The mens’ cross country team put forth a strong showing at the Colorado Springs Metro League (CSML) Championships last Thursday, 10/12. Overcoming scorching temperatures on the shade-lacking course, the Cougars maintained their fourth place team finish from last year despite having a significantly younger team.

Leading the charge for the Cougars were senior Conor Strizich and junior Ben Swanson. Claiming sixth and tenth place respectively, Swanson and Strizich worked together to overcome tough competition from the Rampart men. Rampart, who is expected to do exceptionally well at the state meet this year, claimed the team title with a mere twenty one points, notching top ten finishes for all of their scoring runners. However, even with tough circumstances, Conor Strizich produced a race he and head coach Grant Stoughton were extremely proud of: “As Conor was headed down the hill with about 400 meters to go, he was just behind a Palmer runner who had beaten him in every race. I knew he had the chance and he just went nuts over the final bit of the race and got him by half a second.”

The younger Cougar runners also put up a strong showing at the league meet. Sophomores Charlie Schroeder and Ben-Hayes Lemmon rounded out the team scoring alongside senior Tyler Kluzak in an impressive performance. However, one of the most surprising performances of the meet came from sophomore Adam Austin, who, in only his second varsity race, finished sixth on the team in a speedy 19:32.

Catch the mens cross country team at the 5A Region 5 Championship on Thursday, 10/19 at Monument Valley Park, where they will fight to advance to the state championship against formidable competition.