ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Regis University cross country teams ran to respectable finishes on Saturday at the 26th Annual Joe I. Vigil Open Cross Country meet, held at Cattails Golf Course, where the women finished third and the men settled for sixth to start their 2019 season.
 
Freshman Annika Zenk posted an impressive debut for the Rangers, taking 17th overall and first among the Regis women in their 5k competition with a finishing time of 20 minutes, 46.4 seconds.
 
Rounding out the top 20 for the women was junior Sarah Smagacz, who clocked in at 21:24.3.
 
The trio of senior Samantha Holland, senior Theodora Zastrocky and freshman Lily Saddoris crossed the finish line with adjacent finishes. Holland was 28th overall with a time of 22:58.4, while Zastrocky (23:10.2) and Saddoris (23:17.2) were 29th and 30th, respectively.
 
As a quintet, the RU women earned 79 points.
 
Adams State claimed the top seven spots in the event and won the race with 15 points, while Fort Lewis (55) took second.
 
Senior Eilish Flanagan of Adams State won the women's race in 18:06.2.
 
The Rangers in the men's 8k race were led by junior Vincent Frazier, who finished his race with the clock reading 28:47.0 and was good enough for 34th place overall.
 
Sophomore Bryan Martinez took 39th overall with a time of 29:23.6, which was second among the Regis men.
 
Right behind Martinez was freshman George Kaftan in 40th. Kaftan crossed the finish line at the 29:26.6 mark.
 
Senior Emilio Tovilla (30:30.4) was 49th, while sophomore Andrew McNamee (30:44.0) rounded out the scorecard for Regis in 51st.
 
RU's men claimed a combined 178 points in their sixth-place showing.
 
Adams State completed their team sweep, taking the top three spots and five of the top six for a winning team score of 17 points.
 
Sophomore Isaiah Rodarte of the Grizzlies broke the tape with his first-place time of 24:56.0.

The Rangers return to competition on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Colorado College Cross Country Invitational. The Colorado College-hosted meet will take place at Monument Valley Park North in Colorado Springs, Colo. The men's and women's races will have respective start times of 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.