COLORADO SPRINGS – After eight laps around a par three golf course, there was still tension to be had and math to be completed.

In a tightly contested race throughout the Colorado Christian men's cross country nudged out UCCS for the top spot in the four-team Colorado Springs Cross Country Open at Cherokee Ridge Golf Course.

HOW IT HAPPENED: As the scoring runners ran through the finishing shoot and crossed the finish line there was still uncertainty who posted the lowest score. The Cougars tallied 27 points with the host Mountain Lions posting 29.

Josh Pierantoni and Ryder Searle ran in the second and third overall position throughout a vast majority of the 8K race. They crossed the finish line in 26:10.10 and 26.12.90 respectively.

While UCCS took the fourth overall spot, Trent Cochran took the pivotal fifth overall finish as the sophomore ran the race in 26:52. The third and fourth Mountain Lion runners placed sixth and seventh respectively. However, Alex Vance (27:18.30) and Robert Jordano (27:21.20) finished just a handful of seconds before the final UCCS scoring runner and complete the point total for the Cougars. Vance and Jordano placed eighth and ninth overall while the final UCCS runner was 11th.

RACE NOTES: The first-place team finish was a first for the program as Colorado Christian and UCCS have developed a head-to-head rivalry. Last season the Mountain Lions posted a better finish at the RMAC and NCAA South Central Regional Championship races before the Cougars got revenge at the National Championship race two weeks later.

UCCS's Afewerki Zeru, an all-conference and all-region runner in 2019, won the race with a time of 25:56.10.

QUOTEABLE: "The team effort was definitely super solid today. We all executed the race plan perfectly and today's run was a testament to the work we have put in and mental focus we have," Pierantoni said.

UP NEXT: The Cougars will travel to Texas in three weeks when they compete in the Buffalo Stampede hosted by West Texas A&M on Oct. 9.