A challenging field of runners stood up to its reputation Saturday at the Colorado College Cross Country Invitational.
The Fort Lewis College men’s team finished seventh out of nine teams and the women’s team eighth.
Freshman Kelsi Lawrence was the Skyhawks’ top finisher in 34th with a time of 25 minutes, 40 seconds.
Rhea Gillespie placed 46th in 26:26, Stephanie Dexter 49th in 26:44, Farrah Hood 54th in 27:27, Julia Boyd-Helm 55th in 27:37, Courtney Ragle 58th in 27:39, Kolette Dayish 60th in 27:45, Garilena Cly 65th in 28:09, Valarie Bound 72nd in 28:57 and Meghan Schroeder 74th in 29:23.
Ryan Mott paced the men’s team in 28:53, good for 57th place.
Zachary Rhodes follwed in 61st at 29:14, Malcolm Skeet in 66th at 29:22, Zach Chenoweth in 67th at 29:25, Sam Kelly in 83rd at 30:25, Joseph Spinelli in 84th at 30:26, Walter Delwiche in 93rd at 31:25 and Clah Robert 97th at 32:16.
Metro State won both the men’s and women’s team competitions, followed by Adams State in second for both. The Adams State men’s team is ranked No. 1 in the nation, while the Adams State women’s team is ranked second.
Western State, ranked second in the men’s poll and fourth in the women’s, did not race.
The Metro State men are unranked and the women ninth.
Rochelle Kanohoe, an unattached runner, paced the women’s field in 22:16. Janelle Lincks and Amy Johnson ran first and second for Metro State in 22:34 and 23:12, respectively.
Kirk Harvey of Metro State took first in the men’s field at 25:33.
FLC next will race at the Stanford XC Invitational on Saturday at Palo Alto, Calif.
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