In a cross country showdown between a pair of top-five women’s programs, top-ranked Colorado and third-ranked New Mexico, it was the Buffaloes who took home the victory, besting the Lobos by four points (47-51) at the Joe Piane Invitational Friday in South Bend, Ind.
The Buffs and Lobos each placed four athletes in the top-10 of the 5-kilometer race and were the only two teams in the field of 20 to score less than 100 points. The third place finisher, No. 12 NC State, tallied 118 points, while No. 9 Arkansas took fourth with 171 points.
On the men’s side, fourth-ranked Colorado placed second in the 5-mile blue race with 101 points. Southern Utah, which came into the meet ranked 13th, won with 72 points. Air Force was third overall with 154 points.
The women’s race was close between the Buffs and the Lobos. New Mexico took the top two spots with Ednah Kurgat (16:01.8) winning the race and Alice Wright (16:12.0) placing second. CU junior Dani Jones was third overall just behind Wright.
UMN had another pair of top-10 finishers placing sixth and eighth, but the Buffs took seventh (Makena Morley), ninth (Kaitlyn Benner) and 10th (Sage Hurta).
The race came down to the all-important fifth runner. Redshirt freshman Madie Boreman was that for the Buffs, finishing 18th overall to round out CU’s score.
Colorado placed two in the top-10 and three in the top-20 of the men’s race. Sophomore Joe Klecker led the team with a fourth-place finish, crossing the line in 23:33.7 after a trio of Alabama runners.
Redshirt freshman Eduardo Herrera was next for CU, finishing 10th overall in just his second uniformed race. John Dressel was the third scorer for the Buffs, placing 20th overall in 24:11.5.
