Cross country preview: Rams travel to Albuquerque for Mountain Regional
CSU women look to finish well, while men look to salvage season
Senior Kristen Hemphill
Nov. 12, 2009
Andrew Woerpel Athletic Media Relations FORT COLLLINS, Colo. – The CSU men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday at the 2009 NCAA Mountain Region Cross Country Championships.
This race will provide the women’s team with one last chance to create enough buzz for itself to qualify for the NCAA championships, which take place on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. The top two teams from each region will automatically qualify, with the rest of the 31-team field being chosen at-large from all nine regions.
"I feel our women’s team is in a really good spot,” said Head Coach Bryan Berryhill. "I think we still have a shot to make it to nationals as a team. I definitely think Ellie (Rastall) and Kristen (Hemphill) have a great shot as individuals. I would like to see the team get there, and to have to do that, we probably have to beat BYU or somebody like them, and that will be tough.”
The women will be going up against some very tough competition. The favorites going into the race will be Texas Tech (ranked No. 1 in the region), Colorado (No. 2), New Mexico (No. 3) and BYU (No. 4). The other teams competing include Northern Arizona (No. 5), UTEP (No. 6), Southern Utah (No. 8), Weber State (No. 9), Montana (No. 10), Utah Valley (No. 11), New Mexico State (No. 12), Air Force (No. 13), Utah State (No. 14) and Nevada (No. 15).
"The top two are probably Texas Tech and the University of Colorado, and right behind them is New Mexico and BYU.” Berryhill said. "Six of the top 32 teams are in our region, so it is definitely a very deep region, but I don’t see any reason, if we have a great race, we couldn’t come out of here fourth,”
Berryhill likes the women’s chances of qualifying for the NCAA championships if they are able to secure at least a fourth-place finish. Anything beyond that will leave their fate to chance.
"If we finish fourth, I feel pretty darn good about our chances of going,” Berryhill said. "If we finish fifth, it is just a matter of how all the other regions play out. But, if we finish fourth and beat out a New Mexico, or a BYU or somebody like that, our chances are really good; fifth place, probably a flip of a coin.”
As for the men, they hope to end a season that was decimated by injuries on a positive note. To do so, Berryhill believes the men must perform better than they did at the MWC championships two weeks ago.
"I just want to see us end it on a good note,” Berryhill said. "I want to see us go in there and end the year well. Deep down, for some people, it is hard to get past the bad luck that has happened, but at the same time it is reality and we have to race. We were seventh last year, and if we have a good race, I don’t see any reason they can’t finish seventh again. But, it is going to take a much better effort than they gave two weeks ago.”
The men, like the women, will be facing immense competition. The favorites look to be Northern Arizona (ranked No. 1 in the region), Colorado (No. 2), New Mexico (No. 3), and BYU (No. 4). The other teams competing include Utah State (No. 5), UTEP (No. 6), Air Force (No. 7), Montana State (No. 8), Montana (No. 9), Weber State (No. 10), Southern Utah (No. 12), Texas Tech (No. 13), Utah Valley (No. 14), and New Mexico State (No. 15).
The races will take place at the University of New Mexico North Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, with the men’s 10,000-meter race beginning at 10:45 a.m. MT, and the women’s 6,000-meter race starting at 12 p.m.
