Oct. 26, 2012

By Nathan Lake
Athletic Media Relations

Men's Results | Women's Results | Photo Gallery

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Colorado State men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the championship season with the Mountain West Cross Country Championships Friday morning. Hosted by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas at Silver Bowl Park, the men's 8,000-meter race featured a field of six teams while the women's 6,000-meter race featured a field of nine teams from the conference.

The women finished second in the nine-team field, bested only by New Mexico. Junior women's runner Whitney Henderson finished first on the CSU team for the first time this year and took eighth place overall with a time of 21 minutes, 15.23 seconds. Junior Kaitlin Hanenburg clocked in at 21:27.16, taking tenth place overall for her second top-ten finish of the season. Junior Hannah Pensack-Rinehart finished less than a second behind Hanenburg with a time of 21:28.01, good for 12^th place overall. Senior transfer Jennifer Tavé clocked in at 21:36.60, taking 16^th. Rounding out the top five CSU women's runners was senior Holly Keeper, who clocked in at 21:40.57 and took 17^th place. 

As a team, the men took third behind first and second place finishers New Mexico and Air Force. Junior Ram harrier Alex Muntefering finished first on the CSU squad for the fourth consecutive meet and took fifth place overall with a time of 24 minutes, 40.64 seconds. Following Muntefering was junior Christian Meyer, who finished in 14^th place overall with a time of 24:53.09. Junior Ben Larson took 15^th place, finishing just a fraction of a second after Meyer with a time of 24:53.62. Freshman runner Jacob Morgan came in 19^th place with a time of 25:05.04, while sophomore Andrew Goodman rounded out the top five CSU men's times with a time of 25:07.08. CSU men's runners finished with a pack split time of under 27 seconds, a much improved mark from previous meets. 

All-Conference Awards

The all-conference teams were announced after the meet based on the final results. Ram Muntefering made the men's all-conference first team, while Meyer made the men's second team.

On the women's side, CSU runners Whitney Henderson, Kaitlin Hanenburg and Hannah Pensack-Rinehart earned second team all-conference.

2012 All-Mountain West Women's Cross Country Team

First Team

Lacey Oeding, Sr., New Mexico
Charlotte Arter, Jr., New Mexico
Marisa VanderMalle, So., Boise State
Holly Page, So., Wyoming
Josephine Moultrie, Sr., New Mexico
Tessa Murray, Jr., Boise State
Samantha Diaz, Jr., Nevada

Second Team

Whitney Henderson, Jr., Colorado State
Melissa Fuerst, Sr., Air Force
Kaitlin Hanenburg, Jr., Colorado State
Jen Bremser, Sr., Air Force
Hannah Pensack-Rinehart, Jr., Colorado State
Shawna Winnegar, Sr., New Mexico
Imogen Ainsworth, Sr., New Mexico

Women's Athlete of the Year - Lacey Oeding, Sr., New Mexico
Women's Freshman of the Year - Emily Myers, Nevada
Women's Coach of the Year - Joe Franklin, New Mexico

2012 All-Mountain West Men's Cross Country Team

First Team

Luke Caldwell, Jr., New Mexico
Barak Watson, Sr., Boise State
Pat Zacharias, Jr., New Mexico
Elmar Engholm, Fr., New Mexico
Alex Muntefering, Jr., Colorado State
Adam Bitchell, Jr., New Mexico
Isaiah Bragg, Jr., Air Force

Second Team

Sean Stam, Jr., New Mexico
Matt Bell, Sr., Air Force
Jeremy Drenckhahn, Sr., Air Force
Elliot Myers, So., Air Force
Riley Coates, So., Air Force
Andrew Quallio, Sr., Air Force
Christian Meyer, Jr., Colorado State

Men's Athlete of the Year - Luke Caldwell, Jr., New Mexico
Men's Freshman of the Year - Elmar Engholm, New Mexico
Men's Coach of the Year - Joe Franklin, New Mexico

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CSU Rams Cross Country

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