Boulder Running Company Men and Women Second at US Club Cross Country Championships

The BRC women just missed re-capturing the team title, while the BRC men nearly pulled off a huge upset. Colorado athletes were out in force today in Seattle, and here's how the men and women fared in one of the country's most comeptitive races.


Women’s Masters

In the 6K race, 75-year-old Libby James ran 29:11 to score a perfect 100% age-graded ranking. Her Boulder Road Runner team won their age group, and James’ had the race’s highest age-graded finish.

Men’s Masters

Racing over 10K, Sandu Rebenciuc (Colorado Springs) finished in 32:16 for second overall, just three seconds behind the race winner. The Running Republic of Boulder team finished 11^th with Darren De Reuck (35:12), Simon Lessing (35:20), Rich Dissly (35:48), Stephen Fether (36:47), Jerome Henry (37:35), and Dan Blausey (39:40) competing. A separate Running Republic team was 5^th in the 50+ age group. Led by Doug Bell (38:40) and Chuck Smead (40:21), Boulder Road Runners were second in the 60+ age group. A separate BRR team was 10^th in that same division. BRR did capture the 70+ and 80+ age group wins.

Open Women

The top-3 women went sub-20 for 6K with University of North Carolina alum Brie Felnagle (19:54) finishing just ahead of D2 star Neely Spence (19:58) of PA’s Shippensburg University. Fort Collins’ Katie Follett, a recent Washington grad, was third in 19:59.

Boulder Running Company was led by Alisha Williams’ fourth-place 20:03. CU alum Laura Thweatt was sixth in 20:13 for the Boulder Track Club.

Other Colorado finishers included: Cassie Slade (25^th, 20:52), Nicole Feest (28^th, 20:59), Rachel Gioscia-Ryan (40^th, 21:05), Shannon Payne (42^nd, 21:06), Stephanie Bylander (43^rd, 21:12), Wendy Thomas (44^th, 21:14), Adrian Chouinard (53^rd, 21:20), Candice Chavez (57^th, 21:25), Allison Sawyer (63rd, 21:34), and Kristen Hemphill (85^th, 21:57).

The BRC women finished second in the team race with 107. The winners, Team Rogue Elite, scored just 74 points.

Open Men

Team USA Minnesota’s Jon Grey outdueled Fort Collins’ native Aaron Braun for the win. Braun was second overall in 29:48 for the 10K race, 10 seconds behind Grey.

Air Force alum Justin Tyner was 9^th overall in 30:02.

Ian Burrell led the Boulder Running Company men’s team with an 11^th-place 30:03.

Other Colorado finishers included: Mike Chavez (19^th, 30:21), Matt Levassiur (25^th, 30:36), Dan Roberts (26^th, 30:37), Greg Reindl (27^th, 30:38), Loren Ahonen (34^th, 30:44), Sean Brown (44^th, 30:56), Scott Dalhberg (49^th, 31:00), Matt Tebo (52nd, 31:02), Ryan McNiff (60^th, 31:12), Ryan Hafer (68^th, 31:24), Adam Rich (70^th, 31:25), Josh Glaab (81^st, 31:41), Curtis Begley (90^th, 31:51), Jay Luna (131^st, 32:30), Robby Young (151^st, 32:46), and Pete Remien (187^th, 33:30).

With a tight 3-4-5 pack, BRC finished a very impressive second in the team race. With 80 points, they were just 8 points behind the professionals of McMillan Elite. With all due respect to the BRC women, the men’s second-place run is far more impressive.