ASC's XC squads will run at the RMAC Championships in Las Vegas, N.M. this Saturday, Nov. 6
NEW ORLEANS - The Adams State men's cross country team will enter this weekend's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Championships as the top team in both the Central Region and the all the land according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's (USTFCCCA) latest poll, released, Wednesday, in which the NCAA Division II men's rankings were unchanged from a week ago.
The 7-time defending national champion Grizzly women also retained their top rankings both regionally and nationally, as they'll be looking to claim their record-extending ninth straight and 24th overall RMAC crown this Saturday in Las Vegas, N.M.
ASC's men, who have claimed the last two NCAA Division II crowns and will be seeking their sixth consecutive and 33rd RMAC title in program history, have now been ranked No. 1 in the Central Region for 28 straight polls and have held the top spot in both for 25 straight polls. The last time Adams State was not ranked in the top two in the nation was Nov. 1, 2004, a span of 59 polls.
The top 25 remained as it was last week, as teams across the nation took the week off in preparation of this weekend's conference championship meets. The RMAC continues to hold the top three spots in the national poll, as Western State and Colorado Mines head into the league ranked second and third nationally, respectively.
Chico State (Calif.), ranked atop the West Region, and Grand Valley State (Mich.), the leaders in the Midwest Region, round out the top five slots nationally.
RMAC teams also occupy the No. 16 and 18 ispots n the national poll, as Metro State and Nebraska-Kearney make it five league schools in the rankings, and will give the Grizzlies four nationally-ranked foes to run against at the conference meet, which will begin at 10:30 a.m. after an open race that will give many of the Grizzlies' redshirts and those not in the top nine a chance to compete.
Just like the national rankings, the Central Region rankings remain unchanged this week, where seven RMAC schools make the list.
The Grizzlies return plenty of RMAC Championship experience, including four returning All-RMAC selections and five total runners who were members of ASC's 2009 RMAC Championship team.
Leading the group is senior Ryan McNiff (Los Alamos, N.M.), who is a two-time First Team All-RMAC honoree, recording his best finish at the league meet in 2008 where he finished fourth, before taking sixth last fall. McNiff has been the Grizzlies' top finisher in all but one meet this season, He started the season by placing second overall and was the first collegiate runner at the Adams State hosted Joe I. Vigil Open. He then finished third and was the top NCAA Division II finisher at the University of Colorado's Rocky Mountain Shootout on Oct. 2, and in the men's 10k race at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. on Oct. 16, was 17th overall and first across for the Grizzlies.
Edwin Cruz (Del Norte, Colo.) returns for the Grizzlies after placing eighth at the 2009 RMAC Championships, earning Second Team All-RMAC accolades as well as the league Freshman of the Year Award in the process. Cruz has run twice for Adams State this fall, recording a 10th-place team finish at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and was ASC's seventh man across the line at the Chile Pepper Festival.
A Second Team All-RMAC selection in 2009, sixth-year senior Luke Cragg (Leeds, England) was 10th at last fall's conference meet, and has been the Grizzlies' No. 2 runner in all three meets he's run this fall. Cragg recorded overall finishes of third place at Joe I. Vigil Open, seventh at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and 25th at the Chile Pepper Festival.
Joining McNiff with two previous All-RMAC selection is junior Drew Graham (Newcastle, England), a third team selection after placing 17th in 2008 and again following an 18th-place showing in 2009. Graham notched seventh-place team showings at the Joe I. Vigil Open and Rocky Mountain Shootout, was eighth for the Grizzlies at the Chile Pepper Festival and had his best showing, a fifth-place finish amongst Adams State runners, at the New Mexico Highlands Cross Country Jam which was run on the same course that the RMAC Championships will be run on this Saturday.
Also with previous experience at the league meet for the Grizzlies are seniors Brandon Birdsong (Lubbock, Texas) and Drew Soucy (Lubbock, Texas) and sophomore Keegan Calmes (Wind Lake, Wis.). Birdsong and Soucy each ran in the open race at the league meet last fall, but ran for the team in 2008 at the RMAC Championships. Birdsong placed 26th in 2008, while Soucy was a Third Team All-RMAC selection that year after placing 18th overall. Calmes ran for the Grizzlies at the 2009 championships, running his way to a 29th-place finish as the ninth ASC runner.
Adams State has had eight runners earn All-RMAC certificates in each of the last two seasons. Through the 2007 season, only the top 10 finishers at the league meet were named as All-RMAC selections, but the league now recognizes the top 21 finishers as All-RMAC performers, as the seven runners are named to first, second and third teams based on order of finish at the league championships.
In addition to having won six straight league titles, Grizzly runners have claimed the last five individual RMAC titles, including Reuben Mwei in 2009, Aaron Braun (2007 and 2008), Jesus Solis (2006) and Mari Macias (2005). Six of the last seven individual titlists have been from Adams State as well.
Following the RMAC Championships, Adams State will head to Wayne, Neb. on Nov. 20 for the NCAA Division II Central Regional Championships hosted by Wayne State (Neb.). Assuming they qualify by finishing amongst the top five teams at the regional, the Grizzlies will then be in pursuit of their third-straight and record-setting eighth overall NCAA Division II title at this year's championships hosted by Bellarmine in Louisville, Ky. on Dec. 4.
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