Fort Lewis College senior cross-country runner Hosava Kretzmann was expressionless when he saw his time at Saturday’s NCAA Division II South Central Region Championships in Denver. After all the miles he had put in, he knew he likely had qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships in two weeks.
The full field for the NCAA Championships will be announced Monday, but Kretzmann knew he did enough as he stuck with numerous All-Americans on Saturday.
The Skyhawk men finished 10th with 256 points, and Kretzmann finished eighth overall in the 10-kilometer race with a time of 31 minutes, 4.9 seconds. The top-two runners from non-qualifying teams make the final cut for nationals, and Kretzman was in that group.
“It means a lot for myself, but even more for my teammates. They were so jazzed that I was able to finish in the top 10 for our region,” Kretzmann said. “For myself, I didn’t really have much of an expression at the end partly because my face was cold and I couldn’t really say anything. ...It was mostly just a shock that I had done it.
“I worked so hard for getting top 10 in the region and when I did it. It just seemed unbelievable. Looking back at my previous years and this past summer, I had really done a lot of good workouts and good training, and the great thing is that I remained pretty much injury-free throughout my college career. I wish we could’ve made it as a team, that was definitely my priority, but I am happy that I could push the envelope far so that next year this team can do well for themselves and as a team.”
Senior Preston Charlie finished in 44th overall in 32:37.7. Junior Andrew Rome took 65th (33:10.5), sophomore Steven Nez finished in 67th (33:12.9), and senior Sylas Schutt was 75th (33:25.6). Senior Bismarck Kipkilach had his best 10K time at the same meet last season, but he struggled with an injured back Saturday, as he finished in 90th overall (33:59.9).
Fort Lewis head coach Josh Coon said, despite some good performances, it was not where he wanted the Skyhawks to finish.
“I thought we didn’t quite execute totally,” Coon said. “Hosava nailed it and is going to nationals, and we’re very proud of him, but we just didn’t quite put it together for the rest of the guys. Tenth isn’t bad in this region, but it’s not where we’re wanting to be.”
Kretzmann saw the field and knew his game plan had to be similar to the conference meet two weeks prior, when he finished sixth overall.
“My game plan really was just to stay up in the top 20 at least and try and move up from there and our plan was very well-executed,” Kretzmann said. “We did it at conference where the top group would lead and I’d stay behind them and just wait, sit in there, relax and be patient. Coming around the last few (kilometers) of the race, that’s when I really needed to work, and it wasn’t too difficult of a plan to come up with and it made sense at the time. It worked perfectly, so I was very pleased.”
Colorado School of Mines, ranked No. 2 in the nation edged Adams State, the No. 1 team in the country. Mines won with 47 points, and Adams State was second with 57. RMAC teams claimed eight out of the top-10 spots, as Western State Colorado University finished third with 84 points and rounded out the top three team automatic qualifiers. Grant Colligan of Colorado Mines won the men’s race in 30:31.9. Marcelo Laguera of CSU-Pueblo was second in 30:47.4.
Kretzmann’s first appearance at the NCAA Division II Cross-Country National Championships will be 11:30 a.m. Dec. 1 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Skyhawks finished eighth as a team in the 8-kilometer race. Senior Becca Bramley finished 24th overall with a time of 22:30.9. Freshman Rhylyn Jones was 39th in 23:12.9. Senior Carly Wilborn was 54th (23:38.6) and redshirt sophomore Makiah Salzano rounded out FLC’s top four in 64th (23:54.5). Freshman Dorothy Elder was 96th (24:34.5), freshman Peyton Slack was 97th (24:34.9), and sophomore Karla De La Cruz was 104th (24:40.2).
Bramley hoped to qualify for the championships but finished fourth among individuals from non-qualifying teams. She made the all-region team for the third consecutive season. She will keep her fingers crossed for an at-large bid to nationals when the field is announced Monday.
“She gave everything she had and just couldn’t get there. She ran well but she didn’t really know why,” Coon said. “She’s done everything right, it just didn’t bounce her way today. Regardless of Monday’s result, she’s been a model Skyhawk, and making three years in a row for all-region speaks a lot about her. In every area of her life, she represents what a Skyhawk should be from her grades, her character and the way she conducts herself on the course.
“The the rest of the girls, Carly, Makiah and Rhylyn, they all stepped up for us as well.”
Adams State edged Western State by one point to take the team title. The Grizzlies had 30 points, and the Mountaineers had 31. Heading into the week, the top-two teams in the nation were separated by nine points in the national polls, and the teams lived up to the much anticipated showdown. Colorado School of Mines, ranked No. 7 in the national poll, finished third and grabbed the final at-large team spot with 105 points.
Alicja Konieczek of Western State won the race in 21:25.4, and her teammate Sophie Seward was second (21:28.8) while Flanagan sisters, Elish and Roisin of Adams State, finished third (21:36.7) and fourth (21:44.3), respectively.
“It was a solid season, and we had some ups and downs,” Coon said. “But I thought we put ourselves in the mix and hopefully we can take the next step and get better for next season.”
bploen@durangoherald.com
