Rams place ninth at NCAA Cross Country Championships for best national finish since 1978

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Colorado State men's cross country team capped off its historic 2017 campaign with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships from E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

Colorado State's ninth-place finish matches its third-best in program history and ranks as the team's best since 1978. In addition, the Rams' ninth-place finish ranks as one of 10 top-10 finishes across all sports in the history of CSU athletics. Only four teams in any sport at CSU have had a better NCAA finish than the 2017 CSU men's cross country team. CSU finished with 318 points in the team scoring.

CSU was led by junior Cole Rockhold, who earned his first All-America honor in cross country and third overall with a 32nd-place finish and 10k time of 29:54.1. Including Rockhold, four Rams placed in the top 100 out of a 250-runner field. Senior Grant Fischer was the Rams' No. 2 scorer behind Rockhold, placing 58th with a 10k time of 30:16.2. Those two were followed by Eric Hamer (30:35.1) in 90th and Wayde Hall (30:36.6) in 93rd.

Carson Hume (30:49.4) was the Rams' No. 5 scorer, finishing in 111th place. Senior Jerrell Mock (31:18.1) was within the top-10 men's individuals for the vast majority of the race, but at the 8k mark, began a gradual slide to his final position at the conclusion of the 10k, 169th place. Junior Trent Powell (31:22.5) placed 175th in his NCAA Cross Country Championships debut.

Northern Arizona won the men's team title with 74 points, while New Mexico captured the women's crown with 90 points. CSU was the top team on the men's side from the Mountain West, followed by Air Force (15th), Boise State (19th) and Utah State (27th).

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State cross country head coach Art Siemers
"We talked all year about what it took to get on the podium (top four) at the NCAA Championships. I was really proud of how our guys really went for it today. We were at fourth place at 8k and it looked really good, but just had some tough luck with Jerrell (Mock)…his legs just ran out of gas, and that doesn't happen to Jerrell. This might be the only 'off' race in his entire running career. It's just a freak thing that happened, and if we had to do this whole race over again tomorrow, we would've done the exact same thing and Jerrell's legs wouldn't have died. He's the reason why we're a top-10 program. Jerrell's the toughest guy out there. His work ethic is second to none and he's a total team guy. He'll bounce back and have a really good outdoor season. I love the fight that he and this team have."

On Cole Rockhold's performance:
"The big highlight today for us was Cole (Rockhold), because he had a great year in track last year but hadn't had that big cross country season until this year. He was hurting out there today around 5k or 6k but really kept his composure and had a strong finish to be an All-American. He's going to be a force to be reckoned with in track, that's for sure."

On the direction of the program:
"I know that our program is going in the direction that we want regardless of the finish today because our team thought it could finish higher and is disappointed with a ninth-place NCAA finish. I think that's a good thing - that's the culture and mentality we want to have. We don't want to be satisfied unless we're one of the top teams in the country. Another sign is that we have depth. Our No. 1 guy, our star, our All-American has some bad luck today and our team picked up the slack. You have to love the attitude of our guys. They all put it on the line and all gave it everything they had. To be able to finish ninth in the country without our top guy in our scoring five is huge for us and the direction we want to go."

STAT OF THE MEET
Colorado State's performance ranks significantly both in the history of the program and in the history of CSU athletics. Measured by best NCAA finish, this season matches the third-best in program history and ties for the fifth-best of any CSU athletics sport. See below for a summary of CSU's all-time top-10 NCAA finishes.

Colorado State Athletics All-Time Top-10 NCAA Finishes (sorted in order of finish)
Men's Cross Country – Fifth - 1960
Volleyball – Sixth -1987
Women's Basketball – Seventh – 1999
Men's Cross Country – Eighth – 1975
Men's Cross Country – Ninth - 2017
Men's Cross Country – Ninth – 1978
Softball – Ninth – 1997
Volleyball – 10th – 2001
Volleyball – 10th – 2000
Volleyball – 10th – 1984

NOTES
- Colorado State men's cross country's No. 9 national finish this season is the team's best during head coach Art Siemers' six-year tenure. The Rams have finished in the national rankings in four of those season, including three at least in the top 20.
- Colorado State's men never finished lower than ninth as a team in any meet this season. The Rams' other results included wins at the Roy Griak Invitational and Mountain West Championship, a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Mountain Regional and a sixth-place finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
- Cole Rockhold becomes the third cross country All-American during Siemers' tenure. He joins Jefferson Abbey and Jerrell Mock, who each earned All-America honors in cross country in 2015.
- Between Colorado State cross country and track & field, five Siemers-coached athletes have now combined for 12 All-America honors.
- Each of Grant Fischer (79th in 2016), Eric Hamer (185th in 2016), Carson Hume (140th in 2016) and Cole Rockhold (147th in 2016) improved upon their finishes from last season's NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Men's 10k Results (out of 250 runners)
32nd – Cole Rockhold – 29:54.1
58th – Grant Fischer – 30:16.2
90th – Eric Hamer – 30:35.1
93rd – Wayde Hall – 30:36.6
111th – Carson Hume – 30:49.4
169th – Jerrell Mock – 31:18.1
175th – Trent Powell – 31:22.5

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