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Henry Barth

Program record six Skyhawks named All-Conference at 2023 RMAC Cross Country Championships

10/21/2023 1:55:00 PM

By: Angela Roberts, Assistant AD-Communications
DENVER, Colo. – Saturday, October 21st at Washington Park ended up being a day that will go down in Fort Lewis College men's and women's cross country history with six total student-athletes earning All-Conference accolades at the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.

Women's Results (6th Place)
The women's team earned a sixth-place finish with a team score of 163 and a team-average time of 22:36.4. The Skyhawks ran for a 1:44.0 spread, the four-best mark among programs to finish in the top six. The finish bodes well for the regional rankings as Fort Lewis finished ahead of Colorado Christian University (9th, 279) who is ranked one spot higher than the Skyhawks in the October 10th regional poll.

Freshman Linda Weigang led the team with an impressive 16th-place finish and was just the second freshman student-athlete to cross the finish line. Her time of 21.45.0 marks a new 6k personal best, and she ran for a 5:51 average. Senior Katie Heck finished narrowly behind Weigang, crossing the line in 17th place with a time of 21:47.2—22 seconds faster than her outing at the Lewis Invitational, her season-opener at sea level. The duo earned Second-Team All-Conference accolades for their efforts.

Junior Brandy Ray picked up a 35th-place finish with a time of 22:48.1, a significant improvement from her 72nd-place mark at the 2022 RMAC Championships. The fourth finisher for Fort Lewis was sophomore Mikenna Hoffman who clocked a time of 23:12.6, good for 45th place at her first Championship. Rounding out the scorers for the Skyhawks was freshman Tessa Stadler who toed the line for her first collegiate 6k race. Stadler came away with an impressive 50th-place finish at 23:29.0.

Freshman Skylar Charlie (23:44.3) and senior Katherine Brown (24:04.2) finished in 54th and 63rd place, respectively, to round out the competitors for Fort Lewis.

The team title was earned by Adams State University, their third-consecutive crown, while senior Brianna Robles broke the tape en route to RMAC Runner of the Year honors with a time of 20:34.1.

"The women showed up today and ran a good race. Katie has moved up, and now we have her and Linda up there picking up All-Conference honors," said head coach Shawn Jakubowski. "Today, our fourth runner finished where our number two runner finished last year, that shows just how much improvement this team has made."

Men's Results (4th Place)
It was a banner day for the Skyhawks men's team who fired on all cylinders and finished fourth in the team standings. After being projected to finish eighth in the preseason coaches poll, Fort Lewis went on to pick up a program-record four All-Conference honors in Saturday's 8k. Fort Lewis finished ahead of Colorado Christian, UCCS, New Mexico Highlands, and CSU Pueblo—programs that came in ranked ahead of the Skyhawks in the regional and national polls. Fort Lewis ran for an average time of 25:09.4 with a 34-second spread, the second-best spread in the field and behind only No. 1-ranked Colorado School of Mines.

Senior Henry Barth was the team's top finisher, placing 16th with a time of 24:56.6 (5:02 average) to earn Second Team All-Conference honors. Barth was competing in his first Championship since the 2019 season and returned stronger than ever with a perfectly timed personal best. Sophomore Bean Minor backed him up well, crossing the line in 18th place with a time of 24:57.8 (5:02 average) to secure Second Team All-Conference accolades. Minor, an All-RMAC outdoor track performer, established a personal best and showed vast improvement from his 61st-place finish at last year's Championships.

The third finisher for Fort Lewis was sophomore Eli Smith who placed 26th with a Second Team All-Conference time of 25:06.0 (5:03 average)—improving on his 73rd place finish last year. The fourth Second-Team All-Conference honoree for the Skyhawks was junior Caden Resendez who placed 28th with a time of 25:14.9 (5:05 average). Rounding out scorers for the Skyhawks was senior Conner Dossman who clocked a time of 25:31.5 (5:09 average) which placed him 35th in the pack of 121 student-athletes.

Sophomore Brady Burrough (25:40.4) and freshman Jonah Denison (25:47.7) finished in 41st and 45th, respectively, to round out competitors for Fort Lewis.

The team title was earned by Colorado School of Mines, the defending RMAC and NCAA DII Champions, while the individual title went to senior Andrew Amor of New Mexico Highlands.

"The men came in and took care of business. To finish fourth in the RMAC shows the talent of this team," said Jakubowski. "We had four runners earn Second Team All-Conference honors and that shows how close these guys ran together. I am so proud of this group, and if we can show up and run like this at regionals we are hopeful to get an at-large bid to nationals."

Up Next
Fort Lewis College will have two weeks to prepare for the South Central Regional which will be held on Saturday, November 4 at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas. The women's 6k begins at 9:00 a.m., followed by the men's 8k at 10:15 a.m.

Final Comments from Coach Jakubowski
Jakuboski, who was unable to travel to the Championships due to unforeseen health issues, said this of his coaching staff, "I want to thank assistant coaches Will Schenk and Dalton Graham for taking care of business while I'm out. I am so thankful to know that when I cannot be there, the teams are in great hands. They did an amazing job getting the teams ready in Denver."
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