Both the men's and women's cross country teams ran in the UCCS Rust Buster meet in Colorado Springs, CO on Friday Night. Both teams ran well, as the women finished in second place, and the men finished in third place.
 
Evan Verbal finished with an impressive time of 19:32, which was good enough to give him first place in the men's division. Anders Hanson (21:26), Luke Bruns (21:43), Abe Means (22:03), and Caden Magnuson (22:40) rounded out the top five for the Cougars.
 
Brooke Genovese finished in third place overall by running 15:03. Close behind her was freshman Kayla Davis with a time of 15:43 and a sixth place finish. Hannah Struttman (15:53), Mandee Middleton (16:30), and Rebekah McCabe (16:35) also ran strong races and helped guide CCU to the second place finish.
 
Both Anders Hanson and Kayla Davis each had strong showings in their first tastes of collegiate racing.
 
Head coach Jon Poag spoke after the race saying, "We have a nice mix of young talent and seasoned veterans on the team this year. The outcomes of the meet leave me feeling confident about both the men's and women's ability to improve as the season unfolds. This was a nice start to our season, and a great opportunity for our freshman to get a taste of racing at altitude."
 
Next up for both teams will be the Colorado College Invitational which will be held in Colorado Springs, CO. That race will be held on Saturday September 17^th.