The Fort Lewis College men’s cross-country team finished middle of the pack Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships at Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction.
The Skyhawks finished in eighth out of 16 teams, and recorded 225 points. The women’s team finished in 10th out of 16 teams with 294 points.
Colorado School of Mines won the men’s team title with 28 points, while Adams State dominated the women’s field to win the team title with 21 points, and had six runners in the top 10.
The Skyhawks were led by sophomore Elvis Chelak and freshman Henry Barth in the eight-kilometer race. Chelak was the highest finisher for FLC, and crossed the finish line in 25 minutes, 6.8 seconds, which was 31st overall. Barth was not far behind and took 33rd in a time of 25:13.
Cody Speece was FLC’s third-highest finisher in 25:33, which was 46th overall, while David Wilcox took 60th in 25:52, and Max Robinson was 71st in 26:08.
On the women’s side, Fort Lewis had four of its top five runners cross the finish line in under 24 minutes in the six-kilometer race.
Angel Curley returned from injury, and raced well, as she took 48th with a time of 22:42 in her first race since September. Freshman Krista Benze took 53rd in 22:50, while redshirt sophomore Rose Chemeli took 69th in 23:36, and Karla de la Cruz was 78th in 23:58. Jessica Ramirez placed 80th in 24:04, and rounded out FLC’s top scorers.
The Skyhawks will look for a top-10 performance at the NCAA South Central Regional Saturday, Nov. 9 in Canyon, Texas.
The Fort Lewis College volleyball program dropped its first five-set match of the season Saturday evening, as they lost 3-2 to Black Hills State in Spearfish, South Dakota.
The Skyhawks (9-13, 5-8 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell to the Yellow Jackets, 25-14, 25-23, 20-25, 20-25 ad 15-10.
After forcing another five-set match, FLC head coach Tricia Melfy said it was promising to see her side fight back, but is hopeful her team can get off to a fast start the next time out.
“We need to start our matches like we’re finishing our matches,” Mefly said. “It’s just digging out of a hole every time is too difficult. We really need to start off the way we’ve been finishing. We need to be focused for the first 17 points of the match. Clearly, we have what it takes, but sometimes it’s just too hard to come out of that hole.”
FLC was led by Bailey Longacre, who had 12 kills, while Tye Wedhorn and Jacalyn Sharko had nine. Alex Alameddin had 23 digs, Payton Harmann dished out 38 assists and Wedhorn had eight blocks.
Black Hills State (10-11, 8-5 RMAC) was led by Sierra Ward with 17 kills, while Haedyn Rhoades recorded 42 digs in the win.
With the loss, Fort Lewis dropped to 11th in conference, and are three games out of the eighth and final spot for the RMAC Tournament.
The Skyhawks will have a week to prepare before facing Colorado Mesa at 7 p.m. Friday in Grand Junction.
bploen@durangoherald.com
