Senior Makiah Salzano shattered her personal best en route to a 27th-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional, leading the Skyhawks to an 11th-place team finish in the field of 25.
Salzano, who posted a career-best time at the RMAC Championships (22:57.5), put up a time of 21:35.4 in Saturday’s 6K race. The huge PR sees Salzano in second-place all-time in FLC women’s cross-country history, edging out Brianne Lippoldt’s time of 21:38 on Oct. 25, 2003.
Junior Angel Curley finished 54th in 22:20.4. Curley’s time was an improvement of over one minute from the RMAC Championships. Freshman Katie Fankhouser wasn’t far behind, crossing the line 56th in 22:24.7 – a great improvement from a 24:01.3 time at the RMAC Championship.
Juniors Taylor Murphy (23:03.7) and Dorothy Elder (23:15.0) rounded out FLC’s top five, finishing in 78th and 83rd, respectively.
Senior Karla De La Cruz came in at 96th (23:29.9) followed by junior Krista Benze in 112th (23:59.2).
Adams State came away with the team title, totaling 30 points and placing four athletes in the top 10. Rounding out the top 10 were RMAC representatives in Colorado Mines (97), UCCS (116), Western Colorado (129) and Colorado Christian (177).
Led by a 37th-place finish from redshirt junior John Ngaruiya, the Fort Lewis College men’s cross-country team ran to a 12th-place finish in the regional’s field of 30 teams.
“We ran strong today, and these guys worked together the best they have all season,“ said head coach Joshua Coon. “We set ambitious goals and fell short of our expectations this year. We faced adversity, and we did the best we could under the circumstances … I couldn't ask for more out of these guys.“
Ngaruiya’s time of 31:32.01 moves him from 11th to fifth all-time in FLC history in the 10k, bettering his time of 32:36.2 from spring at the D2 Cross Country National Invite.
Senior Steven Nez was FLC’s second finisher, crossing 66th in 32:20.43. The finish is just shy of his personal best, but still finds Nez in the all-time top 10 at FLC.
Junior Elvis Chelak (32:47.77) and sophomore Ethan Bartlett (32:49.05) came in 82nd and 84th place, respectively. Chelak’s mark moves him into 16th all-time in FLC history, while Bartlett's time is good for 17th place all-time.
Rounding out the top five was junior Ricardo Trejo in 97th place (33:00.83), which sits in 19th place all-time for the Skyhawks. The final two finishers for FLC were senior Cody Speece (104th, 33:10.89) and sophomore Max Robinson (124th, 34:06.72).
Colorado School of Mines won the team title with 42 points, while additional RMAC foes Adams State (54), Colorado Christian (91), UCCS (99) and Western Colorado (121) rounded out the top five.
“Five guys made our all-time top 25 list today, so there are strong markers of success,” Coon said. “Cody and Steven are seniors for us, and we are sad to be losing them. They represented Fort Lewis so well throughout their careers. It has been a total joy and honor to coach them. Looking ahead, we return a deep roster and will be back hungry for more next season.”
Fort Lewis football fell 37-14 to Adams State University on Saturday.
The Fort Lewis women’s soccer team competed in the RMAC tournament, but lost to top-seeded Colorado Mesa in the quarterfinals, 1-0.
The FLC volleyball team, meanwhile, fell to No. 1 Metro State in its final home game 25-17, 25-20 and 25-18.
