CSU Cross Country Ready for NCAA Mountain Regional

Nov. 10, 2016

2016 NCAA Mountain Regional
Thursday, Nov. 10 | Logan, Utah
Steve & Dona Reeder Cross Country Course
Women's 6k: 11 a.m. MT
Men's 10k: 12 p.m. MT
Coverage: Live Results | Championship Central

Colorado State Cross Country: Meet Notes | Twitter

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Fresh off a strong showing at the Mountain West Cross Country Championships, the Colorado State women's and men's cross country teams are set to compete in a loaded field at the 2016 NCAA Mountain Regional this Friday at the Steve & Dona Reeder Cross Country Course in Logan, Utah.

Competition in the NCAA Mountain Regional will begin at 11 a.m. MT with the women's 6k championship race. The men's 10k championship race is set to follow shortly after, with a scheduled start time of 12 p.m. MT.

This weekend's regional competition can be followed through live results provided by host Utah State. The link for live results can be accessed above.

The CSU men most recently finished second at the MW Cross Country Championships, led again by a stalwart performance from junior Jerrell Mock. The native of Logan, Utah finished runner-up at the conference meet, marking his third top-two finish this season.

CSU's women placed fourth as a team at the meet, as senior Janelle Lincks led the team with a top-10 finish to earn All-Mountain West Second Team honors. The Rams will have an opportunity for a rematch with New Mexico and Air Force, which were two of the top three teams at the MW Championships on the women's side.

Perhaps the deepest region in the nation, the Mountain Region boasts each of the top three teams in the nation on the men's side - consensus No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 2 Colorado and No. 3 BYU. No. 15 UTEP rounds out the top competition on the men's side for Colorado State, which enters this weekend ranked No. 19 by the USTFCCCA.

Air Force, which is receiving the most votes of any team outside the USTFCCCA's top 30, will run against the Rams once again this season. The Falcons finished in third behind the Rams at the MW Championships, and are ranked at No. 7 in the region in the men's rankings.

On the women's side, CSU faces a field that includes unanimous No. 1 Colorado, as well as MW foes No. 6 New Mexico and No. 29 Air Force.

On the women's side, CSU's highest-ranked competition is New Mexico, which paces seventh in the nation according to the USTFCCCA. Boise State is ranked at No. 28, while the Air Force women are receiving votes in the USTFCCCA national poll. A pair of Beehive State foes - No. 18 BYU and No. 20 Utah - round out the CSU women's top competition.

CSU Men Tie Program Record for All-MW Selections
- One of the most prominent strengths of this season's CSU men's cross country team has been it depth. At the 2016 MW Championships, the CSU men finished with five of the top 14 overall to earn five All-Mountain West selections. That ties the program record, set in 2013.
- Jerrell Mock earned first-team honors, while each of Jefferson Abbey, Grant Fischer, Anthony Laurita and Cole Rockhold picked up second-team honors.
- The Rams nearly finished with seven All-Mountain West performers. CSU finished with two runners just outside the top 14, as Eric Hamer and Carson Hume placed 15th and 16th, respectively.

Mock First MW Runner in 2016 to Earn Multiple Athlete of the Week Honors
- Redshirt junior Jerrell Mock continued his impressive start to 2016 with a second-place finish at the 2016 Washington Invitational to earn his second Mountain West Cross Country Men's Athlete of the Week award on Oct. 4, 2016.
- Mock shaved more than 90 seconds off his Griak 8k time en route to a time of 23:35.5 and a second-place finish. Mock finished only behind three-time defending national champion Edward Cheserek of Oregon, but in front of a field of multiple All-Americans.
- Mock became the first men's or women's Mountain West cross country athlete to earn multiple MW weekly honors this season. Hs is the only male athlete in program history to win multiple weekly MW awards in a single season, and the only CSU cross country athlete to do it since April Thomas in 2007 and Elizabeth Roodell in 2000.

CSU's Men's Squad Showing Depth
- Colorado State's men's cross country team ran with some of the top teams on the West Coast at the Washington Invitational, finishing with 39 points, just behind then-No. 3 Oregon (26 points). The Rams defeated then-No. 21 Washington and then-No. 24 Washington State.
- En route to their second-place team finish, the Rams placed each of their top-five runners amongst the overall top-11 finishers. Jerrell Mock led the men's team with a second-place finish, followed closely by Grant Fischer (seventh), Eric Hamer (ninth), Jefferson Abbey (10th) and Cole Rockhold (11th).
- Amongst the highlights of the Rams' impressive team showing was its close finish behind Oregon. Each of the top four runners for CSU and Oregon finished in the top 10; however, the Rams' Rockhold placed ahead of Oregon's No. 5 runner, Blake Haney (12th place).
- CSU's depth continued to play a role in shaping a big 2016 campaign, as the Rams posted strong performances from No. 3 through No. 5 runners to back up the consistent Mock and Fischer at the prestigious Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. Notably, Carson Hume - normally the Rams' No. 6 runner - finished as CSU's No. 4 runner at the meet to help lift the team to an impressive top-10 finish.

Jerrell Mock Named MW XC Men's Athlete of the Week after Griak Win
- Following his big win at the Roy Griak Invitational, Jerrell Mock earned his first Mountain West Cross Country Men's Athlete of the Week honor on Sept. 27, 2016.
- Mock's victory marked the first time since 2010-11 (Arizona) that individual athletes from the same school had won back-to-back individual titles at the Roy Griak Invitational, as teammate Jefferson Abbey won the individual title last season. In Griak records that date back to 1986, only five other programs have accomplished that feat.
- The Logan, Utah native has steadily improved upon his previous Griak performances, as he finished in second behind only Abbey last season. Mock has placed no lower than seventh, which was his finish in his freshman season.

CSU Men's Team Earns Highest Ranking from USTFCCCA Since 2013
- Colorado State's men's cross country squad has been ranked by the USTFCCCA every week during the regular season, and checked in at No. 21 in the week four (Oct. 4) national coaches' poll, the team's highest ranking during the regular season since 2013 (week four - No. 15). The Rams improved upon that ranking in the most recent poll, ranking No. 17 on Oct. 18, and are currently No. 19.
- This marks the fourth consecutive season in which the CSU men have been ranked for at least five weeks, all under fifth-year head cross country coach Art Siemers. Before the Siemers era, the CSU men's team had not been ranked since 2005.
- The USTFCCCA had previously tabbed the CSU men as high as the No. 24 team in the nation in weeks one (Sept. 13) and two (Sept. 20). The Ram men had climbed up one spot at that point from No. 25 in the preseason poll, which was released on Aug. 30.

Rams in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches' Poll
Preseason (Aug. 30): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 25
Week One (Sept. 13): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 24
Week Two (Sept. 20): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 24
Week Three (Sept. 27): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 29
Week Four (Oct. 4): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 21
Week Five (Oct. 18): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 17
Week Six (Nov. 1): Women's - NR | Men's - No. 19

CSU Receiving Recognition in Numerous Polls
- Heading to this weekend's meet, the Colorado State cross country team has received recognition from various national and regional polls and rankings.
- The CSU men's team received high praise from FloTrack in the preseason. In FloTrack's 2016 Saucony Flo50 Men's Team XC Rankings, the organization rated the CSU men's cross country squad as the 10th-best in the nation. The Rams' men's squad checks in at No. 19 in the nation in FloTrack's most recent rankings.
- In their 2016 Saucony Flo50 Men's Individual XC Rankings, CSU's Jerrell Mock has been ranked as high as the No. 9 individual men's athlete in the nation. Mock began the season ranked at No. 15 individually.
- In the preseason, MW coaches declared the CSU men the team to best for the 2016 season. League coaches voted the CSU women as the conference's third-best team. The two teams held their respective positions in the MW Midseason Men's and Women's Cross Country Coaches' Poll.
- The Rams' men's squad ranks at No. 5 in the Mountain Region in the most recent USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Regional Cross Country Rankings, while the CSU women's squad checks in at No. 7 regionally.

Rams in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country Regional Rankings (Mountain Region)
Preseason (Aug. 29): Women's - No. 6 | Men's - No. 6
Week One (Sept. 12): Women's - No. 6 | Men's - No. 6
Week Two (Sept. 19): Women's - No. 6 | Men's - No. 6
Week Three (Sept. 26): Women's - No. 6 | Men's - No. 5
Week Four (Oct. 3): Women's - No. 7 | Men's - No. 5
Week Five (Oct. 17): Women's - No. 8 | Men's - No. 4
Week Six (Oct. 31): Women's - No. 7 | Men's - No. 5

The Return of Two All-Americans
- CSU cross country All-Americans Jefferson Abbey and Jerrell Mock made their respective 2016 debuts this season at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational. In the preseason, Abbey was tabbed FloTrack's No. 12 individual male athlete in the nation, while Mock was ranked 15th individually.
- Neither Abbey nor Mock ever finished outside of the top-20 in any meet during each athlete's respective 2015 campaigns, and are the only CSU duo since 1961 to garner All-America honors in the same season (Jerry Schmidt and Jerry Glyde).
- Abbey placed 13th out of 252 athletes in the 10k (30:05.3) at the 2015 NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors and record the best finish by a Ram at the meet since Jon Sinclair in 1979. Mock, who won the individual MW Championship, placed 19th at the NCAA Championships with a time of 30:10.3.

Young Rams Shine at CSU Invite
- With many of the Rams' veteran athletes resting during the CSU Invite, many of CSU's young athletes and newcomers had a chance to lead their respective squads in the season opener. In all, six CSU freshmen placed within the top-50 finishers on Sept. 2, while each of the CSU women finished within the top 40 (89 runners).
- Freshman Anthony Laurita led the men's squad in his first race as a Ram, placing 15th in the college 5k with a time of 15:17. Graeme Schroeder, who ran unattached, was the next-highest finishing freshman, placing 30th (15:30). Redshirt sophomore Trent Powell rounded out notable finishes for the men's squad, clocking a time of 15:17 to place 17th.
- Emma Atwell was the top freshman finisher for the CSU women, running the college 5k in 19:22 to place 38th. Kate White, a redshirt sophomore, finished in 16th with a time of 18:17.

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