COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – MSU Denver placed three women in the top 11 and had one top-10 finisher in the men's race while finishing third (women) and fifth (men) in the team standings at the season-opening UCCS Rust Buster cross country race.
 
"Great races over all," MSU Denver coach Janis Christopher said. "A cross country team is only as good as they can pack run and today both the men and women executed that strategy very well."

While All-America candidate Erin Norton turned in a solid warmup to the season with an eighth-place finish, teammate Vanessa Kort placed ninth – her best-ever individual cross country finish while running a cross country personal-best five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 42.5 seconds at Monument Valley Park.
 
Helped by Anna Swanson in 11^th, Alliyah Molina in 17^th and Audrynn Street in 27^th, MSU Denver totaled 65 points to finish behind only UCCS (36) and CSU-Pueblo (45). UCCS is ranked 12^th nationally, while CSU-Pueblo is 31^st among teams receiving votes.
 
Swanson is a second-year freshman who was making her cross country debut, Molina is a second-year freshman racing for just the second time in cross country, and Street is a true freshman.
 
"We are looking to Anna Swanson and Vanessa Kort to be integral parts of our team success, and today I think we got a peak at just how big of an impact they are going to make," Christopher said. "Alliyah Molina also ran very well and added big PR to finish in the number four spot. I'm really excited to see what the season will hold for her."

For the MSU Denver men, Yonatan Kefle's ninth-place time of 25:51.3 over 8K was good for ninth place, his best ever in a cross country race.
 
"Yoni did a great job up front," Christopher said. "He was patient and executed his race plan very well."
 
True freshman JJ Ramey was 38^th, Oticio Herrera was 39^th, true freshman Peter Speier was 49^th and Ty Schauer was 57^th.
 
The Roadrunners were fifth overall with 142 points, though the UCCS Alumni Team also ran as a team and placed fourth.
 
"JJ Ramey ran an impressive first 8K," Christopher said. "He and Oticio worked together the whole way, as did the packs behind them."