Rams Finish 23rd at NCAA Cross Country Championships

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STILLWATER, Okla. – Despite losing its top runner in the race, the Colorado State women's cross country team showed resilience, finishing 23^rd and in front of six ranked teams Monday morning at the 2020-21 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Around the 3-4K mark in the 6,000-meter race, an inadvertent spike landed on two-time All-Mountain West recipient Lily Tomasula-Martin which cut through her shoe and on her lower heel area. At the 5K split, she was in 83^rd, but fighting through it proved to be too much as she had to eventually walk across the finish line in 207^th place.

However, the slip of misfortune did not overshadow the positives displayed by the rest of the team that finished with a team score above #14 Furman, #19 Duke, #22 Oklahoma State, #24 Iowa State, #27 West Virginia, and #27 San Francisco.

"We were running a strong 18^th until Lily couldn't run with it anymore," head cross country coach Art Siemers said. "I thought a great day would have been top-20 and we were pretty much there but just a little bad luck, which happens in these big races. She was running with it for a while and changing her form, but she had a problem pushing off from that foot and just hit the wall in the last half mile or so."

All-MW performer Lauren Offerman took the role as the top Ram finisher when she crossed at 21:23.3 for 81^st place. The Loveland, Colo. native finished second for CSU in all three of the previous races.
"Our top four today ran really well," Siemers said. "Lauren continued her strong season. She has improved tremendously from last year. She was more of a middle-distance runner and really stepped up this year and is a completely different runner. She ran very poised today."

Ashlyn Hillyard was the next Ram in 97^th place at 21:29.1. Closing out the scoring before Tomasula-Martin marked the fifth Ram was Emily Chaston and Ivy Gonzales in 135^th and 140^th, respectively.

"Ashlyn and Emily ran really well," Siemers added. "Their best races of the season and for young people to do that here at the NCAAs is encouraging going forward."

It marked the 10^th time in program history that the entire women's team raced in the national meet and first appearance since 2007.

"I'm really proud of the women for making it to the NCAA Championships for the first time in a while for our program," Siemers summed it all up. "They did a great job of moving our program forward. We return all our team, so I think this will be a good learning experience for them. To get 23^rd without our number one girl is a testament to how tough they are. They help each other out when someone is having an off day. They are already talking about next year. They are not sitting back. So many things could go right for us next season. We are going to shoot for top-10. That is what they are saying here at lunch and I wouldn't count against them."

Monday's Results

TEAM - Women's 6K
1. BYU 96
2. NC State 161
3. Stanford 207
4. Michigan State 212
5. Minnesota 239
6. New Mexico 274
7. Colorado 279
8. Alabama 280
9. Boise State 304
10. Arkansas 316
11. Northern Arizona 318
12. Ole Miss 325
13. Washington 330
14. North Carolina 354
15. Florida State 363
16. Oregon State 375
17. Michigan 400
18. Georgetown 494
19. Indiana 494
20. Georgia Tech 508
21. Illinois 521
22. Portland 522
23. Colorado St. 532
24. Oklahoma State 535
25. Iowa State 580
26. Liberty 611
27. Duke 625
28. Tulsa 650
29. West Virginia 668
30. San Francisco 688
31. Furman 761

Colorado State Individuals - Women's 6K
81. Lauren Offerman, 66 points; 21:23.3
97. Ashlyn Hillyard, 78 points; 21:29.1
135. Emily Chaston, 106 points; 21:45.4
140. Ivy Gonzales, 110 points; 21:46.6
207. Lily Tomasula-Martin, 172 points; 22:33.4
221. Sarah Carter, (184); 22:42.7
230. Devon Peterson, (193)22:55.3

For More on Colorado State Track & Field and Cross Country follow: Twitter – CSUTrackFieldXC | Instagram – csutrackfieldXC | Facebook – Colorado State Track & Field/Cross Country

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