Cross Country Schedule Released for 2021 Season

FORT COLLINS – The time has come for the Colorado State men and women's cross country programs to hit the trails competitively as head coach Art Siemers announced Friday the schedule for the spring 2021 season.

Early September is when cross country normally starts competition, but the Rams will hear the first gun go off in January this time around due to COVID-19 forcing the fall sports postponement. The schedule features four meets including the NCAA Championships, which Siemers believes is attainable for both squads if all goes well.

The North Cheyenne Community Park will be where the season starts for the men and women's teams in a Colorado State/Wyoming duel meet on Jan. 23^rd. Next, the Rams will go to the UNLV Invitational on Feb. 19th in Las Vegas. The meet will give CSU their first chance to compete against multiple teams and run on the same course that the Mountain West Championships will be held two weeks later on March 5th. Baring the two results in Las Vegas, the Rams could continue to the national meet located in Stillwater, Okla. on March 15^th.

All five women scorers at the conference meet last season return for the Rams, including All-Mountain West First Team recipient Lily Tomasula-Martin who finished sixth. A healthy Ivy Gonzales will prove to be an added factor as she was not available late last season. Transfers Lauren Neugeboren and Maggie Smith from Arizona and Oregon State, respectively, will add experience to the group that had seven redshirts in 2019.

On the men's side, three of the five runners who scored for the second-place Rams in the 2019 conference meet return. The youthful roster filled with majority of underclassmen have garnered national attention with a USTFCCCA NCAA DI ranking of No. 21 despite not yet competing. Iowa State transfer Tanner Norman, a former two-time Colorado high school cross champion, will look to provide some experience and stability to the group that featured even more redshirts and freshmen than the women's team.

Cross Country Head Coach Art Siemers
On the schedule…
"It has been a long time since we last competed, so the coaching staff and all of the student-athletes are chomping at the bit to race. Wyoming is competitive program that will give us an early barometer of where we stand. For our second meet, we were fortunate to schedule the UNLV invitational because of the competition and for it being within the region. If we can get some quality results that could put us in consideration for an at-large bid for NCAA Championships. Last I checked there were about 14 teams registered with a healthy mix of teams outside of the region which gives us an opportunity to showcase our talent. This year there is no regional championships, so the conference meet results will weigh heavily for teams. This also means that with the strength of our conference, we really must have a good showing to represent Colorado State at the national championship in Stillwater. I'm super excited about both these groups and feel like if we stay healthy, we can be nationally ranked after our first invitational."

On the women's team…
"Our entire women's team is back from last year when we improved to fourth in a strong conference where the top-3 teams (New Mexico, Boise State, and Air Force) represented the Mountain West at the NCAA Championships. We feel like we are getting in the conversation with them. We have put in the work these last nine or so months of doing some things outside of the box with COVID-19 that we feel like we are in a really good place. We had a hard track workout on Tuesday with our results far superior that what we did last year and that's just our first hard workout on the track this year."

On the men's team…
"We had a growing season last year. We placed second at the conference championships, but we struggled to put it together consistently and we had a really young team. We had 16 freshmen or redshirt freshmen on our entire men and women's roster, so we needed to get the growing pains and experience that is necessary to have a really strong team. I feel like we are marching in the right direction. However, it is all about keeping the team healthy during these times and trying to get the best representation of our talent on the course."

CSU Cross Country
2021 Season
Date                                   Meet                                                                                               Location
1/23                                     Colorado State/Wyoming Duel                                                Cheyenne, Wyo.
2/19                                     UNLV Invitational                                                                         Las Vegas, Nev.
3/5                                       Mountain West Championships                                                   Las Vegas, Nev.
3/15                                     NCAA Championships                                                                    Stillwater, Okla.

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