ST. LEO, FL – School records were broken and first-ever honors were bestowed upon the Colorado Christian men's cross country on Saturday morning.

Racing at the NCAA National Championships for the second straight opportunity (there was no race in 2020), the Cougars placed 10th in the 34-team field by scoring 360 points. It is the highest NCAA finish ever for any Colorado Christian team in school history.

In addition, the duo of Ryder Searle and Josh Pierantoni each earned All-American honors. They are the first two for the program.

HOW IT HAPPENED: In warm and muggy conditions on a rolling course in central Florida, the team was as high as fourth place during the 10K race.

Searle was the team's top finisher as the senior concluded his collegiate running career with a 19th place finish in a time of 30:56.1 Pierantoni was the second finisher for the squad as he registered a 29th place finish in a time of 31:12.4.

Isaac Russo stay consistently in the high 70, low 80 placings before passing 19 runners in the last 1200 meters to earn 59th with a time of 31:59.5 as the team's third finisher

Colorado's Christian's fourth finisher was Alex Vance, who clipped the tape in 32:45.8 to earn 117th in the 262-runner field. Luke Meyer completed the scoring runners as he placed 181st in a time of 33:45.3.

The final duo for the Cougars had different race experiences. Kyle Gee completed his cross country running tenure by finishing in 33:51.0 (186th). Trent Cochran was in top 15 position through out the race before the conditions overtook his outstanding effort with 1200 meters left. The Kansas native gutted out a tough finish in 36:02.4.

RACE NOTES

Grand Valley State won the race with 43 points
Isaac Harding (GVSU) was the top individual finisher in 29:58.3
Five RMAC schools finished in the top 10 (Adams State, Mines, UCCS, Western)