qlasseter
Sep 24, 20203 min
Updated: Sep 25, 2020
The Orediggers come in as our TSR #2 ranked team in our preseason rankings which, initially, may be a surprise to a few people. Let’s start by walking through how great of a 2019 cross country season they had, along with the numerous talents that they are returning.
As a team, Mines started their dominant year by easily winning the UCCS Rust-Buster during the first week of the season. That, however, was far from their biggest challenge.
The Orediggers would later venture to the nationally-acclaimed Chile Pepper Festival meet to showcase their early-season talent. Hosted by the University of Arkansas, the Chile Pepper Festival is home to a vast amount of nationally ranked D1 and D2 teams.
When the gun went off and the dust settled, Mines finished 2nd overall, just behind the Texas Longhorns, but ahead of 15 Division I programs. The Orediggers emerged as the top team in Division II in that race.
The momentum from this impressive outing would later carry into three straight victories at the FHSU Tiger Open, the RMAC Championships and the South Central Regional Championships. Despite having to face consistent national powerhouses like Adams State and Western Colorado, it was clear that neither of those teams had the front-running presence or the overwhelming depth that the men from Golden, Colorado boasted last year.
Maybe that dominance over D2 powerhouses should have prepared us for what Mines had in store at the NCAA Championships.
The Orediggers had themselves a day in Sacramento last fall, posting their lowest team score ever at a national meet and defeating the 2nd place team (Adams State) by 79 points to capture their second national title in five years. It was a historically great win, but their success wasn't expected to end in 2019.
Coming into this fall, Mines was going to return six of their top runners from last's national meet, indicating that they may be ready for another national title whenever the opportunity next arises.
Now let’s get into the individuals that helped piece together this fanatic run.
Acting as one of the leaders of this team for a good portion of the 2019 season was star low-stick Kyle Moran (TSR #7). Last fall, Moran finished 3rd at the UCCS Rust-Buster, 20th at the Chile Pepper Festival, 5th at the RMAC Championships, 5th at the South Central Regional Championships and finally 4th at NCAA’s.
Sharing the spotlight with Moran was Dylan Ko (TSR #6) who held his own all season long. He took home an impressive individual win at the RMAC Championships and later finished 6th and 7th at the regional and national meets, respectively.
Not far behind them was the trio of Luc Hagen (TSR #19), Ben Schneiderman and Jake Mitchem (TSR #20) who rounded the Orediggers' top five last year. These three individuals would finish better than 20th place in all of their postseason races, easily giving the men of Colorado Mines the deepest varsity squad in the country.
Unfortunately for Mines, they will no longer have the services of Schneiderman as he is out of eligibility. That's a tough loss for a team that likely prided itself on having overwhelming depth. However, given that their sixth runner from last fall was also an All-American, it's hard to be too nervous about the loss of Schneiderman.
Four of Colorado Mines' top five from last year’s title-winning lineup is/was set to return this fall. They’ll also be returning Derek Steele, their sixth runner from the National Championships who finished as an All-American in 38th place.
With overwhelming talent and a roster that is bringing back five All-Americans from last year’s group, Colorado School of Mines could have very realistically won another national title this fall. However, the only reason they aren't ranked at TSR #1 is because another team opted to recruit a handful of new weapons.
Led by the star-studded duo of Kyle Moran and Dylan Ko, along with three experienced veterans, this squad would have had no problem replicating their 2019 success in a season where everything was normal.