Lauren Martin
The Paw Print
On October 2, the Grizzlies raced at the Rocky Mountain Shootout hosted by the Colorado University Buffaloes.
The Adams State harriers finished first in the non-Division I team race, and second overall, losing only to Colorado University by 7 points, with the unofficial team scores of 35 for the Buffs and 42 for Adams. The Buffalo Ranch course distance was 8,030-meters in length, located in Boulder, Colorado.
Senior Ryan McNiff was the first finisher for Adams. He came across the line third overall in a time of 25:11. McNiff was only 27 seconds from the winner Joe Bosshard and 6 seconds away from Andy Wacker, who finished in second place.
Luke Cragg was next runner for the Grizzlies. Cragg completed the course in a time of 25:26 earning him seventh place. Running his first race for ASC was sophomore Craig Huffer, finishing in eighth place right behind teammate Cragg. Huffer finished in a time of 25:33 on the challenging course.
Keegan Calmes, also a sophomore, finished in twelfth place overall, running the course in 25:41. Rounding out the top five for the Grizzlies was junior Matt Bond. Bond ran a very fast time of 25:55, placing him 16th.
Sixth runner for the Grizzlies was senior Brandon Birdsong. Birdsong finished in 22nd with a time of 26:08.
Finishing seventh for the team was junior, Drew Graham. Graham came in only two seconds behind teammate Birdsong with a time of 26:10, earning him 24th. Also competing for Adams State was redshirt Jovanny Godinez. Godinez came in 30th with a time of 26:17.
Junior All-American Nathan Sellers finished close behind in 32nd in a time of 26:20. Sophomore Edwin Cruz ran a time of 26:25, placing him in 36th. Antoine Malatre, a sophomore, came in 45th place finishing in a time of 26:40. Jordan Patterson, also a sophomore, finished the race in 54th place in a time of 26:58.
Senior Dean Huffer came in 73rd, senior Drew Soucy finished in 75th, redshirt freshman Robert Frederick came in 141st and redshirt freshman Conrad Montoya finished in 163rd.
With a glimpse of the future, redshirting for the Grizzlies were David Sanchez, Tabor Stevens, Francis Herrera, Frankie Quijada, Drew Ryther, Gabe Toepel, Dominic Cabada, Andrew Ochoa, Joel Barnett, Tim Shepard and Jeff Siguenza.
McNiff said about the course on Saturday, “I think that this is a good course. Being a senior, I am kind of sad that I can’t come back and run here again. People think too much about the ‘big hill’ in the middle, but it seemed pretty easy to me.” McNiff also reported about the team, “This was a good stepping stone for us. We are headed in the right direction. Training from now on is more about leg speed, so we will only get faster.”
“We plan on rolling up some teams at Arkansas, as well as the rest of the year.” McNiff also noted that he plans on leading the team to receive an All-Academic Team Award this year.
The next race for the Grizzlies is in Fayetteville, Arkansas. They will be competing in the Chile Pepper Festival on October 16 facing many Division I ranked opponents. Then on October 23, the team will be headed to Las Vegas, New Mexico to compete in New Mexico Highlands.
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