CSU Cross Country: Men Place Second, Women Finish Fourth at MW Cross Country Championships

Oct. 28, 2016

Official Results: Women's | Men's

KUNA, Idaho - Jerrell Mock recorded his second consecutive standout performance at the Mountain West Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships to lead the Colorado State men's cross country team to a second-place finish in a closely contested meet on Friday from the Falcon Crest Golf Course.

Mock placed second out of an 8k field of 66 runners with a time of 23:57.5. The Logan, Utah native led throughout the first 15 minutes, but eventual winner Yusuke Uchikoshi of Boise State appeared to make contact with Mock's back before Mock stumbled to the ground. Mock recovered to retake the lead at about the 17-minute mark, but as the lead runners reached the final hills of the course, Mock was overtaken by Uchikoshi.

Mock's finish marked at the first time since 2012-13 that an individual runner has recorded back-to-back top-two finishes at the Mountain West Cross Country Championship (Luke Caldwell of New Mexico). Mock earned first-team All-Mountain West honors for the second straight season, and has been an All-Mountain West performer in all three of his cross country seasons. Mock led the Rams to a 48-point finish, just behind Boise State, which finished with 41 points.

Each of Anthony Laurita, Grant Fischer, Cole Rockhold and Jefferson Abbey earned second-team all-conference honors with top-14 finishes. Laurita ran the top collegiate race of his career, placing ninth with a time of 24:14.6, and was followed in 10th by Fischer (24:16.3). Rockhold (24:27) finished in 13th just over 10 seconds later, and Abbey rounded out CSU's top five with a 14th-place finish (24:28.8).

Notably, CSU's men's team placed seven runner in the top-16, with Eric Hamer (24:29.6) and Carson Hume (24:30.2) finishing in 15th and 16th, respectively, just behind Rockhold and Abbey.

On the women's side, CSU finished fourth in the 6k with 103 points, behind only No. 7 New Mexico (42 points), Air Force (53 points) and No. 28 Boise State (86 points). Janelle Lincks earned All-Mountain West Second Team honors, and led the Rams with a ninth-place finish and time of 20:48.5.

Ali Kallner was the next-highest finisher for CSU, clocking a time of 21:17.8 to place 20th. McKenna Spillar followed closely in 21st place (21:17.9), while Kate White (21:22.4) placed 25th and Alex Hess finished in 28th (21:26.8). Alice Wright of New Mexico won the women's individual title with a time of 20:02.7.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Art Siemers
On Jerrell Mock's performance:
"It was unfortunate that Jerrell (Mock) went down right when he was about to make a move on the hill. He never made an excuse, he got right back up and he didn't feel sorry for himself. He responded right away and that's what you ask from your leader - to be a champion in the face of adverse conditions. He took that slide, popped right back up and went right back to his gameplan. He didn't waver from that; he still tried to attack the hills. That's just the heart of a champion right there. That's the kind of guy that he is. It probably just took a little too much out of him against really good competition."

On the performance by CSU's men and the team moving forward this season:
"Our seventh man was 16th in the conference - we almost had seven all-conference runners. That's a special performance. Having depth is going to give us a big advantage, because it's not typical that in all these big meets that your top five is always your top five. Even though we didn't win today, it was a close battle and it doesn't end our season. We still have regionals ahead and our goal is to finish in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. These guys are capable of it and our pack will only keep moving up as we run in bigger meets and move to 10,000-meter races."

On Anthony Laurita's performance:
"Since the race in Wisconsin, he has just trained like a beast the past two weeks and wasn't afraid today. That's what we're going to need. If we're going to get better and win future championships, we're going to need walk-on athletes like him to come in and grind it out and help us get to the next level. It was a huge performance for Anthony today. Now he's got to build on that in the next one."

On the overall performance by CSU's women's team:
"On the women's side, it was our best race so far this year. Janelle (Lincks) has been our rock all year and made all-conference for the first time in cross country. She moved up strongly throughout the race, and that's her style - she likes to go out and move up. She made a good move at the end to move up from 13th to ninth. She just finished strong in her textbook way. Ali (Kallner) had a nice finish there at the end as well. McKenna (Spillar) had a great race. I think we're putting it together and I think it's going to be a great regional in two weeks."

STAT OF THE MEET
CSU's five All-Mountain West performers on the men's team are tied for its highest total in program history. CSU also had five in 2013, including one All-Mountain West First Team performer (Ben Larson) and four All-Mountain West Second Team performers (Jefferson Abbey, Andrew Goodman, Christian Meyer and Alex Muntefering).

NOTES
- Jerrell Mock has now finished either first or second in three of four meets this season.
- Anthony Laurita's ninth-place finish at the MW Championships is his highest-career cross country finish. Laurita's previous best 8k finish was 18th at the Washington Invitational (Oct. 1).
- Grant Fischer placed within the top 10 for the second time this season.
- Janelle Lincks' ninth-place finish is her best in 6k races this season. Previously in 2016, Lincks finished 11th at the Washington Invitational (Oct. 1).
- Each of Jefferson Abbey and Cole Rockhold finished within the top 15 for the second time this season. Each also did so at the Washington Invitational (Oct. 1).

UP NEXT
The Colorado State cross country team will be off until Friday, Nov. 11, when the Rams compete in the NCAA Mountain Regional in Logan, Utah.

All-Mountain West Women's Cross Country First Team
Carina Gillespie, Jr., Air Force
Lindy Long, Sr., Air Force
Jaci Smith, So., Air Force
Brenna Peloquin, So., Boise State
Annemarie Schwanz, Sr., Fresno State
Calli Thackery, Sr. New Mexico
Alice Wright, Jr., New Mexico

All-Mountain West Women's Cross Country Second Team
Clare O'Brien, Fr., Boise State
Janelle Lincks, Sr., Colorado State
Cora Gallop, So., Nevada
Natasha Bernal, So., New Mexico
Sophie Connor, Sr., New Mexico
Kashley Carter, Fr., Utah State
Lauren Hamilton, Jr., Wyoming

Women's Student-Athlete of the Year: Alice Wright, Jr., New Mexico
Women's Coach of the Year: Ryan Cole, Air Force
Women's Freshman of the Year: Clare O'Brien, Fr., Boise State

All-Mountain West Men's Cross Country First Team
Jacob Bilvado, So., Air Force
Matt Dorsey, Sr., Air Force
Andrew Johnston, Jr., Air Force
Yusuke Uchikoshi, Jr., Boise State
Michael Vennard, Jr., Boise State
Jerrell Mock, Jr., Colorado State
Dillon Maggard, Jr., Utah State

All-Mountain West Men's Cross Country Second Team
Miler Haller, Fr., Boise State
Rhys Park, Jr., Boise State
Jefferson Abbey, Sr., Colorado State
Grant Fischer, Jr., Colorado State
Anthony Laurita, Fr., Colorado State
Cole Rockhold, So., Colorado State
Jose Piña, So., San José State

Men's Student-Athlete of the Year: Yusuke Uchikoshi, Jr., Boise State
Men's Coach of the Year: Corey Ihmels, Boise State
Men's Freshman of the Year: Luke Beattie, Utah State

Full Colorado State Results
Women's 6k (88 athletes)
9th - Janelle Lincks - 20:48.5
20th - Ali Kallner - 21:17.8
21st - McKenna Spillar - 21:17.9
25th - Kate White - 21:22.4
28th - Alex Hess - 21:26.8
29th - Sanne Holland - 21:30.5
41st - Darby Gilfillan - 21:50
46th - Mary Franke - 22:02
59th - Roxy Trotter - 22:19

Men's 8k (66 athletes)
2nd - Jerrell Mock - 23:57.5
9th - Anthony Laurita - 24:14.6
10th - Grant Fischer - 24:16.3
13th - Cole Rockhold - 24:27
14th - Jefferson Abbey - 24:28.8
15th - Eric Hamer - 24:29.6
16th - Carson Hume - 24:30.2
36th - Justin Weinmeister - 25:13
47th - Ricardo Kaempfen - 25:31.3

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results