GOLDEN, Colo. – The MSU Denver cross country programs turned in strong showings Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships, as the Roadrunners demonstrated their mettle at NCAA Division II's best league meets.
 
Alliyah Molina, Erin Norton and Anna Swanson finished 25^th, 26^th and 27^th, respectively, to lead the women to a sixth-place finish, while Noel Lopez placed 26^th in the men's race to lead MSU Denver to eighth.
 
"It was definitely a solid day," MSU Denver coach Janis Christopher said. "Finishing around the top half of the RMAC is something to be proud of. It lets you know you have something to build on."

Only five teams ranked in the national top 10 finished ahead of MSU Denver's women and, not insignificantly, the Roadrunners also finished ahead of No. 19 Colorado Christian as well as Westminster. Colorado Christian is ranked sixth in the South Central Region, while Westminster in No. 9 regionally, just ahead of MSU Denver.
 
Molina continued her breakout season by running 6,000 meters in 23 minutes, 00.1 seconds.
 
"Alliyah had a great day," Christopher said. "She ran with confidence and serious grit at the front for our team. She has come so far in the last year. I can't express how proud we are of the improvements she's made."
 
Running as a pack, Norton was just behind Molina in 23:02.5 and Swanson finished in 23:06.8.
 
"The women packed up well in the front, which was what led to our top-six finish," Christopher said.
 
Abi Read was 35^th and Vanessa Kort placed 40^th to complete MSU Denver's team scoring for a total of 153, just three points behind national No. 10 Western Colorado. Also for MSU Denver, Audrey Orstead was 47th, Audrynn Street placed 70^th, Ashley Morton was 84^th and Graciela Leal was 91^st.
 
In the men's race, top-ranked Colorado School of Mines was first and third-ranked Adams State was third. Colorado Christian, ranked fifth nationally, placed seventh, just ahead of MSU Denver. The Roadrunners, unranked in the South Central Region, finished ahead of regional No. 9 Fort Lewis and regional No. 10 CSU-Pueblo.
 
In both the men's and women's races, Colorado Christian rested some of its top performers.
 
Lopez ran 8,000 meters in 26:07.7 to lead the Roadrunners' men. Yonatan Kefle finished 37^th in 26:33.7 and Nick Nowlen was 51^st in 26:56.7.
 
Completing the scoring for MSU Denver were Justin McDaniel in 60^th and Oticio Herrera in 90^th. Also for the Roadrunners, Ty Schauer was 93^rd, JJ Ramey was 94^th, Peter Speier placed 99^th and Cory Shea was 107^th.
 
Just like at last year's RMAC meet, when most of the team fell in a crash involving multiple teams and runners, the men's race was affected.

"There was another incident with the men's race," Christopher said. "Several fell down, including our No. 5 finisher, which created a gap that was difficult to close. Despite that, we still made top eight. We are looking forward to building on this performance and continuing our climb at the region meet.

"You could definitely see our Roadrunners Pride. Big things ahead for our teams."