Sports

Roadrunners race top teams in annual Rocky Mountain Shootout

By Jennifer Hankins
jhankin4@mscd.edu

The Roadrunners cross country team competed against some of the nation's top teams in the University of Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout Saturday, Oct. 1. The Metro women finished seventh, while the men came in 10th.

"We are competing against Division II National Champions," said head coach, Peter Julian. "It is hard to come in here and not get discouraged."

Metro runner Josh Tate, who finished 50th overall at the Shootout, said he felt the weather played a part in the race as well.

"There were hard conditions today. Overall we ran hard," Tate said. "The team is showing a lot of hope for the future as we progress more and more every week."

The Women finished seventh in the non-Division I category with 211 points. The men finished 10th with 254 points. For Metro's women, Meagan Martinez was first, finishing with a time of 24:31 in 37th place. Close behind was Jessica Hackbart with a time of 25:18 to finish 49th.

For Metro's men, Josh Tate was No. 1, finishing with a time of 28:43 in 50th place. Close behind Tate was Juan Soto with a 30-minute, 77th place finish.

The women ran 5.8K and 103 runners ran the race. The men ran an 8K race featuring 127 runners.

"Everyone is improving, workouts are going well," says Martinez. "We'll get there."

The team still has high hopes for the future, but work needs to be done before they get to where they want to be.

"They are young. We have 18-19 year old guys racing 20-22-year-olds; there's a lot of experience to be had between those years," Julian said. "There's a lot of room to grow and it's going to be a four-year project."