The Western State men’s cross country won its eighth Division II national championship Saturday in Spokane, Wash., while the top-ranked Mountaineers women’s team was upset by Augustana (S.D.) and finished second.
The men took the top two spots, with Ryan Haebe atop the podium with a time of 30 minutes, 45.1 seconds on the 10-kilometer course, and Tyler Pennel three seconds behind him. Adams State, which has won the three previous men’s titles, got a fourth-place finish from Matt Bond. WSC outpointed ASC 27-69.
In the women’s race, Adams State’s Alicia Nelson finished second to Shippensburg’s Nelly Spence (20:53.8) and teammate Kelly Lamb was fourth on the 6K course. Lauren Kleppin led Western State with a third place. Augustana squeaked past Western 75-79, and ASC was fourth with 120 points.
Fort Lewis soccer team in final four.
Kosta Kordistos scored on a pair of headers to lead the Fort Lewis men’s soccer team (22-1-0), ranked No. 3 in Division II, to a 2-0 win over No. 17 California State-Los Angeles (15-2-6) in Durango to send the Skyhawks to their fifth NCAA Division II final four.
Kordistos put the Skyhawks ahead to stay in the 17th minute when he headed a shot off the far post off a crossing pass from Artur Piperkov. Goalkeeper Ryan Wirth stopped nine shots for his 14th shutout of the season. The final four begins Dec. 1 in Pensacola, Fla.
Rams to play UNLV for Mountain West title.
Colorado State swept Wyoming 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) to win the second semifinal at the Mountain West volleyball championships in Albuquerque.
Katelyn Steffan and Dana Cranston each reached double figures in kills for the Rams (20-5) with 12 and 10, respectively. Izzy Gualia paced the defense with 26 digs. Jodi Purdy led the Cowgirls (21-10) with nine kills and also had nine digs.
The top-seeded Rams play No. 7-seed UNLV for the title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tourament at 6 p.m. tonight.
