The men’s cross country squad is taking another victory lap.
After winning the Rocky Mountain Shootout earlier this month, the No. 8 Buffs took home first place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind. They edged out No. 12, Portland, with a score of 82.
Senior Andy Wacker led the way, finishing second overall with a time of 23:58, only three seconds behind winner Leonard Korir of Iona.
“That was a really nice race for Andy,” coach Mark Wetmore said. “That guy ahead of him (Korir) is an excellent runner.
Andy Wacker at the Rocky Mountain Shootout. (CU Independent file/Jake Fojtik)
Andy had a great summer of training and his work is paying off.”
Richard Medina also finished among the top five, recording a time of 24:04 in the eight-kilometer race.
“I really like our team’s chances this year,” Wacker said. “We are training better than ever. We have a lot of good guys. We are just getting started this year and I’m excited.”
Teams from across the country raced in the pre-nationals, providing the Buffs a true litmus test of their competition. Other top-15 teams that participated included Iowa, Indiana, Florida State and Portland.
“This was basically our first race against any opposition this year,” Wetmore said. “We made a couple of mistakes in this race, so we will look to fix those in the next five weeks.”
The women’s team, which won the pre-nationals in 2009, finished fourth with 160 points. The race was dominated by No. 3 Florida State, who outran second-place Georgetown by an astonishing 53 points.
Sophomore Shalaya Kipp recorded a team-best time of 20:51 and placed ninth in the six-kilometer run.
“They looked a little tired and flat,” Wetmore said. “They weren’t at the top of their game. We had a hard week of practice, so maybe we need to be a little better rested. We will make adjustments and be ready to run again in two weeks.”
Lara Darco, Katie Cumming, and Camille Logan also finished among the top-40 racers for the Buffs.
Next for CU is their first ever Pac-12 Championship in Tempe, Ariz. on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu.
