Lauren Martin
The Paw Print
The Adams State College Cross Country Women’s Team placed four runners in the top eight at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships this past Saturday, but that wasn’t enough to hold off the Western State Mountaineers who captured the Conference Championship by finishing with a strong team effort placing five runners in the top 10 to win the meet over the Grizzlies 31-42. The Grizzlies were competing without the services of sophomore All-American Alicia Nelson from Moffat, Colorado.
Top finisher for the lady Grizzlies was Kristen McGlynn from Bailey, Colorado, who ran 20:36 to finish in second place behind Alexis Skarda from Mesa State College who turned in effort of 20:22. Skarda took the early lead in the race and held that position for nearly the entire race. McGlynn pushed with a strong surge to close the gap on Skarda in the final stretches of the run, but Skarda held on to claim the individual conference title. Skarda’s individual title was the first time in 25 years that the conference individual champion was not won by either an Adams State College or Western State College athlete. The win earned Skarda the individual runner of the year honors from the RMAC as well.
Continuing her impressive freshman year, Kelly Lamb of Creede, Colorado was the Grizzlies second place finisher. Lamb took sixth place overall with a time of 21:24. Lamb was the top freshman finisher for the event, earning her the freshman of the year honor. Coach Martin said of Lamb, “Kelly continues to improve and make her mark on this year’s team.”
Senior Ashley Quintana, running in a venue near her hometown of nearby Pecos, New Mexico, placed seventh overall for the Grizzly harriers in a time of 21:43. Following closely to Quintana was senior Addison LeMaster of Tulia, Texas turning in a time of 21:54 to finish in eighth. Rounding out the scorers for the team was Cassie Mitchell from Tustin, California finishing in nineteenth place with a time of 22:45. Sophomore Sarah Lange from Brattleboro, Vermont finished twenty-third place with a time of 23:10. Senior Lindsay Grasmick of Flower, Colorado finished eighty-seventh with a time of 27:57.
The team title went to Western State College with a score of 31, Adams State finished second with 42, and taking their highest place ever the Rocky Mountain Championships with a third place in the team race was Regis College. Regis is coached by ASC Athletic Hall of Fame member John Esquibel. Rounding out the top five teams was Mesa State with a score of 129 and Colorado School of Mines with 150.
Reflecting on the race, Coach Damon Martin stated, “Clearly we came here to win a conference title, so we are disappointed in the outcome of today’s event. However, this season is a long way from over. I have tremendous confidence in this women’s team and our work is still very much underway. The Western team deserves the conference title today. We plan to lace up our shoes tomorrow and get back on the path toward our goals; we aren’t nearly finished with this season.”
Next up for the Grizzly women runners is the Regional Championships to be held at Wayne, Nebraska on November 20. The regional event combines the teams from the RMAC and the Northern Sun conference. The top four teams coming out of Regionals will advance to Louisville, Kentucky on December 4 for the National Championships.
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