By Charlie Lynch
The Colorado College men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to New Mexico Highlands University for their Cross Country Jam this past weekend, where both did extremely well, each securing a win. It was a crucial win for the Tigers after the men placed 4th and 5th and the women earned a 4th place spot in both of their last two meets.
Megan Koch ’22 cruised to a season best, a 19:35 5k time, which was good for second place. The next four runners finished within 13 seconds of Koch, and the Tigers finished first with 20 points overall.
“It was an outstanding day for us,” head coach Ted Castenada said. “We are very proud of how these women have improved. This was the first time we had five runners finish under 20 minutes and our top six finished within 21 minutes; we are very happy with that, this was a good momentum-builder going into October.” The men’s team also had a successful meet, securing 1st place. It was a much closer meet for the men’s team with Adam Mahler ’20 leading the Tiger squad. Mahler attained a personal record on the 8k course with a 27:14 time, good for a 2nd place finish. The six other Tigers scored in the top 20 in 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 13th, and 18th place, respectively.
“It was a very good meet for us and several of our young runners got some much needed experience today,” Castaneda said.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams brought home important wins this past weekend, allowing them to build momentum for their upcoming meets. The team will be traveling to the RoadRunner Invitational in Denver this Saturday, Oct. 5.
