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Metro Road 'runners' ready to roar
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo by Jeremy Billis • jbills@mscd.edu Metro’s Mandi Hepworth leads the Roadrunners at the University of Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder Sept. 30. Hepworth led the ‘Runners with a 54th place finish.

Right now the Metro men’s and women’s cross country teams are nothing more than small beans in the grand scheme of things. This proved true against the fierce competition on display at the University of Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder, where the Roadrunners men finished fourth and the women seventh among non-Division I teams Sept. 30.

“Right now we’re just getting a little of the chips and salsa,” head coach Peter Julian said. “But eventually we want the whole burrito.”

The whole enchilada may be a long time coming for a program in its second year. The Metro men finished fourth among the 12 non-Division I teams, but were trounced by conference cross country kings Adams State and Western State colleges.

The two perennial powerhouses also finished first and second in the women’s competition, respectively.

“When this team was formed it was with one thing in mind: We want to beat Western and Adams,” Julian said. “Fortunately the athletic director (Joan McDermott) has some foresight and realizes that these things can take five to 10 years.”

“We can build a national championship here at Metro,” he added.

In the meantime, Julian has seen the young team make some marked improvements. Seven of the Metro men finished in the top 100 runners, while the women placed three runners in the top 100 out of the 17 teams competing.

“We’re not looking for results at this time in the season,” runner Brice Young said. “Results will come later.”

Todd Tolentino continued to lead the men’s squad, finishing 25th overall in the eight-kilometer race, while Mandi Hepworth topped the women’s team, crossing the line in 54th place in the following 5.8 km race.

“These last couple of weeks have been really tough, and (the competition) is not tapering at all,” Tolentino said. “But we’re going to improve a lot come regionals, for sure.”

Eiger Erickson (44th place), Anthony Luna (51st), Young (56th), Zach Mares (67th), Chris LeBlanc (96th) and Jacob Schuman (98th) rounded out the men’s results, while Judy Jimenez (71st) and Desarae Gleason (73rd) followed up Hepworth’s effort on the women’s side.

The Boulder course proved to be a challenging one and included a monster uphill climb just after the second turn of the course.

“It’s a good course, but definitely one of the toughest ones that we’re going to run,” Hepworth said. “Overall, our team is still trying to get strong, and it’s not very big yet.”

Both coaches and runners alike realize that building a cross country team from scratch is a growing process that may take some time. Both sides remain confident in the team and its efforts.

“Right now I’ve got 18-year-olds running against grown men,” Julian said. He went on to explain that juniors and seniors lead most teams year after year. “Aerobically, we’re kittens going up against lions.”

Julian insisted that large competitions such as the CU Shootout are necessary in teaching a team how to grow and compete.

“(The Shootout) is an important piece of the puzzle,” Julian said. “With an upstart team like this one, it gives us an opportunity to see what we want to become.”

In the men’s race Adams State not only topped Division II teams, but came in first overall, ahead of No. 2-ranked CU and No. 22-ranked Colorado State University.

“You know we’ve come to this course so many times and it seems like we always do great for four miles and then get rolled on the final mile,” Adams State head coach Damon Martin said. “Today we ran a bit more conservatively and ran harder the last mile, and the kids did a great job. I’m really proud of them.”