DURANGO, Colo. – Noel Lopez ran to a 16^th-place individual finish to lead the MSU Denver men to seventh in the team standings at Saturday's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships.
 
Meanwhile for the Roadrunners' women, Abi Read was 38^th individually as MSU Denver finished ninth.
 
Lopez ran 8,000 meters in 25 minutes, 25.70 seconds while moving up 10 places from his 26^th-place finish last year.
 
"I was really happy with how Noel put himself up there continued to climb higher and higher in the RMAC as he makes himself one of the top guys," said Amanda Rego, MSU Denver associate head coach. "He barely missed first team all-conference (top-14 finish), and there's more to come from him."
 
Also for the men, JJ Ramey was 38^th in 26:13.40, while Nick Nowlen was 41^st in 26:17.50, Oticio Herrera was 57^th in 26:56.60 and Dylan Angel Lainez was 81^st in 27:54.20.
 
MSU Denver finished in the top seven at Division II's toughest conference meet for the third time since 2014.
 
"For the rest of the guys, for a couple of them it's still just the first or second time at this championship," Rego said. "I think we learned a couple things we need to do differently at regionals (in Denver on Nov. 19) and at conference next year.
 
"JJ still had a strong race and Nick continued to be a great No. 3 for us – he improved on his place from last year (51^st) against a field that I think is deeper than it's ever been."
 
MSU Denver totaled 216 points, 30 behind sixth-place CSU Pueblo in a field that included NCAA Division II No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, No. 2 Adams State, No. 9 Western Colorado and No. 16 UCCS.
 
Read, 35^th in the same event last year, ran 6,000 meters in 23:32.21.
 
"Abi has gone from a year ago, when she was just happy to be on our conference team and someone who could maybe score for us, to being our top runner," Rego said. "She's come such a long way. Today wasn't quite what she wanted, but there's still so much more to come from her."
 
Audrey Orstead was 49^th in 24:11.80, Audrynn Street was 54^th in 24:21.10, Tanis Chavez placed 55^th in 24:24.10 and Caitlin Cornell was 64^th in 24:55.40.
 
MSU Denver totaled 243 points, but was just nine points from eighth, 12 from seventh and 22 from sixth in a field that included 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.
 
"I was really happy with our pack," Rego said. "Audrey, Audrynn and Tanis worked really well together, and to have freshmen and sophomores up there working together was awesome to see. Our women's team is really close to making an even bigger jump. Our women have a chance to challenge for the top of the RMAC next year."
 
Up first, though, is the Division II South Central Regional, which MSU Denver will host at Washington Park on Nov. 19.

"We're building depth on both the men's and women's sides," Rego said. "I was pleased to see that we had someone right there to be our No. 5 scorer if something happened. For the men Ty (Schauer) and Cory (Shea) were right there (83^rd and 85, respectively) behind Diggy (Lainez). For the women, Heidi (Yagen) and Kendra (Painter-Hayes) were right behind Caitlin (in 79^th and 85, respectively)."