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CSU Heads to the Land of Enchantment
Rams to participate in the New Mexico Invitational.
Sept. 11, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State men's and women's cross country teams will head to Lobo country to compete in the New Mexico Invitational on Saturday in Albuquerque. The meet will be one of the biggest cross country events held in the state of New Mexico this year with 13 collegiate teams (including Fort Lewis, LSU, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Texas-Pan American, Texas Tech, UTEP and Western State) on Saturday morning. Wyoming Recap: The Colorado State men's and women's cross country teams opened their season Friday at the University of Wyoming Open Cross Country Meet at Jacoby Golf Course. Both teams dominated the competition and came away with team titles. The men finished with a total score of 31 and the women finished with a score of 30. All runners for the men's team finished in the top 20, including four in the top 10: Ryan Kirkpatrick (fourth, 21:34), Matt Pettit (fifth, 21.34), Dave Zakavec (eighth, 21:58), and Nelson Palacios (tenth, 22:19). Dennis Flanagan and John Nichols finished 12tth and 17th, respectively. All four runners for the women's team finished in the top six. The team was led by Michelle Carman, who finished in second with a time of 14.22. Nipping at Carman's heels was Sara MacKay who finished just two seconds behind her with a time of 14.24. Bekah Yetzer and Valerie McGregor finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Picked Second: The Colorado State men's and women's cross country teams were picked to finish second in the Mountain West Conference Championship on November 1 in San Diego. BYU was chosen by the league's coaches to win both titles. National Rankings: The men's cross country team is ranked fourth in the Mountain Region and 23rd in the nation according to the MONDO men's poll, while the women are ranked 26th in the nation, according to FinishLynx -- which produces the weekly poll.
Head Coach Del Hessel: Hessel ranks as one of the most successful
distance and cross country coaches in the nation. He is the only coach
to have coached at three different Division I schools and lead each into
the national rankings and the NCAA Championships. Colorado State has
finished as high as eighth in the men's championship and the women had
their highest finish ever when they placed 12th in 1997. In 2000, Hessel
was named both the men's and the women's Mountain West Conference Cross
Country Coach of the Year for his teams' accomplishments.
On the track, Hessel has produced numerous All-Americans in distance
events. Bryan Berryhill was the first Ram to win two national
championships when he won the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championship and
the 1500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championship in 2000. At one point
in his career, Hessel coached four runners under 13:50 in the 5,000
meters. Under Hessel's guidance, Billy Mangan won the Penn Relays at
13:44, Mike Klass won All-American honors after finishing the 5,000 in
13:41.6, Dave Murphy won the 10,000 meters at the Tom Black Invitational
in 28:14 and Ibrahim Kivina was the national runner-up at the NCAA
Championship in the 10,000 meter with a finishing time of 28:04. Hessel has toured with several international teams while serving as
event chair for USA Olympic Development for the 800 and 1,500 meters. He
has served on the World Cup staff in Spain, served as head coach for the
Olympic Sports Festival and travelled to Europe for the past 10 years
with some of the nation's best middle distance runners including,
Olympians Brian Woodward, Steve Holman and Rick Kenah.
Hessel has also written three books and given lectures throughout the
country. He is a member of the Colorado State Hall of Fame for his
accomplishments as a nationally ranked 800 meter runner. In 1963, he set
a Colorado State record for the indoor 800 meters with his time of
1:50.50. That mark stood for 35 years until it was finally broken by
Berryhill in 1998.
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