Lauren Martin
The Paw Print
Adams State men’s cross country travelled across the country to compete in the annual Chile Pepper Festival held in northern Arkansas in the college town of Fayetteville. A crisp fall day and an enthusiastic large crowd of spectators greeted the Grizzlies in northern Arkansas. The University of Arkansas with its strong running tradition provided a festival type atmosphere, which added to the excitement of the meet.
Out of 50 teams and 470 runners, the Grizzlies finished in a strong fourth place, beating 23 Division I teams. Leading the charge for Adams State was senior Ryan McNiff. McNiff started the race in a strong position, moved back in the pack at around the two mile mark and surged back toward the front with the race leaders as he neared the final stretch. A strong kick netted him a 17th place finish, where he finished among the top division I competitors, finishing the course in a time of 30:01.
Luke Cragg, finished a strong 25th place in a time of 30:16 adding to the competitive finish for the Grizzlies.
Head Coach Damon Martin said of Cragg, “He had solid performance, as did Ryan McNiff, both of them are in a very high volume training mode and you won’t be able to see what great runners they are until we begin to peak during championship week.” Martin went on to say, “Luke and Ryan are the team leaders this year. I expect a lot from our leaders and they are delivering.”
Finishing third on the team was Keegan Calmes with a remarkable effort, earning him 28th place with a time of 30:20. Martin praised Calmes, “Keegan ran incredible. He went out hard, stuck with top group and had a breakthrough race. I was proud and excited about his effort and the result that came from it.”
Rounding out the top five for the Grizzlies was Matt Bond and Brandon Birdsong. Bond went out with the leaders and through the first portion of the race was Grizzlies top runner. He finished in a time of 30:31 for 36th place. Birdsong ran a solid race, to earn 49th place with a time of 30:54.
Nathan Sellers and Edwin Cruz finished the race in the sixth and seventh team place for Adams. Sellers and Cruz placed 51th and 82th, respectfully. Completing the team for the Grizzlies was Drew Graham, Drew Soucy, Jovanny Godinez and Antoine Malartre. They finished in 85th, 94th, 97th and 172nd, respectfully.
Martin commented, “I am really proud of the depth of our team this year; in order for us to reach our goals this year the top runners will need to continue to improve each race. I believe our top seven are capable or running thirty to forty-five seconds faster each for an 8k or 10k race. That what it will take for us to reach our potential.”
The Grizzlies head to the New Mexico Highlands, Las Vegas, New Mexico on Saturday, October 23 to race the course where the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet will be held in early November. The men will field a full team, however several of the top performers from the prior weekend will be remaining home to train.
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