Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
CSU Invite
Cross country recap: Newcomers lead Rams in opener
9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
By Nate Lake
Athletics Communications
Men's Official Results | Women's Official Results
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The scene was electric in front of Hughes Stadium Friday, with over 900 high school and collegiate athletes competing against a beautiful backdrop of the Fort Collins foothills as Colorado State hosted the annual season-opening CSU Invite.
CSU freshman Ali Kallner made the most of her first collegiate race, finishing seventh overall with a time of 17 minutes, 43 seconds for the 5-kilometer race, just 11 seconds behind winner Hannah Everson of Air Force. Junior transfer Janelle Lincks was equally as impressive, taking sixth overall in her first race in a Rams uniform with a time of 17:42.
Potentially the most exciting storyline of the night, however, was redshirt freshman Cole Rockhold's dominance in the men's 5K. In his first collegiate cross country race, Rockhold led a group of five CSU men to finish in the top 15, taking third overall with a time of 14:55.
The CSU women placed six athletes in the top 25 overall. All in all, it was an encouraging start for a Colorado State cross country program that will look to continue its ascension into the nation's elite during the 2015 campaign.
IN THEIR WORDS...
"I thought the whole day was a success. There were almost 900 student-athletes here today. It's nice to showcase Colorado State. It's great publicity for our program." - Head coach Art Siemers
"I thought the teams did really well. I think it was a good start. We had some really big things. Cole Rockhold looked phenomenal and was followed pretty closely by his teammates. The redshirt freshmen stepped up big for us." - Siemers
"Once I got 800 meters out from the finish, I was like, `this is just my day.'"- Redshirt freshman Cole Rockhold
"I was really happy with how I did. I felt super strong. The start is a lot more aggressive than in high school. The higher mileage that I've been doing definitely paid off. In high school, at the two-mile mark, I felt like I had a long way to go. Today, it really didn't feel like I had too much longer since I've been training with higher mileage. That really made a difference." - Freshman Ali Kallner
STAT OF THE MEET...
The CSU men's team had just a 26-second pack split, meaning only 26 ticks came off the clock between its first and fifth finishers crossing the finish line.
NOTES...
- Three Colorado State newcomers finished in the top 10 for their respective races: Janelle Lincks (sixth), Ali Kallner (seventh) in the women's race; Cole Rockhold (third) in the men's race.
- Seven CSU men finished in the top 25 for the men's 5K, while six CSU women finished in the top 25 for the women's 5K.
- Four of CSU's top five male finishers were freshmen: Cole Rockhold (third), Sam Guinn (12th), Spencer Keith (15th), and Carson Hume (16th).
- Every CSU men's runner finished in the top 60 of the 107-member field.
- Every CSU women's runner finished in the top 60 of the 100-member field.
- 11 of CSU's 13 male competitors finished the 5K race in under 16 minutes.
- 10 of CSU's 16 female competitors finished the 5K race in under 19 minutes.
UP NEXT...
The Rams travel to St. Paul, Minn., where they will compete in the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 26.
