COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. A portion of Western Colorado's men's and women's cross country teams raced Friday at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs XC Open.
John Houdeshell paced the Mountaineer men with a 13th-place time of 26 minutes, 25.97 seconds in the 8-kilometer event, and
Lacey Kunz led a pair of Western women in their 6K race, finishing 46th with a time of 25:26.68.
The Mountaineer squad split for the weekend with one group traveling to Seattle for the NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals meet on Saturday, with another group staying closer to home at the UCCS meet. The Colorado Springs contingent included a group that ran unattached at the event.
The UCCS Open was a non-scoring team event but still attracted 94 women and 111 men in their respective races.
After Houdeshell crossed the finish, the next four Mountaineers crossed in a group spread apart by just 16 seconds.
Jacob Tyburski led that quartet, finishing 33rd with a time of 27:18.79.
Blake Davis (27:26.91) and
Jeremy Killoy (27:29.07) were separated by just three seconds in finishing 38th and 39th, and
Braydon O'Neill (27:34.23) closed out the foursome's finish in 42nd place.
Western was represented in the women's 6K by Kunz and
Haley Wood, who was 10 seconds back from her teammate in 49th with a finishing time of 25:36.24.
NEXT UP
The Mountaineers will re-group for one more event at home – the annual W Mountain Race – before the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship meet in Durango, Colo., on November 5.
