Rams set for NCAA Mountain Regional on Friday

This Week
Colorado State Rams at NCAA Mountain Regional
Friday, Nov. 9, 2018
East Bay Golf Course | Provo, Utah
Hosted by BYU
Women's 6k – 11 a.m. MT
Men's 10k – Noon MT
Coverage: FloTrack (subscription required) | Live Results | Meet Information

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State cross country team continues its 2018 campaign this Friday at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Provo, Utah.

The NCAA Mountain Regional will be contested from the East Bay Golf Course, and is hosted by BYU. First up in regional action is the women's 6k, which is slated to begin at 11 a.m. MT. The men's 10k will follow, and is scheduled for a Noon MT start. Subscribers to FloTrack may follow the meet through live video, while live results are available to all for free. Links to each are above and on the cross country schedule page on CSURams.com. Final results and a full recap of the action will be posted to CSURams.com at the conclusion of Friday's competition.

The top two finishing teams on each of the women's and men's sides on Friday will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which is held on Saturday, Nov. 17 from the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis. 18 automatic bids are handed out in total between the nine regionals, with 13 at-large selections finishing off the 31-team NCAA field. Additionally, the top four individuals not on an NCAA-qualifying team receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, provided that they place in the top 25 at their respective regionals.

The Mountain Regional stacks up annually as one of the nation's most competitive meets, frequently featuring several of the country's top-ranked teams. On the men's side, the 14th-ranked Rams are set to take on No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 2 BYU, No. 8 Colorado, No. 13 Air Force and No. 18 Wyoming, among other quality competition. The women's Mountain Regional field includes No. 1 New Mexico, No. 4 Colorado, No. 9 BYU, No. 22 Southern Utah and No. 28 Northern Arizona, among others.

The USTFCCCA's Cross Country Rating Index (CCRI), a comparable system to RPI in other sports, projects Colorado State to finish third in the Mountain Region behind only the nation's top two teams, Northern Arizona and BYU. The Rams have a CCRI of No. 9 on the men's side, slotting them ahead of in-state rivals Colorado and Air Force, among other regional opponents. The Rams are the nation's No. 53 CCRI team on the women's side, which places them among the top 10 teams in their region.

Rams Well-Represented in USTFCCCA Rankings After Program-Best No. 9 Preseason Ranking

Following the men's team's best preseason ranking (No. 9) in program history, Colorado State cross country continues to be well-represented in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) national rankings throughout the regular season.
Each team has been in the national top 30 in at least one week this season. CSU's men's team has been ranked 10th or better in four different polls, in the top 15 in six polls and no lower than 17th this season.
On the women's side, Colorado State entered the USTFCCCA's national rankings for the first time since the week one poll in 2008.
Additionally, this season's week one poll marked the first time since week one of the 2005 season that Colorado State's women's and men's cross country teams have been ranked concurrently.
The Colorado State men's cross country team entered the 2018 season with its highest preseason ranking in program history, as the Rams were tabbed the No. 9 team in the USTFCCCA Preseason DI National Coaches' Poll. The organization released its preseason rankings on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Before this year's preseason poll, Colorado State men's cross country had previously been slotted as high as at No. 16 in any preseason ranking (2002). With this year's poll, has now been ranked in the preseason in five consecutive years, dating back to a No. 30 preseason ranking in 2014. The Rams were ranked preseason No. 18 prior to last year's ninth-place national finish.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches' Poll
Preseason (Aug. 28): Women's – RV | Men's – No. 9
Week One (Sept. 11): Women's – No. 30 | Men's – No. 10
Week Two (Sept. 18): Women's – RV | Men's – No. 11
Week Three (Sept. 25): Women's – RV | Men's – No. 10
Week Four (Oct. 2): Women's – NR | Men's – No. 9
Week Five (Oct. 16): Women's – NR | Men's – No. 17
Week Six (Oct. 30): Women's – NR | Men's – No. 14

Rams' Men Match Program's Highest USTFCCCA Regional Ranking

In addition to its strides in the national rankings, Colorado State has also stacked up well in the highly competitive Mountain Region.
On the men's side, Colorado State has ranked fourth in each of the first four Mountain Region rankings this season. That matched its highest regional ranking from the organization in program history before the Rams climbed to No. 3 in week four, a new program best.
On the women's side, the Rams ranked within the region's top five in multiple weeks to start their 2018 campaign. That marks the first time the women's team is in the region's top five in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2011.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country Regional Rankings – Mountain Region
Preseason (Aug. 27): Women's – No. 5 | Men's – No. 4
Week One (Sept. 10): Women's – No. 5 | Men's – No. 4
Week Two (Sept. 17): Women's – No. 5 | Men's – No. 4
Week Three (Sept. 24): Women's – No. 6 | Men's – No. 4
Week Four (Oct. 1): Women's – No. 10 | Men's – No. 3
Week Five (Oct. 15): Women's – No. 9 | Men's – No. 5
Week Six (Oct. 29): Women's – No. 10 | Men's – No. 5

Eric Hamer, Carson Hume Earn All-Mountain West First Team Honors

Colorado State received standout performances form Eric Hamer and Carson Hume en route to a third-place team finish at the Mountain West Championships. Hamer placed second individually, while Hume finished third.
Hamer finished the 8k in San Diego with a time of 24:37.4, while Hume clocked a time of 24:38.9. The two led for the majority of the race before their respective second and third-place finishes.
Hamer's All-Mountain West recognition is the third of his career and his second in cross country. He also earned All-Mountain West honors in the 10,000 meters in 2018, and was one of four Rams in that race to break the previous meet record in the event.
Hume's All-Mountain West accolade was the first of his career in cross country or track & field.

Cole Rockhold Named Mountain West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Oct. 2

Following his performance at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, Colorado State's Cole Rockhold was named the men's Mountain West Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, Oct. 2.
This marks the fourth weekly accolade Rockhold has earned in his career, and his second in cross country. Rockhold, a 2017 All-American in cross country, is the first Ram to receive weekly recognition from the Mountain West in 2018.
Rockhold led Colorado State to its highest-ever finish at the loaded Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, as the Rams placed sixth of 33 teams and ahead of 11 ranked teams. The senior finished in ninth place of 224 runners, marking the highest finish by any individual Ram in the meet's 10-year history. No Ram had previously finished in the top 10 at the Nuttycombe, as former CSU All-American Jerrell Mock's 16th-place finish in 2017 was the former top performance by a CSU athlete at the meet.

Rams Register Top Team Performance, Individual Performance at Nuttycombe in Program History

The Colorado State men's cross country team placed sixth of 33 teams to match its highest all-time team finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, while CSU's women finished 21st in a field of the same size. The 21st place for the Rams' women was an eight-place improvement from last season.
The Rams were paced by senior Cole Rockhold (23:29.3), who turned in a ninth-place finish (of 224 runners), the highest by any Ram individually in the men's 8k in the 10-year history of the meet. Fellow senior Eric Hamer clocked a time of 23:42.5 to place 22nd, the third-highest all-time by any Ram at the meet.
CSU's men finished ahead of 11 ranked teams, and bested its projected finish in terms of USTFCCCA ranking. The Rams entered as the coaches' association's seventh-highest ranked team competing at this meet.
In the women's championship 6k, then-No. 27 Georgetown, Texas (receiving votes) and five other power conference programs were among the teams defeated by CSU. Leading the Rams in that field, which featured 15 ranked teams overall, was senior Bailey Ness (20:58.8), who was 73rd of 227 runners. Senior Ali Kallner joined Ness in the top 100, stopping the clock in 21:10.4 to take 94th place.

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