COLORADO SPRINGS, CO- The cross country season kicked off on Saturday as the Cougars headed south to run in the UCCS Rust Buster at Monument Valley Park. It was an excellent effort from CCU as the women's team placed third and the men's team closed out a first place finish with a dominant effort 

The ladies began with the 5k and Lorelei Daugherty was the top finisher with a time of 18:16.2. Alysia Wagner was right behind her with a run of 18:21.4. Rachel Harpt closed out the top 20 with an 18:32.8. Ava Ackley, Olivia Bell, Brooke Connolly and Dakota Danaher all finished in the top 40 as the team closed the day with a stellar third place finish overall to start the year. 

The men closed things out in the 8k, and it was a dominant effort from start to finish. Matthew Storer was excellent throughout, blazing his way to the victory with a time of 24.44.1. Alex Vance came in third with a run of 25:07.2 and Sean McCauley was moments behind with a 25:07.9. Caleb Hershey and Jay Wood came in 6th and 7th respectively, while Tyler Scholl, Noah Lambers and Zach Vance all came in the top 20. The effort was enough to edge the hosts UCCS and take the victory to start the season off the right way. 

With stellar results and momentum on their side, CCU will stay in the Denver area as they compete at the Roadrunners Invitational hosted by MSU Denver at Washington Park on September 20.