quintin Collins,
Drexel Cox,
Jacob Dalrymple,
Kevin DeGree,
Owen Frank,
Peter Leary,
Ryan O'Loughlin,
Gustavo Rivera.
Women: Jayna Boonstra,
Quin Gregg,
Lauren Hodges,
Megan Hodges,
Wehazit Kelati,
Kate Linstedt,
Autumn McQuitty,
Brooke Miller,
Jordan Staniszewski,
Shirley Weaver,
Kendall White.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks opened their season last Saturday competing at the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invitational in Gunnison. Both teams finished second in what was essential a dual with host and national power Western Colorado University. Several other runners also competed unattached.
The meet was also the first for the Mavs under new Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Travis Floeck, who was hired for the role over the summer.
The Mavericks had five top 10 finishers in total as
Kirstin Williams led the Maverick women by placing fourth for the second straight year. She completed the 5K course at more than 7,700 feet of elevation in 18 minutes, 35.98 seconds.
Kate Linstedt (19:44.35) and
Autumn McQuitty (19:46.89) also broke in to the top ten, taking eighth and tenth, respectively.
Meanwhile,
Kevin DeGree led the Maverick men with a ninth place finish. He turned in an 8K time of 26:59.66. Teamate
Triston Charles was tenth in 27:02.61.
Four-Timer
Charles' tenth place finish in Saturday's Mountaineer/Cowboy Invitational was the fourth in as many years at the meet in Gunnison, which has become a staple in the Mavericks' early season race schedule. The fifth-year senior out of Farmington, New Mexico took third in 2023, eighth in 2022 and tenth in 2021.
First Time Leader
Redshirt junior
Kevin DeGree was the Mavericks' No. 1 runner for the first time in his career on Saturday, earning that kudos with his ninth place finish. He had also finished tenth in the 2023 edition of the meet.
A native of Big Bear Lake, California, DeGree was the Mavs' most consistent runner in 2023, finishing either as the No. 2 or 3 man in all four meets, but had never been able to lead the team until Saturday.
Up Next
The Mavericks will next compete on Oct. 12 when they head to Romeoville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, for the Lewis Crossover Invite. They then begin the championship half of the season on Oct. 26 with the RMAC Championships in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
