DENVER – In RMAC cross country, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
And it's up to the MSU Denver men's and women's cross country over the next few weeks as they take their vagabond shoes and stray through the heart of it.
It starts Saturday with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships.
"Being in one of the most competitive conferences in the country for distance running, finishing anywhere towards the middle to the front is a good finish," said
Amanda Rego, MSU Denver's associate head coach. "We're a young team, but we still think that – even after losing some of our top upperclassmen from last season – we can give some of those top teams a run for their money."
Last year, the Roadrunners' women finished sixth in the RMAC Championships, with the men placing eight.
The scene shifts this season to Hill Crest Golf Course in Durango, Colo.
The men's race will include NCAA Division II No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, No. 2 Adams State, No. 9 Western Colorado, No. 10 Colorado Christian and No. 16 UCCS. On the women's side, the top teams are No. 1 Adams State, No. 3 Colorado School of Mines, No. 4 UCCS, No. 9 Western Colorado, No. 12 Colorado Christian and No. 22 CSU Pueblo.
In other words, it's the top of the list, head of the heap, king of the hill.
The Roadrunners will in some ways make a brand new start of it this weekend, as for the first time since mid-September, the men's team will be at full strength.
"That's exciting," Rego said. "It's the first time we've had them all racing at their peak fitness level."
The group includes
Noel Lopez and
JJ Ramey, who've raced only occasionally this fall, and steady veteran
Nick Nowlen, looking to make a splash in his final RMAC cross country meet. Lopez finished 26
th in this race last season.
For the women,
Abi Read – 35
th at the RMAC meet last season – has led the way much of 2022, but a strong overall group is developing.
"After Abi we've had a really solid pack in our workouts," Rego said. "I'm excited to see them race as more of a tight-knit group and to see how close our top-five spread will be."
Beyond Saturday, the Roadrunners turn around and do it all again on Nov. 19, when MSU Denver hosts the South Central Regional at Washington Park.
Not only will their friends from the RMAC be there, but so too will be Lone Star Conference teams such as No. 27 West Texas A&M for the men, and for the women No. 8 Dallas Baptist and No. 26 West Texas A&M.
"This is a great sort of preview of what we should expect at the regional," Rego said. "Obviously there will be some other teams, but it's a lot of the same teams we'll face in two weeks. This is a nice test run to see where we stack up against some of top teams in the region. We can learn from that and make adjustments moving forward.
"We're excited to actually see all of them at one time, because in cross country it's hard to compare times and results from one race to the next."
With recent snow and potential frost, the starting times for Saturday's races in Durango have been moved back to noon for the men and 12:50 p.m. for the women.
"The weather shouldn't be too much of an issue," Rego said. "It could be sloppy and muddy and that would make it a more challenging course than if the weather is perfect. But this isn't indoor track season, it's cross country season. We've had plenty of workouts at Wash Park after it has rained. We're ready for anything."
