At the E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kent. on Saturday morning, the Colorado Buffaloes men’s cross country team dominated the star-studded NCAA Pre-National meet. They ran away with the team title while churning out impressive individual performances.

Junior transfer Jake Hurysz gets an early lead just after the start of the Rocky Mountain Shootout Saturday, Sept. 29. Hurysz finished fourth over the weekend at the NCAA Pre-National meet. (CU Independent File/Robert R. Denton)

Junior Jake Hurysz continued his breakout season with a fourth place finish, crossing the line in 23:19.5, only 18 seconds behind winner Anthony Rotich of UTEP, and five seconds behind runner up Paul Chelimo, who placed 13th at last year’s NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Blake Theroux (23:38.8) and junior Hugh Dowdy (23:39.2) also flexed some muscle. They finished 11th and 12th respectively, as well as posting huge personal records.

Rounding out the scoring top five were freshman Pierce Murphy (23:49.5) and senior Martin Medina (23:49.5), placing 22nd and 23rd.

The final two members of the Buff squad, Aric Van Halen and Connor Winter, finished in the top 35 and well under the 24 minute mark.

As impressive as the individual performances were, the total team score was 72, which was 55 points ahead of the 2nd place team Brigham Young University.

Going into the meet CU was ranked 7th in the NCAA while Mountain Region rivals BYU were ranked third. It’s safe to say that after mopping the proverbial floor with the Cougars, CU will be moving up in this week’s rankings.

The NCAA Pre-National Meet is a good indicator of things to come in the championships season, and with CU defeating all 40 teams in the field–which included 10 of the top 30 ranked teams in the NCAA-odds seem in the favor of the Buffs finding themselves on top of the podium come November.

The Buffs will be in action again at the Pac-12 Championship Meet, where they will be looking to defend their title, on October 27th in Santa Clarita, Calif.

CU Top Five:  
 4 Hurysz, Jake              JR Colorado               23:19.5                       
11 Theroux, Blake            SO Colorado               23:38.8               
12 Dowdy, Hugh               JR Colorado               23:39.2                            
22 Murphy, Pierce            FR Colorado               23:49.5                
23 Medina, Martin            SR Colorado               23:49.5

Click here for Full Results.

Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Ryan Sterner at Ryan.sterner@colorado.edu.