Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
NCAA Regional Championships
Rams cross country finishes seventh at Mountain regional
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 15, 2008
Women's results | Men's results
By Josh Kruger
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State men’s and women’s cross country teams came up short in their bids to advance to the NCAA championships, finishing their seasons Saturday with twin seventh-place finishes in the Mountain regional held at Collindale Golf Course.
Redshirt freshman Ellie Rastall continued her amazing season, being the lone Ram named to the all-region team by virtue of her 12th-place finish in the women’s race.
“I thought Ellie ran great,” Head Coach Bryan Berryhill said. “I think she’ll actually make it in to the NCAA championships as an individual. As a redshirt freshman to finish 12th is fantastic.”
In the women’s 6K race, Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego easily won the individual title, crossing the line in 19 minutes, 31.9 seconds, finishing 41 seconds in front of the second-place finisher. For the sixth time in six races, Rastall was the top CSU finisher, posting a time of 20:57.2. Kirsten Anthony just missed out on an all-region honor, finishing in 26th place with a time of 21:22.3.
“On the women’s side, I thought we ran a little better than we have been lately,” Berryhill said. “It was a better ending than our conference race, that’s for sure. It was obviously not what we wanted at the beginning of the year, but I thought for a young group they held their composure and ran OK today.”
With their finish, the Rams’ reign as Mountain regional champions comes to an end. Texas Tech won the race and was joined by second-place finisher New Mexico as automatic qualifiers for the NCAA championships on Nov. 24. Even though the season didn’t go as well he had hoped, Berryhill is optimistic for the future of the women’s program.
“It definitely wasn’t the year we wanted at the beginning, but the future looks great,” he said. “We didn’t know we were redshirting some of the girls who we did, and most of these girls will be back next year.
“Even though we will lose Kirsten, we’re going to add in a two-time conference champion in Kristen Hemphill and a former SEC Freshman of the Year in Dani Parry. We’re going to get a lot back next year to add to this group of four freshmen and a sophomore that ran today, so I think next year is going to take care of itself. These girls grew up a lot this year, and I think next year will look a lot different than it did today.”
Next for Berryhill and the women’s team is a waiting game to find out if Rastall will be selected as an individual for the NCAAs. If she does get chosen for the race in Terre Haute, Ind., Berryhill can see her having success.
“I think she has a shot,” he said. “You look at the way she ran at conference and compare that to today and I think she was great. She finished 12th at conference, and then you add in all these other teams today, so it was a much better race for her today than two weeks ago.
“If she can improve a little more before nationals, she has a good chance to go there and finish in the top 60, which would be, as a redshirt freshman, a fantastic finish. And if she does go to the NCAAs, it will give us five girls on our team next year who will have had experience at the NCAAs when we get those other juniors back, which would be a big key.”
In the men’s 10K race, the Rams showed Berryhill that they have what it takes to be successful in the 2009 season. Sophomore Daniel Wallis was the top finisher for CSU, crossing the line in 30:42.5 to finish in 33rd place, with junior Jeremy Freed right behind in 36th place with a time of 30:48.2.
“On the men’s side, I thought we ran pretty well today,” Berryhill said. “We were 14th here last year and today we finished seventh. It’s a huge step in the right direction. On top of it all, we get all those guys that scored in our top-five back next year and a couple of key redshirts back. So it is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Even though they finished well back of the two qualifying teams, first-place Colorado and second-place Northern Arizona, the men made great strides this year and have reason to be optimistic going forward.
“Again, going from 14th last year to seventh this year is a big step in the right direction for them,” Berryhill said. “And we get everybody back in the top five that scored. Add in John O’Neil and a few other guys that redshirted this year and I think it’s a very optimistic outlook on the men’s side, unlike this time last year. Our men’s finish at the regional meet last year was one of the biggest disappointments in my three years of coaching, so I thought we ended on a strong note.”
Although this season was a frustrating one for Berryhill and his teams, he can take solace in the fact that each of his top runners will return next year one year older, one year wiser, and one year more experienced. It all gives him reason to feel good about the direction of his program.
“It was not the year we wanted, obviously,” he concluded. “But we have a lot to build on. You learn a lot during tough years, and going through some adversity is not a bad thing for these four freshmen and sophomore on the girl’s team. They learned a lot this year and I’m really looking forward to getting ready for next season.”
Women’s times (overall finish): Ellie Rastall 20:57.2 (12), Kirsten Anthony 21:22.3 (26), Allison Gohl 21:36.4 (39), Michelle Dettmann 22:08.6 (67), Kendra Gerk 22:12.3 (68), Nicole Peters 22:23.0 (77), Marissa Saunders 22:31.6 (81)
Men’s times (overall finish): Daniel Wallis 30:42.5 (33), Jeremy Freed 30:48.2 (36), Andrew Mauk 31:13.0 (46), Jake Keyser 31:31.5 (55), Ryan Friese 31:48.4 (59), Kip Taylor 32:20.9 (69), Colin Anderson 34:01.7 (98)
