Colorado Christian kicked off the 2022 Cross Country campaign on Friday as they raced in the Colorado Open hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder. Several runners posted great times as the team got their first opportunity to tune up for the season. It was a great opportunity for CCU to see where they stand against some of the best runners in all of Division I.
 
The women took to the course first and got things started on the morning. It was a fast paced race which pushed the Cougars to give it their best early on, and the times reflect that mentality. Paige Tack finished with the best time for CCU and came in sixth place overall with a time of 19:34.5. Finishing next for the Cougs was Graduate transfer Zanzie Demco who finished with a time of 20:40.8 in her first race with the team. Coming in right behind Demco was Michelle Kuipers and Lucy Pidek. Kuipers finished with a time of 20:41.0, and Pidek had a time of 20:54.3.
 
On the men's side, Josh Pierantoni ran a stellar race as he finished with a time of 21:52.3, just five second behind the first place runner. It was one of the fastest races Pierantoni has run in his collegiate career. Coming in next for the Cougars was Alexander Vance who ran a time of 22:13.7. Trent Cochran and Matthew Storer were the next two finishers for Colorado Christian as Cochran had a time of 22:17.1, and Storer finished at 22:26.3.
 
Jon Poag spoke after the race saying, "Being an off distance and racing against a Division I powerhouse can make these results hard to interpret, but when considering the times that were run today I think we showed good early season fitness. The term "rust buster" is often used for the first race of the season, and true to that description there were certainly a few things we could have done better today, but on a whole there were a lot positive outcomes this morning."
 
With the first race now in the books, the Cougars will set their sights on their next opportunity to race which will be at the Roadrunner Invitational on September 17^th. That race is hosted by Metro State and will take place at Washington Park in Denver.