LARAMIE – The loneliness of the long-distance runner?
 
That does not apply to the team-oriented Wyoming cross country teams during this breakthrough season for the Cowboys and Cowgirls.
 
The men's team followed up its victory in the Cheyenne Invitation with an eye-opening victory at the Roy Griak Invitational last Friday in St. Paul, Minn.
 
UW finished with 63 points to edge Navy (71) with host Minnesota (105), rival Colorado State (115) and Ohio State (123) rounded out the top five in the 17-team.
 
Mason Norman finished fifth individually in the 8K with a time of 25 minutes, 7.7 seconds. He had plenty of company in the front of the pack of nearly 200 runners with teammates Ryker Holtzen (25:11.3) and Jacob White (25:14.1) finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.
 
"It was really exciting because you can kind of see those guys in the race so we're kind of with each other at some points but also separated at some points," Norman said. "Going into the final bits of that race you kind of know where everyone's at and are working with each other. It helps you knowing you've got other people near you."
 
Asefa Wetzel finished 19^th (25:29.5) and Gus McIntyre crossed the finish line in 24^th (25:35.2) to round out the Cowboys' scoring.
 
It marked the program's first team victory outside of Wyoming since winning the Montana Invite 10 years earlier to the day.
 
"It was a big win, and it was exciting to watch them do that," UW head coach Scott Dahlberg said. "It's just a group that has put in a lot of work for a long time and is finally gaining some confidence with where they should appropriately put themselves within a race, having the guts to put themselves in the mix and know they can fight even though it doesn't always feel comfortable, physically or mentally necessarily.
 
"Honestly, it was a good day, but it wasn't a perfect day, which is encouraging as well."
 
Dylan Van Der Hock, a senior who has consistently been one of the team's top five scorers, had a bad day and did not finish. Trevor Stephen (25:47.3) was 34^th and Mac Zastrow (26:04.8) was 52^nd in Minneapolis.
 
UW will compete in the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Oct. 4 in South Bend, Ind.
 
"It's pretty exciting to think what's possible," Dahlberg said. "Going into Notre Dame there will be some more good teams, a couple teams that are ranked really high in the nation, and that it will be another nice test."
 
The Cowgirls also had an impressive showing at the Roy Griak Invitational finishing third with 79 points behind host Minnesota (47) and No. 25 Utah Valley (53) and ahead of CSU (99). The Rams were receiving votes in the national polls entering the race.
 
Kylie Simshauser, who set a course and program record in the 5K in winning the Cheyenne Invitational to open the season, finished third individually with a time of 21:25.4.
 
"It was awesome seeing everything come together and seeing how the girls were together. It paid off in the end," said Simshauser, who was named the Mountain West women's athlete of the week for the second time this season. "I definitely ran the race I wanted to. I didn't completely have a strategy. I just knew I wanted to go out in the front and didn't know I'd end up taking the lead."
 
Abigail Whitman, a senior from Laramie, finished 8^th with a time of 21:52.5. Eowyn Dalbec (21^st), Madelyn Blazo (22^nd) and Hailey Uhre (25^th) rounded out the scoring for UW.
 
The women's team battled through some injuries and illnesses to get to the podium.
 
"Those girls ran so tough and for each other," Dahlberg said. "That was a big key for them. We were going into race thinking if they could break into the top three that would be a really good day based on the teams that were there. They were really not that far from Utah Valley in the grand scheme of it, and we think we can close the gap on them in the future."
 
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