COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Dominick Muller and three fellow freshman were amongst Colorado Mesa University's top five runners as the youthful Maverick men's cross country team finished 11^th at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday morning here at Monument Valley Park.
 
Muller, racing for just the second time in a CMU uniform, placed 55^th with a time of 26 minutes, 19.5 seconds on the 8,000-meter course and accounted for 50 of CMU's 301 total team points.
 
Redshirt junior Chase Brown, the lone upperclassmen in the Mavs' scoring contingent, was the Mavs' second runner on the day.  He finished 62^nd and scored 55 team points with a time of 26:28.9.
 
Following the race, Brown was recognized as the RMAC Summit Award Winner for having the highest grade point average of any student-athlete in the race.
 
The Mavs' next three runners were also all true freshman and finished within nine seconds and five places of one another.  Colton White ran for the first time in his collegiate career and placed 71^st in 26:42.7 while Clayton Wilson, the Mavs' top runner two weeks prior at the Lewis Crossover Invite, finished 74^th in 26:50.4, just a second and place ahead of Kael Jex (26:51.4).
 
The Mavs' other runners were Owen Frank (84^th, 27:13.4), Alex Spink (97^th, 27:55.3), Dillon Elliott (99^th, 28:09.5) and Ryan O'Loughlin (107^th, 28:35.4).
 
National Poll No. 3 Adams State had three runners in the top five and won a 37^th RMAC team title with 32 points, ahead of top-ranked Colorado School of Mines, which finished second with 41.
 
The Orediggers, who had won the previous six RMAC Championships and last year's NCAA Division II title, did take some solace as Paul Knight won the individual crown in 23:50.5, 5 ½ seconds ahead of Adams State's Kidus Begashaw.
 
The CMU women had two All-RMAC performers in Megan Hodges and Jordan Staniszewski and claimed a sixth place finish, their best in 11 years.
 
The Mavericks will continue the season in two weeks (Nov. 8) when they compete in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships in Pueblo.