Friday, November 9
Provo, UT
University of Colorado
at
NCAA Mountain Regional
Junior Joe Klecker is the first Buff since Jorge Torres (2000-02) to win back-to-back regional titles.
Photo by: Ken Moreland
Klecker Wins Second Straight Region Crown; CU Women Punch Ticket To NCAAs
November 09, 2018 | Cross Country
PROVO, Utah — University of Colorado junior Joe Klecker recorded his second consecutive NCAA Mountain Region individual title on Friday afternoon, leading the CU men to a third-place team finish.
The CU women's team placed second to earn one of the two automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.
REGION CHAMP: Klecker became the first Buff to win back-to-back region titles since Jorge Torres won three straight from 2000-02. Klecker finished the race in 29:16.6, bettering his mark of 30:13.6 in 2017. Throughout the 10-kilometer race, Klecker looked very comfortable and more in control than last year.
"I would have gladly traded a few spots at this meet a year ago for him to have a better day at the NCAA, but I do think this was much more controlled," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "He looked comfortable the whole way and I think he's ready to go in eight days."
Klecker held off a pair of Northern Arizona runners, who finished second and third. Tyler Day was a little over two seconds behind him (29:18.8) to finish second and Matthew Baxter was third, finishing in 29:19.0.
THE MEN'S RACE: The eighth-ranked Buffaloes finished third, but put in an excellent performance with four finishing in the top 25. CU recorded 71 points, finishing behind top-ranked Northern Arizona (42) and second-rated BYU (56). The Buffs easily defeated in-state rival Colorado State, which placed fourth with 114 points.
NAU and BYU both received automatic berths to nationals with their finishes, while the Buffs will have to wait until Saturday's NCAA announcement, but they shouldn't have anything to worry about.
"I'm sure we'll be through," Wetmore said. "There's no question really given how many points we have. It was as the form chart would have predicted."
The second Buff to finish the race was senior Ryan Forsyth, who finished with a career-best 10th place finish at the meet in 29:26.6. Just two positions behind him was teammate John Dressel, who was 12th with a time of 29:29.8.
Eduardo Herrera recorded a 22nd place finish, improving three spots from his finish last year as he clocked in at 29:50.9. Ethan Gonzales, CU's fifth scorer, also finished with a sub-30:00 time, crossing in 29:58.0 for 26th overall, which is his best performance at the meet.
"We did pretty much exactly as I expected us to do," Wetmore said. "We were trying to make sure that we were in the top of the second bunch, the third, fourth, fifth, six teams that are all trying to get through [to NCAAs] on points. NAU and BYU were running controlled, our front three were running controlled. Ethan Gonzales had a nice day for us, he took a nice little step for us."
The Buffs also had two others in the race. Gus Newcomb placed 65th (31:08.3) and Paxton Smith was 73rd (31:17.9.
THE WOMEN'S RACE: CU's fourth-ranked women placed six harriers in the top-20 of the 6k race to place second to third-ranked New Mexico, 41-53. Three of those CU runners finished in almost identical times in the top-10. Senior Dani Jones led the Buffs, crossing the finish sixth in 20:01.3. Right on her tail were a pair of teammates, senior Makena Morley and junior Tabor Scholl. Morley finished seventh in 20:01.4, while Scholl was eighth in 20:01.5.
Two of those three recorded their best regional performance. Prior to today, Jones' best finish was 12th, (in 2016 and '17), which she bettered by six places. Scholl was eighth, improving from 10th in the 2016.
The finish by the trio was likely planned, as Wetmore said, "We knew that they were just saving a gear and thinking next week."
Fourth for the Buffs was Val Constien, who clocked in her highest regional performance at 14th (20:17.9). Tayler Tuttle rounded out the scoring for CU with an 18th-place finish (20:26.0), but teammate Mackenzie Caldwell recorded almost same time for 19th (20:26.6). Colorado's other racer at the meet was Lindsey Koch, who finished 40th overall in 21:05.6.
UNM placed five runners in the top 15 to defeat CU (41-53). The next closest team was BYU, which took third with 85 points.
"We did exactly what we wanted," Wetmore said. "New Mexico was on cruise control, so were we. We got through under control and it was again the same as the form chart."
UP NEXT: The NCAA Championships are Saturday, November 17, in Madison, Wis. at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. The women's race is first at 9:45 a.m. MT, while the men will race at 10:45 a.m. MT.
RESULTS:
2018 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS
East Bay Golf Course (Provo, Utah.)
Women's 6k Team Results:
1. New Mexico 41; 2. Colorado 53; 3. BYU 85; 4. Southern Utah 155; 5. Air Force 169; 6. Northern Arizona 216; 7. Utah State 222; 8. Weber State 242.5; 9. Colorado State 280.5; 10. Nevada 285; 11. Utah 295; 12. Wyoming 300; 13. UTEP 323; 14. Montana State 324; 15. Utah Valley 376; 16. New Mexico State 408; 17. Idaho State 424; 18. Montana 492; 19. Texas Tech 546; 20. Northern Colorado 551.
Women's 6k Individual Results (top 10):
1. Weini Kelati, UNM, 19:15.0; 2. Ednah Kurgat, UNM, 19:31.7; 3. Erica Birk, BYU, 19:34.9; 4. Jaci Smith, AFA, 19:44.1; 5. Angie Nickerson, SUU, 19:57.6; 6. Dani Jones, CU, 20:01.3; 7. Makena Morley, CU 20:01.4; 8. Tabor Scholl, CU, 20:01.5; 9. Courtney Wayment, BYU, 20:01.7; 10. Linda Cheruiyot, BYU, 20:05.1.
Other CU Finishers:
14. Val Constien, 20:17.9; 18. Tayler Tuttle, 20:26.0; 19. Mackenzie Caldwell, 20:26.6; 40. Lindsey Koch, 21:05.6.
Men's 10k Team Results:
1. Northern Arizona 42; 2. BYU 56; 3. Colorado 71; 4. Colorado State 114; 5. Southern Utah 156; 6. Wyoming 149; 7. Air Force 167; 8. Utah State 239; 9. Weber State 252; 10. New Mexico 256; 11. Montana State 257; 12. Idaho State 324; 13. UTEP 394; 14. Northern Colorado 406; 15. Utah Valley 427; 16. Montana 482; 17. Texas Tech 520.
Men's 10k Individual Results (top 10)
1. Joe Klecker, CU, 29:16.6; 2. Tyler Day, NAU, 29:18.8; 3. Matthew Baxter, NAU, 29:19.0; 4. Aidan Reed, SUU, 29:23.3; 5. Eric Hamer, CSU, 29:24.1; 6. Conner Mantz, BYU, 29:24.8; 7. Peter Lomong, NAU, 29:25.0; 8. Rory Linkletter, BYU, 29:26.2; 9. Connor McMillan, BYU, 29:26.4; 10. Ryan Forsyth, 29:26.6.
Other CU Finisher:
12. John Dressel, 29:29.8; 22. Eduardo Herrera, 29:50.9; 26. Ethan Gonzales, 29:58.0; 65. Gus Newcomb, 31:08.3; 73. Paxton Smith, 31:17.9.
The CU women's team placed second to earn one of the two automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.
REGION CHAMP: Klecker became the first Buff to win back-to-back region titles since Jorge Torres won three straight from 2000-02. Klecker finished the race in 29:16.6, bettering his mark of 30:13.6 in 2017. Throughout the 10-kilometer race, Klecker looked very comfortable and more in control than last year.
"I would have gladly traded a few spots at this meet a year ago for him to have a better day at the NCAA, but I do think this was much more controlled," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "He looked comfortable the whole way and I think he's ready to go in eight days."
Klecker held off a pair of Northern Arizona runners, who finished second and third. Tyler Day was a little over two seconds behind him (29:18.8) to finish second and Matthew Baxter was third, finishing in 29:19.0.
THE MEN'S RACE: The eighth-ranked Buffaloes finished third, but put in an excellent performance with four finishing in the top 25. CU recorded 71 points, finishing behind top-ranked Northern Arizona (42) and second-rated BYU (56). The Buffs easily defeated in-state rival Colorado State, which placed fourth with 114 points.
NAU and BYU both received automatic berths to nationals with their finishes, while the Buffs will have to wait until Saturday's NCAA announcement, but they shouldn't have anything to worry about.
"I'm sure we'll be through," Wetmore said. "There's no question really given how many points we have. It was as the form chart would have predicted."
The second Buff to finish the race was senior Ryan Forsyth, who finished with a career-best 10th place finish at the meet in 29:26.6. Just two positions behind him was teammate John Dressel, who was 12th with a time of 29:29.8.
Eduardo Herrera recorded a 22nd place finish, improving three spots from his finish last year as he clocked in at 29:50.9. Ethan Gonzales, CU's fifth scorer, also finished with a sub-30:00 time, crossing in 29:58.0 for 26th overall, which is his best performance at the meet.
"We did pretty much exactly as I expected us to do," Wetmore said. "We were trying to make sure that we were in the top of the second bunch, the third, fourth, fifth, six teams that are all trying to get through [to NCAAs] on points. NAU and BYU were running controlled, our front three were running controlled. Ethan Gonzales had a nice day for us, he took a nice little step for us."
The Buffs also had two others in the race. Gus Newcomb placed 65th (31:08.3) and Paxton Smith was 73rd (31:17.9.
THE WOMEN'S RACE: CU's fourth-ranked women placed six harriers in the top-20 of the 6k race to place second to third-ranked New Mexico, 41-53. Three of those CU runners finished in almost identical times in the top-10. Senior Dani Jones led the Buffs, crossing the finish sixth in 20:01.3. Right on her tail were a pair of teammates, senior Makena Morley and junior Tabor Scholl. Morley finished seventh in 20:01.4, while Scholl was eighth in 20:01.5.
Two of those three recorded their best regional performance. Prior to today, Jones' best finish was 12th, (in 2016 and '17), which she bettered by six places. Scholl was eighth, improving from 10th in the 2016.
The finish by the trio was likely planned, as Wetmore said, "We knew that they were just saving a gear and thinking next week."
Fourth for the Buffs was Val Constien, who clocked in her highest regional performance at 14th (20:17.9). Tayler Tuttle rounded out the scoring for CU with an 18th-place finish (20:26.0), but teammate Mackenzie Caldwell recorded almost same time for 19th (20:26.6). Colorado's other racer at the meet was Lindsey Koch, who finished 40th overall in 21:05.6.
UNM placed five runners in the top 15 to defeat CU (41-53). The next closest team was BYU, which took third with 85 points.
"We did exactly what we wanted," Wetmore said. "New Mexico was on cruise control, so were we. We got through under control and it was again the same as the form chart."
UP NEXT: The NCAA Championships are Saturday, November 17, in Madison, Wis. at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. The women's race is first at 9:45 a.m. MT, while the men will race at 10:45 a.m. MT.
RESULTS:
2018 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS
East Bay Golf Course (Provo, Utah.)
Women's 6k Team Results:
1. New Mexico 41; 2. Colorado 53; 3. BYU 85; 4. Southern Utah 155; 5. Air Force 169; 6. Northern Arizona 216; 7. Utah State 222; 8. Weber State 242.5; 9. Colorado State 280.5; 10. Nevada 285; 11. Utah 295; 12. Wyoming 300; 13. UTEP 323; 14. Montana State 324; 15. Utah Valley 376; 16. New Mexico State 408; 17. Idaho State 424; 18. Montana 492; 19. Texas Tech 546; 20. Northern Colorado 551.
Women's 6k Individual Results (top 10):
1. Weini Kelati, UNM, 19:15.0; 2. Ednah Kurgat, UNM, 19:31.7; 3. Erica Birk, BYU, 19:34.9; 4. Jaci Smith, AFA, 19:44.1; 5. Angie Nickerson, SUU, 19:57.6; 6. Dani Jones, CU, 20:01.3; 7. Makena Morley, CU 20:01.4; 8. Tabor Scholl, CU, 20:01.5; 9. Courtney Wayment, BYU, 20:01.7; 10. Linda Cheruiyot, BYU, 20:05.1.
Other CU Finishers:
14. Val Constien, 20:17.9; 18. Tayler Tuttle, 20:26.0; 19. Mackenzie Caldwell, 20:26.6; 40. Lindsey Koch, 21:05.6.
Men's 10k Team Results:
1. Northern Arizona 42; 2. BYU 56; 3. Colorado 71; 4. Colorado State 114; 5. Southern Utah 156; 6. Wyoming 149; 7. Air Force 167; 8. Utah State 239; 9. Weber State 252; 10. New Mexico 256; 11. Montana State 257; 12. Idaho State 324; 13. UTEP 394; 14. Northern Colorado 406; 15. Utah Valley 427; 16. Montana 482; 17. Texas Tech 520.
Men's 10k Individual Results (top 10)
1. Joe Klecker, CU, 29:16.6; 2. Tyler Day, NAU, 29:18.8; 3. Matthew Baxter, NAU, 29:19.0; 4. Aidan Reed, SUU, 29:23.3; 5. Eric Hamer, CSU, 29:24.1; 6. Conner Mantz, BYU, 29:24.8; 7. Peter Lomong, NAU, 29:25.0; 8. Rory Linkletter, BYU, 29:26.2; 9. Connor McMillan, BYU, 29:26.4; 10. Ryan Forsyth, 29:26.6.
Other CU Finisher:
12. John Dressel, 29:29.8; 22. Eduardo Herrera, 29:50.9; 26. Ethan Gonzales, 29:58.0; 65. Gus Newcomb, 31:08.3; 73. Paxton Smith, 31:17.9.