Adams State Men’s team places five scorers in the top nine and Beraki wins to produce 24-point effort in 8-kilometer race, with women’s lineup having five athletes in top 11 in 6-kilometer competition to achieve 30-point performance, as Northern Colorado freshman Mpigachai prevails in California
By Landon Negri for DyeStat
RIVERSIDE – Adams State’s cross country teams showed Saturday morning it can be dominant at any elevation and against any division.
The perennial NCAA Division 2 power eased to team victories in the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational at the Ag-Ops Course, romping to wins for both the men and the women.
The men, ranked No. 2 in Division 2, went 1-4-5-7-9 and scored 24 points in winning, with the top-ranked women having athletes place 3-4-8-10-11 and scoring 30 points in their victory.
Adams State junior Awet Beraki ran hard for the entire 8 kilometers to win individually in 23 minutes, 23.6 seconds. Northern Colorado freshman Regina Mpigachai outlasted the front pack in the women’s 6-kilometer race to win in 19:46.6.
Saturday marked the Grizzlies’ first competition this year near sea level, as their hometown of Alamosa, Colo., has a listed elevation of 7,545 feet. It also provided an opportunity for the Grizzlies to run against Division 1 competition, with both the Pacific-12 Conference and the Big West holding their conference championships at the UC Riverside course in two weeks, and that fact encouraged more teams to compete in Riverside as a preview.
Yet, Adams State made itself right at home, just like it hopes to Dec. 2 at the NCAA Division 2 national final in University Place, Wash., when the men’s team seeks a 14th national title and the women’s lineup will pursue a collegiate record for all divisions and genders with a 20th cross country national championship.
“I think for us, today is about trying to learn how to run together to pack it up a little bit at sea level,” Adams State coach Damon Martin said. “You know, the kids don’t always get to come to sea level, and so being able to run here, it’s a little bit faster pace, a little bit more turnover. I think we wanted to get them to experience that before we go into championship season, and so I think today was a good opportunity for that.”
Beraki, a runner-up in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Division 2 track and field last year, ran strong and in control ahead of runner-up Ian Sanchez Lopez of Arizona (23:45.0) and third-place…
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