Nation's No. 1 squad in search of ninth straight team crown
LAS VEGAS, N.M.-The Adams State College Grizzlies and senior Kristen McGlynn (Bailey, Colo.) will both be looking to repeat their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference cross country titles Saturday here at the Gene Torres Golf Course.
The women's 6-kilometer race will begin at 11:30 a.m. after the men will have tackled an 8K course at 10:30 a.m. An open race that will see many of the Grizzly redshirts and those not in the 9-person championship meet squad is also slated to start at 9:30 a.m.
The Grizzly women, who continue to be tabbed No. 1 in both the Central Region and NCAA Division II National Rankings according to the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association, will be in search of a conference record extending ninth straight team crown. They have also won 23 overall titles, by far the most in the history of the meet. McGlynn, who won last year's conference title and thus RMAC Runner of the Year honors, will be looking to become just the sixth woman in RMAC history to win two crowns and just the fifth to win back-to-back awards. If she can do it, she would join an elite group that includes former Adams State greats Zoila Gomez (2001-02), Kim Bosen (1998-99) and Julie Jenkins (1983-84) as well as Western State's Elva Martinez-Dryer (1993-94).
McGlynn has been the top Grizzly finisher in each of the three meets she has raced in and appears to be in solid form after smashing the Cattails Golf Course record en-route to victory at the season-opening Joe I. Vigil Open in September before taking fifth place overall at the Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder. She then capped her regular season with a strong second place finish in a field of 469 runners at the Chile Pepper Festival, hosted by Division I Arkansas just three weeks ago.
The Grizzlies, who have also won seven straight NCAA Division II National Championships, have plenty of other weapons as well.
Coach Damon Martin also has four other women who were a part of last year's RMAC Championship success when the Grizzlies matched their own conference championship margin of victory record by defeating arch-rival Western State by 49 points on this year's team.
Most notably, that list includes sophomore Alicia Nelson (Craig, Colo.), last year's RMAC Freshman of the Year.
Nelson, who finished second to McGlynn at the Joe I. Vigil Open with the equal to fourth fastest time on the course, has missed the last two Grizzly meets due to injury but Martin is hoping that she will be able to go on Saturday. Nelson took third at last year's RMAC Championships and went on to finish ninth at the national championships as the Grizzlies' top runner. She also earned a total of four USTFCCCA All-America honors during the 2009-10 cross country and track and field seasons and set the NCAA Division II Championship record while winning the national crown in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Senior Ashley Quintana (Pecos, N.M.) also appears to be in solid form. Quintana ran here on the same course two weeks ago winning the New Mexico Highlands University Cross Country Jam by a whopping 86 seconds, good for her first collegiate cross country win. Quintana, looking to become a 4-time All-RMAC performer, was the RMAC Freshman of the Year in 2007 when she finished sixth. She then took 16th as a sophomore in 2008 and 13th at last year's conference meet in Denver.
Fellow senior Cassie Mitchell (Tustin, Calif.) has also had a strong season claiming a third place finish at the NMHU Cross Country Jam and a fourth place tally at the Joe I. Vigil Open. She was also second on the Grizzly squad at the Chile Pepper Festival.
The Grizzlies' other returnee from 2009 is senior Addison LeMaster (Tulia, Texas). The Texas Tech transfer took fourth at last year's conference meet and has been the Grizzlies' sixth runner at all three meets she has competed in this year.
Martin has also had some strong performances from newcomers to the team this year.
Sophomore Sarah Lange (Brattleboro, Vt.), a transfer from NCAA Division III Middlebury (Vt.), where she was an All-New England runner, finished fifth at both the Joe I. Vigil Open and NMHU Cross Country Jam and was the Grizzlies' fourth runner at the Chile Pepper Festival.
Meanwhile, true freshman Kelly Lamb (Creede, Colo.) has moved herself into the Grizzlies' top five. She also took sixth overall at the Joe I. Vigil Open when competing unattached.
Sophomore Lindsay Grasmick (Fowler, Colo.), a converted sprinter and hurdler who has earned multiple-time relay All-America honors on the track, is also likely to compete.
Meanwhile, true freshman Jessie Brunett (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and Tayler Warren (Evergreen, Colo.) have also been submitted as possible entries. Both have competed unattached at two meets earlier this year, but could come out of redshirt Saturday. Warren finished 11th at the Joe I. Vigil Open, one spot ahead of Brunett.
The Grizzlies' toughest competition is likely to come from arch-rival Western State, which is the only other school to have ever won an RMAC title. The Mountaineers, who have five overall conference crowns, last won in 2001 and have finished second to the Grizzlies in each of the last eight years. They are ranked second in the Central Region and sixth in the country according to the USTFCCCA.
The only previous head-to-head meeting between the Grizzlies and Mountaineers this season came at the Rocky Mountain Shootout on Oct. 2 when the Grizzlies took the non-Division I title by a 31-38 score over the Mountaineers, who have gradually moved up from their No. 9 national preseason ranking throughout the campaign.
Regis, coached by ASC Athletic Hall of Famer, John "Skiball" Esquibel also appears to be in the mix for a strong finish as the Rangers are ranked sixth in the Central Region, their highest ever ranking. The Rangers previous best RMAC finish was sixth in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Colorado Mines, Metro State and Mesa State, ranked seventh through ninth in the region, should also contend for high finishes. Mesa State, led by 2009 RMAC runner-up Alexis Skarda, was ranked 25th in the country for two weeks during the middle part of the season and took third at each of the last two RMAC Championships. The Mavericks were just five points behind Western State last year.
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