Colorado Mountain College to field first women’s running team this fall season
Summit Daily
Courtesy photo
Colorado Mountain College’s cross country running program this season has doubled in size. That spike in numbers includes the addition of a women’s team for this fall.
The college’s men’s cross country team debuted last fall as a National Junior College Athletic Association sanctioned team. In 2019, students were able to train at their home campus and then join other team members and Leadville-based head coach Darren Brungardt at competitive events.
That experience, Brungardt said, helped the team have a lead on competition for this season’s atypical setup.
Though the team is based at the college’s Leadville campus, students from any of CMC’s 11 locations can be a part of team practice and training from their home campuses.
In the lead up to the 2020 season, Brungardt and the team’s coaching staff hosted numerous virtual recruiting sessions, leading to a total of 14 runners — including four women — on the squad this year. The team includes sophomore Paul Hans of Breckenridge, a 2019 Summit High School graduate and alum of the Tigers’ cross country program, who’s personal best 5,000-meter time is 16 minutes and 50 seconds.
The CMC Eagles will begin the season Saturday at the Carr Cross Country Open in Carr. The team will host a home meet at CMC Leadville on Sept. 26.
For more information about the team, visit CMCEagles.com/cross-country-team.
