By Jeremiah Vaille
After the Colorado School of Mines men’s and women’s cross country teams finished first and second respectively at the NCAA South Central Region Championships in Lubbock, Texas, they will head to the NCAA Division II Championships. At the Region Championship, Colorado School of Mines runner, Dillon Powell, led the men to the team title, while earning the individual title himself. Powell finished the 10 kilometer race in 29 minutes and 15 seconds: 27 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. Kyle Moran, Duncan Fuehne, John O’Malley, and Luke Julian, along with teammate Dillon Powell were the scoring five individuals for Colorado School of Mines with 3, 11, 13, 14, and 1 points respectively based on their finishing positions in the field of 183 athletes. The team score of 42 points put Mines ahead of nationally ranked teams Adams State University and Colorado Christian University. Chris Cathcart and Andrew Kaye completed the Ordeigger roster for the men and finished in 15th and 31st places respectively. Colorado School of Mines’ performance at the Region Championships brings their U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll ranking back to first.
The Oredigger women will also be heading to NCAA Division II Championships after a strong showing at the NCAA South Central Region Championships. The women ran to second place behind the number one ranked team, Adams State University. Zoe Baker led the way for the orediggers with a 9th place finish in 21 minutes and 1 seconds on the 6 kilometer course. Alayna Szuch, Molly Maksin, Heather Keniry, and Brin Strouse rounded out Mines’ scoring five in 18th, 21st, 22nd, and 32nd respectively. Holly Moser (36th) and Alex Raichart (51st) also raced for the ordiggers.
On Saturday, November 20th, the Oredigger men and women cross country teams will be competing in the NCAA Division II championships. Without Division two fall championships in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado School of Mines looks to defend its titles from 2019 when the men finished first and the women finished third.
Many of the athletes who brought Mines to their top team titles will be racing again this Saturday. Kyle Moran and Dylan Ko who placed 4th and 7th at the NCAA Championships in 2019 will again help lead the team on Saturday. Zoe Baker and Molly Maksin will also lead the oredigger women again this year after helping the team finish third in 2019.
Oredigger fans can stream the races live on the NCAA website. The women’s race will start at 8:30 a.m. ET (6:30 a.m. MT) and the men’s race will start at 9:45 a.m. ET (7:45 a.m. MT) on Saturday November 20th.
Along with success in cross country, all Colorado School of Mines fall sports teams were successful in their regular seasons. Men’s Soccer finished their regular season with 14 wins, 4 loses, and 1 tie. Within the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games, Mines won 9 times and tied 1 game. By having the best conference record, the Ordiggers received the RMAC regular season title. This was the second year in a row where Mines men’s soccer did not lose a game in regular season conference play. In the semifinal round of RMAC playoffs, Mines lost 0-2 to CSU Pueblo.
Mines women’s soccer also finished their regular season after a loss in the semifinal round of RMAC playoffs. In the regular season, the women played for 12 wins, 4 losses, and 4 ties. Within conference play, they won 9 games, lost 2, and tied 1. Both Mines men’s and women’s soccer teams hoped to be selected to the NCAA national tournament Sunday and Monday November 14th and 15th respectively. At the time of publishing the selection show had not occurred, but you can now see the results of the NCAA selection show on the Mines Athletics website and social media accounts.
Women’s Volleyball has also had success in their season with a record of 21-3 in the regular season and 14-2 in conference play before the weekend’s games in South Dakota against Black Hills State University and South Dakota School of Mines. The Orediggers begin the RMAC Tournament on Tuesday November 16th with a game at Mines based on the tournament bracket developed by RMAC standings. Go watch your fellow Orediggers compete at 7 p.m. in Lockridge Arena.
Mines Football finished the regular season with a shutout game against Adams State University on Saturday. The Orediggers scored 63 points in their final regular season game including one pick-six by Jaden Williams. Mines Football finished their regular season with a record of 10 wins and 1 loss. With this record, Mines received the RMAC title for the third time in a row and will likely head to NCAA championship playoff rounds next.
