The University of Northern Colorado Athletic Department was busy this weekend with more than just football.
Here’s what the other programs had going on.
Cross country
Regina Mpigachai is not here for a sophomore slump. Instead, she’s already breaking records.
Mpigachai placed second out of more than 300 runners in the 5,000-meter run at the University of Nebraska’s Greeno/Dirksen Invitational on Saturday. Her time of an even 17 minutes and 8 seconds was nearly a whole second faster than the program record, set by alumnus Melodie Leroudier.
Nebraska’s Alea Hardie won the race with a time of 16:57.9, while the Mpigachai’s time was nine seconds faster than the third place finisher.
Mpigachai earned the Big Sky Athlete of Week for her performance.
UNC placed sixth out of 29 teams, earning 180 points, with Kansas State and Nebraska finishing 1-2.
“The women ran a solid race today and made a marked improvement from Cheyenne two weeks ago,” UNC head coach Wayne Angel said. “I challenged them to run a complete race individually and for the most part they accomplished the mission. Regina ran a very gutsy race to finish second overall. This is her first year ever running cross country and she is starting to figure it out.”
Sophomore Chloe Rylance and junior Summer Olson both finished in the top 50, as well. Rylance ended up No. 30 with a time of 18:29.3 and Olson crossed the line in 18:49.9 to finish 45th.
“I was also happy to see continued improvement from Chloe and Summer,” Angel said. “They had a very good pack today and really worked together as a team.”
On the men’s side, freshman Jesse Hayward led the team with a 23rd place finish, out of 318. The Greeley native and Frontier Academy alumnus ran the 8,000 meter in 25:01.2.
Junior Zach Wells was in the top 100, finishing in 26:24.2. Sophomore Isaac Rascon finished just outside the top 100, crossing the line at 26:33.0. The men’s team placed 13th out of 29.
“The men are young and were under strength in a very competitive field. Everyone made progress from Cheyenne two weeks ago and Jesse had a huge breakthrough,” Angel said. “(Hayward) raced with a lot of heart today while Zach and Isaac were very competitive today, as well. We are well ahead of where we were last season and both programs are moving in the right direction. As they continue to get stronger and improve their racing IQs, the season promises to be very exciting down the road.”
UNC’s next competition is set for Oct. 1. It will travel to the UIW Invitational, hosted by Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
Soccer
UNC (4-4-2) ended its challenging non-conference slate on Sunday with a 1-0 loss to Utah State (3-2-4) at home.
The lone goal came in the 75th minute when the Aggies broke down the Bears’ defense, which had kept the visitors off the board for most of the contest.
Junior goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg kept Utah State off the board in the first half and was able to withstand the attack for most of the game. Unfortunately, the visitors were able to slip past her and the Bears defense, and that was all they needed for the win.
“Just a little disappointing; thought we created some chances and defended pretty well but just kind of gifted them a goal,” coach Tim Barrera said. I thought it was pretty even matched. I thought it’d be a one-nothing game. We’d hoped we’d play a little bit better.”
Barrera said the team defended relatively well, only giving up one goal, but it has missed graduate student Maddie Duren on the back line in recent games. She is credited as being a team leader and helped the defenders play as a unit.
Utah State finished with 19 total shots with nine on goal, while UNC had five shots and two were on target. Sophomore forward Lauren Woodhull and freshman midfielder Alex Michael accounted for the two attempts on goal.
Woodhull’s attempt came in the 89th minute off a corner kick, but it was out to the left.
Lindberg recorded eight saves in the game. She is up to 55 this season and three clean sheets.
“There’s always a lot of lessons when you win games and also when you lose games,” Barrera said. “Obviously coming off a tough stretch — three games on the road, crisscrossing the country — that put our players under a bit of stress and pressure. You learn from that. You regroup a little bit, and when you get to conference season you’re 0-0.”
The Bears will start their Big Sky schedule this Friday when Portland State comes to Greeley. Their matchup is set for 7 p.m. at Jackson Stadium.
Women’s golf
UNC earned a fifth place finish at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hoover Invitational on Tuesday, with three athletes finishing in the top 25.
Graduate student Marija Jucmane led the team with a 3-over 219 and finished tied for sixth. She led the team with 36 pars and nine birdies, while shooting 73 in all three rounds.
Freshman Timbre Shehee logged a 10-over 226 to land at No.15. She opened the tournament with 4-over 76 and shot a 3-over 75 in the last two rounds.
Finally, fellow freshman Carolina Fallotico ended up tied for 21st after shooting a 12-over 226. She shot 4-over 76 in every round. Additionally, she was one of just five players to log an eagle during the tournament.
UNC finished behind Southern Mississippi, South Alabama, Belmont and Memphis. It shot 42-over 906.
The Bears will play at the Red Sky Classic in Vail next week. The tournament runs from Sept. 26-28.
Men’s golf
UNC finished just 10th out of 15 teams at the Ram Masters Invitational, hosted by Colorado State, on Tuesday. The Bears scored a 32-over 872 in the tournament, while CSU won the event.
Graduate student Jack Castiglia finished T19 with a 1-over 211. He hit a 4-over 74 in the first round and slimmed that to a 2-under 68 and 1-under 69 in rounds two and three, respectively.
He had the best performance out of all the Bears in the field and led all players with 40 pars. Castiglia also added six birdies.
Senior TJ Shehee won the event last season, but he did not participate in the team lineup or individual competition.
UNC’s next tournament is set for Oct. 2-3 at the University of Colorado’s Mark Simpson Invitational.
