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DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College men and Mesa State College women posted near-perfect team scores to easily outdistance the competition at the 2010 Tom Strandt Memorial Run, held this evening at Hillcrest Golf Course.
Led by sophomore Kip Mutai, the Skyhawk men claimed the top four spots in the 8k men's race. Mutai, from Bomet, Kenya, finished the course in 26:56.96 – more than 36 seconds faster than his closest competitor.
“The guys dominated, going one through four,” said FLC head coach Ken Flint. “Kip ran controlled and strong.”
Mutai was followed by teammates Jeff Hofferber (27:32.21), Derek Laue (28:01.22) and Michael Birgen (28:20.70). FLC's Logan Ott, competing as an unattached runner, finished fifth at 28:21.87, but didn't affect team scoring. Diné College's Don Leonard, who finished sixth overall at 28:23.03, broke up the Skyhawks' bid for a perfect team score of 15.
After two meets, Flint is excited about the performance of his top four. “We have a lot of contestants for our number five spot,” he said. “Eight guys were within 50 seconds of each other. We have to move that pack up.”
Nearly FLC's entire roster competed in the event. Other Skyhawk finishers included Justin Miller (29:26.70), Josh Benson (29:34.45), Randy Nez (30:05.22), Patrick Tso (30:11.71), Alex Colvin (30:14.06), Dominick Bitsui (30:14.99), Alex Kilman (30:16.15), Walter Delwiche (30:57.45), Gus Allen (31:38.67), Rashawn Ramone (31:59.27), Alex Byrne (32:05.33), Greg LeBlanc (33:14.00) and Kyle Stoddard (37:20.60).
The Skyhawk men (18 points) were trailed by Diné (40) and Navajo Tech (85).
The Mesa State women's harriers (16 points) were equally dominant in the 5k. Led by champion Alexis Skarda (18:23.60), the Mavs locked up the top four individual spots with Kelsey Follett (19:50.93), Kenzie Grant (20:24.53) and Brooke Bosman (21:02.81).
“Mesa is a strong team,” said Flint. “They've been number six in the region the past two years and one place away from nationals.”
Only FLC's Maddie Kruger, who took fifth with a time of 21:13.41, prevented the Mavs from a perfect 15. Kruger outlasted Mesa State's Mariah Schmidt (21:20.10) down the stretch to break up the team sweep.
“Maddie ran well in her first race of the year,” said Flint. “I held her out last week [at Adams State's Joe I. Vigil Open] due to an illness. It's nice to see a freshman step up like that in her first race.”
Other Skyhawk women's runners included Helen Smith (21:43.20), Megan Derschang (22:14.47), Liz Schwab (23:06.45), Morgan Love (23:07.22), Gentry Peppin (26:23.67) and Katheryn McNiel (26:37.69). FLC's Shelby Schaefer (24:15.00) and Jaclin Guthrie (24:46.96) competed as unattached runners.
“Helen was a strong number two for us,” Flint said. “Megan continues to run well with another strong performance. It was her second week in a row as our number three. Liz, another freshman, comes from sea level now running at altitude, is doing an excellent job.
“We had three freshmen in our top five,” he added. “We need to get healthy and get over some nagging injuries. If we get Ashley Kelly healthy and keep the confidence going with the freshmen, we'll be fine.”
Kelly, FLC's two-time Academic All-American and senior leader, has been sidelined with back spasms.
Kelly and her teammates will get the chance to recover the next two weeks. FLC's next cross country competition will be the Rocky Mountain Shootout, hosted by the University of Colorado, on Saturday, October 2 in Boulder.
