Graphic by Logan French

Recruit rankings data has been manually collected by TSR contributors from multiple, reliable sources. Transfers and foreign recruits who are not expected to have four years of eligibility are excluded from these rankings. Order of rankings was decided by TSR contributors. Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted.

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Coming into the season, the Orediggers have seven freshmen who will be a part of the team in 2019. That number pales in comparison to the teams who are currently ranked in front of them, but their recruits certainly don’t falter when it comes to their times.

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Starting this class off is Justin Duffy. The Fulshear, Texas native comes to Colorado with times that were all inside the top 40 in the state of Texas. He holds personal bests of 4:18 for 1600 meters, 9:19 for 3200 meters, and a 5000 meter personal best of 15:04 (!!!). He’s a perfect fit for Colorado Mines and coach Chris Siemers. He has all the makings of being a top-tier runner and an elite low-stick with clear endurance and underrated middle distance speed.

Next in line for the Orediggers is Loic Scomparin from Dublin, California. He holds similar times of Duffy as he has run 2:00 for 800 meters, 4:18 for 1600, 9:22 for 3200 meters and 15:12 over 5000 meters. While his times aren’t quite as quick as Duffy’s, he still fits the mold of becoming a low-stick athlete for Mines. He’s another strong addition who should fit in well at Colorado Mines. With a handful of veteran athletes, both Scomparin and Duffy will be a good names to develop as the team uses up the rest of their eligibility.

Following those recruits are Dillon Powell and Christopher Fischer. Powell has decided to stay in the state of Colorado while Fischer comes all the way from New Jersey to make his home in Golden. They have similar times, with Powell holding slightly better times in the longer distances.

Powell has run 2:08 for 800 meters, 4:21 for 1600 meters, 9:12 over 3200 meters and then 15:44 for 5000. Meanwhile, Fischer has run 1:59 over 800 meters, run the exact same time of 4:21 at 1600 meters. He falls off a bit with his 9:30 3200 and then 15:59 for 5000.

Even so, these two men are very much excellent scoring options for the future of this team. On a distance-heavy squad, it's clear that Siemers is preparing (or at least thinking about) establishing the foundation of his team three to four years from now.

The remaining three recruits hail from two of the Four Corners states. Brody Dempsey and Camden Gillis come from Salida, Colorado and Highlands Ranch, Colorado respectively. Duncan Fuehne comes from Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Dempsey holds the fastest 800 meter time of the whole class with his 1:57. He also holds personal bests of 4:29 (1600), 9:58 (3200), and 15:44 (5000). Gillis has run 2:05, 4:30, 9:52 and then 15:55. Lastly, we have Fuehne. He has run 1:59, 428, 9:29, and 15:48.

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The last group seems to all fit together in terms of a possible training group (outside the 800) and it’ll be a young core that will likely develop into some household names for Colorado Mines.

With all that said, don’t expect any of these kids to come in and make an impact immediately. Coach Siemers takes his time with his athletes and has the luxury of being able to redshirt his athletes without any consequence. Of course, that's not to say that they can't have an impact. If Siemers does decide to field any of these athletes, they could have a role on this team this fall.

If anyone thought the Orediggers were on the way out, they might want to reconsider. Colorado Mines is here to stay for quite some time.