Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Bill Dellinger Invitational
Cross country recap: CSU women place fifth, men eighth in challenging meet
10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 2, 2009
By Mallory Mortvedt
Athletic Media Relations
EUGENE, Ore.--After their second-place finishes at the CSU Classic, the Rams' men's and women's cross country teams found themselves up against a new level of competition as they ran against some of the best teams in the nation at the Bill Dellinger Invitational Friday.
"This is always one of the more premier meets in the country, and I don't think it was any less challenging this year," Head Coach Bryan Berryhill said. "I thought we competed pretty well considering the level of competition, which was very high."
The CSU women placed two runners in the top 20, with sophomore Ellie Rastall placing first for the team with a time of 17 minutes, 22.11 seconds, and sophomore Nicole Peters placing second for the team with a time of 17:23. 84.
The men's team also had a strong showing, as it was up against the current No. 1-ranked team in the nation, Oregon. Senior Jeremy Freed placed first for the Rams with an overall time of 24:05.61. Behind him was junior Daniel Wallis, scoring 32nd overall with a time of 24:27.17.
After competing against some of the top teams in the nation such as Alabama, BYU, Oregon, Portland, Villanova and Cal Poly, the CSU men's and women's cross country teams showed top performances at the peak of their season.
"Overall, the women's team did very well today," Berryhill said. "If you look at where we were last year at this meet compared to where we are this year, they are just night and day."
The overall results for the women's finish were Villanova claiming first scoring 22 points, Oregon second (41), Baylor third (86), Utep fourth (109), Colorado State fifth (131), San Francisco sixth (172), Weber State seventh (178), Oregon State eighth (195), Portland ninth (224), and Hawaii tenth (264).
Alabama took first overall on the men's side, scoring 53 points, BYU came in second (63), Oregon third (71), Portland fourth (73), Villanova fifth (99), Cal Poly sixth (173), Utep seventh (196), Colorado State eighth (207), Weber State ninth (238), and San Francisco 10th (261).
"On both sides there were some positives," Berryhill said, "which is definitely what you're looking for, especially with such a young team. I really feel like we are leaving on such a positive note, we learned a lot, and we got some things accomplished we can build on; now that we're getting closer to the championship part of our season."
The Rams will continue to practice this week in preparation for their next race, the NCAA pre-nationals, held on Oct. 17 in Terre Haute, Ind., where the NCAA championships will be held in late November.
CSU women's times (overall finish): Ellie Rastall 17:22.11 (19), Nicole Peters 17:23.84 (20), Sarah Heuer 17:34.12 (29), Kristen Hemphill 17:39.21 (37), Michelle Dettmann 17:41.91 (39), Aliese Willard 18:06.75 (51), Kendra Gerk 18:39.66 (65), Crystal Pitney 19:03.98 (73), Brittany Lee 19:09.30 (75).
CSU men's times (overall finish): Jeremy Freed 24:05.61 (18), Daniel Wallis 24:27.17 (32), Spenser Lynass 24:43.90 (44), Ryan Friese 24:43.69 (71), John O'Neil 25:45.14 (74), Andrew Roberts 25:46.70 (75), Shea Phelan 26:49.87 (89), Colin Anderson 26:55.22 (90), Andrew Lesser 27:14.43 (91).
