Photo Courtesy of ASC Sports Information: Seniors Matt Bond (L) and Nathan Sellers (R)
Scott Kretzmann
ASC Sports
Information Director
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association’s (USTFCCCA) No. 1-ranked Adams State men’s XC team will get into the championships portion of its season this weekend as the Grizzlies head to Denver for the 2011 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Championships, hosted by Regis at the Willis Case Golf Course.
The Grizzlies have remained their top of the nation ranking since the preseason, a spot which they have now occupied for 31 straight polls. They’ve also been ranked as the top team in the region in 34 consecutive sets of rankings dating back to the start of the 2008 season.
Led by an individual RMAC title for Ryan McNiff last season, the Grizzly men claimed a sixth straight conference title by a 30-47 score over Western State, and would also go on to claim their third straight Central Region crown and fourth straight NCAA Division II Championship.
The winning ways have continued this season, as the Grizzlies took down league rival – and the nation’s No. 2 team all season – Western State in the season-opening Joe I. Vigil Open, and again finished ahead of the Mountaineers while tying for third overall at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. Those two performances have extended the Grizzlies streak to 22 straight races in which they have not been beaten by a Division II school when running an ‘A’ squad.
The Grizzlies have been led this season by senior Nathan Sellers (La Crescenta, Calif.), who finished as the top college runner at the Vigil Open and placed ninth overall at the Cowboy Jamboree. In addition to claiming the last six team titles at the RMAC race, Adams State also boasts seven of the last eight individual titles.
A 2-time All-American, Sellers will be joined by returning All-RMAC and All-American teammates Keegan Calmes (Wind Lake, Wis.) and Edwin Cruz (Del Norte, Colo.). Calmes was the third ASC finisher at the Cowboy Jamboree, placing 29th overall in a time of 24:48.51. Cruz was the seventh Grizzlies and 14th overall at the Vigil Open. Calmes and Cruz both ran identical times of 26:15 at the Colorado College Invitational on Sept. 17, while Cruz was credited with the win.
Also in the mix for ASC will be senor Matt Bond (Worcester, England), an outdoor track & field All-American who has been ASC’s No. 2 runner in both meets he’s run this fall; juniors Andrew Roberts (Boulder, Colo.) and David Sanchez (Farmersville, Calif.), and redshirt-freshman Tabor Stevens (Canon City, Colo.) and Jovanny Godinez (Pacoima, Calif.).
Plenty of top-notch competition awaits the Grizzlies in Denver, as the RMAC boasts three of the country’s top four squads as well as five ranked in the top 25. Along with the 2nd-ranked Mountaineers, ASC will be running against No. 4 Colorado Mines, No. 14 Metro State and No. 20 New Mexico Highlands. The five schools finished in the order in which they are ranked nationally at last year’s RMAC meet in Las Vegas, N.M.
After finishing as runners-up to the Grizzlies at the Vigil meet, WSC won its own Mountaineer Open, and most recently claimed runner-up honors in the college division at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and a seventh place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree in the same weekend. In addition to returning their top RMAC finisher from last season in Ryan Haebe, the Mountaineers also boast the league’s Preseason Runner of the Year in Tyler Pennell.
Colorado Mines has raced just twice this season, but has topped the podium each. At the Runner’s Soul/Erik Anderson National Preview Invite in Spokane, Wash. – the site of this year’s national championship race – the Orediggers were led by 2-time RMAC Runner of the Week Sean Gildea who claimed the individual title and ran to victory with 27 points, outpacing runner-up Gonzaga by 68. CSM also won the Fort Hays Tiger Open on Oct. 8.
Carl Arnold II led the Roadrunners at least year’s conference meet and is back this year. Metro State placed fourth in the Maroon Division at the renowned Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, and also claimed the top spot at their own Metro State Invitational.
New Mexico Highlands has a pair of meet wins as well as a pair of runner-up finishes this season. The Cowboys won the Texas Tech Open to start their season, and also won the College Division meet at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. At their own NMHU Cross Country Jam they finished second behind only Eastern New Mexico, which currently ranks ninth in the USTFCCCA’s DII poll. Most recently, they finished as the runners-up to the Roadrunners at the Metro State Invitational.
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