A team based in the mountains finally reached a plateau of a different kind as Colorado, making its 31st appearance in the Division I Men's Cross Country Championships, earned its first title by the slimmest of margins November 19 at Furman.

The Buffaloes, led by three finishers among the top 20 individuals, edged Stanford by one point. Three-time defending champion Arkansas was third, followed by Northern Arizona and Wisconsin.

Colorado, located in Boulder, 5,260 feet above sea level, had been the Division I institution with the most team appearances without winning in the championships. The Buffaloes were second last year and in 1994. They have 11 other top-five finishes.

"We've been right there year in and year out and we've never gotten over that hill," said Colorado junior Jorge Torres. "Today was our day finally."

Torres played a major role in elevating Colorado to the peak, finishing second in the individual competition. The junior finished the 10,000-meter course in 29 minutes, six seconds, 19 seconds behind champion Boaz Cheboiywo of Eastern Michigan.

Also contributing mightily to Colorado's win was Dathan Ritzenheim, the top freshman finisher in the race. "This was the hardest race, the hardest I've ever run," said Ritzenheim, who came in fourth. "It was so fast at the end. This is definitely a step toward my future."

Juniors Ed Torres and Steve Slattery finished 15th and 28th, respectively, for Colorado. Senior Sean Smith was the fifth finisher, placing 56th overall and 47th among team scorers.

"This is a relief," said Colorado head coach Mark Wetmore. "I try not to wear my heart on my sleeve, but I was admittedly nervous. We were getting stronger and stronger every meet and felt the pressure of this one."

Cheboiywo, who had been unable to train for the last two weeks because of a hip injury and sore Achilles' tendon, was not completely sure of himself coming into the race. "I was just going to run the best race that I could today and if someone else were to win then I would just congratulate him as a great sportsman," he said. "(The tendon) was sore in the middle of the race, but I just wanted to finish and worry about that after I finished."

Cheboiywo broke the course record by seven seconds.

Team results

1. Colorado, 90; 2. Stanford, 91; 3. Arkansas, 118; 4. Northern Ariz., 193; 5. Wisconsin, 245; 6. Notre Dame, 248; 7. Portland, 273; 8. Villanova, 282; 9. North Carolina St., 293; 10. Providence, 294; 11. Michigan, 364; 12. Brigham Young, 368; 13. Oregon, 389; 14. Duke, 410; 15. Georgetown, 419; 16. William & Mary, 420; 17. UC Santa Barb., 432; 18. Michigan St., 449; 19. Wake Forest, 450; 20. Arizona St., 477; 21. Arizona, 486; 22. Colorado St., 491; 23. Butler, 529; 24. Dartmouth, 548; 25. Minnesota, 584; 26. Air Force, 620; 27. Nebraska, 661; 28. Texas, 679; 29. Alabama, 681; 30. Tennessee, 722; 31. Oklahoma St., 729.

Individual results

1. Boaz Cheboiywo, Eastern Mich., 28:47; 2. Jorge Torres, Colorado, 29:06; 3. Alistair Cragg, Arkansas, 29:10; 4. D. Ritzenheim, Colorado, 29:11; 5. Luke Watson, Notre Dame, 29:19; 6. Ryan Shay, Notre Dame, 29:23; 7. Donald Sage, Stanford, 29:24; 8. Matt Tegenkamp, Wisconsin, 29:26; 9. Josh Spiker, Wisconsin, 29:29; 10. Travis Laird, Northern Ariz., 29:31.

11. Alan Webb, Michigan, 29:38; 12. Louis Luchini, Stanford, 29:41; 13. Silverus Kimeli, Arkansas, 29:40; 14. Dan Wilson, Connecticut, 29:46; 15. Ed Torres, Colorado, 29:47; 16. Tom McArdle, Dartmouth, 29:47; 17. Josh Horton, UC Santa Barb., 29:49; 18. Mike Wisniewski, Michigan, 29:50; 19. Daniel Lincoln, Arkansas, 29:51; 20. Ian Dobson, Stanford, 29:53.

21. Grant Robison, Stanford, 29:53; 22. Fasil Bizuneh, Arizona St., 29:58; 23. Joe Driscoll, Portland, 29:59; 24. Adam Sutton, Providence, 30:00; 25. Bruno Mazzotta, Northern Ariz., 30:01; 26. Ryan Hayden, Villanova, 30:02; 27. Henrik Ahnstrom, Northern Ariz., 30:03; 28. Steve Slattery, Colorado, 30:03; 29. Hamish Thorpe, Providence, 30:03; 30. Matt Gonzales, New Mexico, 30:04.

31. Chad Pearson, North Carolina St., 30:04; 32. Jason Sandfort, Arkansas, 30:04; 33. Dermot Galvin, Providence, 30:05; 34. Shadrack Kimeli, Kansas St., 30:05; 35. Chris Seaton, North Carolina St., 30:06; 36. Sean Kelly, Duke, 30:06; 37. Peter Kiprono, Alabama, 30:08; 38. Todd Mobley, Notre Dame, 30:09; 39. Teren Jameson, Utah, 30:10; 40. Juwan Nuvayokva, Northern Ariz., 30:11.

41. Randy Arias, Southwest Tex. St., 30:12; 42. Adrian Blincoe, Villanova, 30:14; 43. Seth Hejny, Stanford, 30:14; 44. Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 30:16; 45. William Kemey, Belmont, 30:17; 46. Jon Fasulo, Villanova, 30:17; 47. John Hedengren, Brigham Young, 30:18; 48. Ryan Demers, Tennessee, 30:19; 49. Mike Cramer, Arizona, 30:20; 50. Jason Hartmann, Oregon, 30:21.

51. Sean Graham, William & Mary, 30:21; 52. Justin Young, Butler, 30:24; 53. Lewis Jones, Brigham Young, 30:25; 54. Tom Parlapiano, Villanova, 30:26; 55. Juan De Bastos, Texas A&M, 30:26; 56. Sean Smith, Colorado, 30:27; 57. Chris Estwanik, Wake Forest, 30:27; 58. Marc Striowski, Notre Dame, 30:27; 59. Eric Kiauka, Portland, 30:28; 60. Adam Bergquist, Oregon, 30:29.

61. O. Franco-Parra, Washington St., 30:30; 62. Ben Dawson, Texas, 30:30; 63. Marty Fedmowski, Butler, 30:32; 64. C. Toloff, Michigan St., 30:33; 65. Kris Rolin, Portland, 30:34; 66. Ryan Craig, Portland, 30:35; 67. Jeffrey O'Reilly, Ohio St., 30:35; 68. W. Kingsbery, Virginia, 30:36; 69. Nick Winkel, Wisconsin, 30:37; 70. Fernando Cabada, Arkansas, 30:37.

71. Joep Tigchelaar, Florida St., 30:38; 72. Will McComb, Minnesota, 30:39; 73. Rod Koborsi, Georgetown, 30:40; 74. Bill Michel, Colorado St., 30:41; 75. David Romero, Air Force, 30:42; 76. Ryan Hall, Stanford, 30:43; 77. R. Buchanari, Arizona St., 30:43; 78. James Bowler, Nebraska, 30:45; 79. Ben Jenkins, William & Mary, 30:45; 80. Rob Breit, Illinois St., 30:46.

81. Chris Miltenberg, Georgetown, 30:47; 82. Kevin Doyle, St. Francis (Pa.), 30:47; 83. Mark Pilja, Michigan, 30:48; 84. Bryan Green, UCLA, 30:49; 85. Enda Johnson, Brown, 30:50; 86. Chris Esselborn, Georgetown, 30:50; 87. Todd Witzleben, La Salle, 30:51; 88. Chris Williams, Duke, 30:51; 89. Chad Andrews, Indiana, 30:52; 90. Andy Carman, Brigham Young, 30:53.

91. Jerimie Slick, Buffalo, 30:54; 92. Steve Smith, Arizona, 30:54; 93. Jason Mueller, Michigan St., 30:55; 94. Jason Fayant, Washington, 30:57; 95. Devin Swann, North Carolina St., 30:57; 96. Brett Holts, Oregon, 30:58; 97. Enda Grandfield, Western Ky., 30:59; 98. Isaiah Festa, Wisconsin, 30:59; 99. Jason Bilka, Eastern Ill., 31:00; 100. David Christian, North Carolina St., 31:00.

101. Kevin Barra, Texas, 31:01; 102. Eric Gans, UC Santa Barb., 31:01; 103. John O'Connor, William & Mary, 31:02; 104. Benjamin Evans, Michigan St., 31:02; 105. Dylan Olchin, Colorado St., 31:02; 106. Ben Ortega, New Mexico, 10:30; 107. Ryan Woods, North Carolina St., 31:04; 108. Daniel Parris, Stanford, 31:04; 109. Michael Hatch, Duke, 31:05; 110. Chris Dugan, North Carolina St., 31:05.

111. Jared Moore, Duke, 31:07; 112. Andrew Marsh, Michigan St., 31:07; 113. Steve Barrus, Brigham Young, 31:08; 114. Toby Henkels, Minnesota, 31:08; 115. Kevin Smith, Portland, 31:00; 116. Raegan Robb, Colorado St., 31:09; 117. John Lucas, Oregon, 31:09; 118. Chris Reis, Cincinnati, 31:09; 119. Japheth Koech, Alabama, 31:10; 120. Ted Devos, Wake Forest, 31:10.

121. Chris Acs, Air Force, 31:11; 122. Drew Hohensee, Wisconsin, 31:12; 123. Garick Hill, Wake Forest, 31:12; 124. Josh Lybarger, Colorado St., 31:13; 125. Nathan Sisco, Wake Forest, 31:13; 126. Tyler Williams, Northern Ariz., 31:13; 127. Greg Costello, Bucknell, 31:14; 128. Patrick Guidera, Providence, 31:15; 129. B. Von Guenthner, UC Santa Barb., 31:15; 130. J. J. Duke, Arizona St., 31:16.

131. Jacob Frey, William & Mary, 31:16; 132. Ryan Thomas, Northern Ariz., 31:18; 133. Mark Anderson. Arizona, 31:18; 134. Aaron Blondeau, Colorado, 31:20; 135. Philip Wiles, Wake Forest, 31:20; 136. Erick Too, Fairleigh Dickinson, 31:21; 137. Kevin Arnold, Dartmouth, 31:22; 138. Jochen Dieckfoss, Boston U., 31:23; 139. Javon Broderick, Georgetown, 31:23; 140. Dan Tebbano, Georgetown, 31:24.

141. Tyler McCabe, Providence, 31:25; 142. Aaron Sharp, UC Santa Barb., 31:25; 143. Derek Tate, Oklahoma St., 31:26; 144. Albert Kelly, Air Force, 31:27; 145. Seth Watkins, Northern Ariz., 31:27; 146. Colin Steele, Wisconsin, 31:27; 147. Andy Smith, North Carolina St., 31:28; 148. Nathan Brannen, Michigan, 31:28; 149. J. T. Service, UC Santa Barb., 31:28; 150. Ian Gray, Nebraska, 31:29.

151. Ryan Ford, Minnesota, 31:30; 152. Ammon Larsen, Brigham Young, 31:30; 153. J. R. Cox, Arizona St., 31:30; 154. Matthew Maline, William & Mary, 31:31; 155. Mark Nichol, Dartmouth, 31:31; 156. Eric Logsdon, Oregon, 31:32; 157. Chris Mulvaney, Arkansas, 31:33; 158. Craig Carey, William & Mary, 31:33; 159. Thomas Morgan, Kentucky, 31:34; 160. Thomas Opio, Arizona, 31:34.

161. Ben Sigle, Oklahoma St., 31:35; 162. Eduardo Acosta, Wake Forest, 31:36; 163. Jon Severy, Colorado, 31:36; 164. Rolando Ortiz, Florida, 31:38; 165. Tom Prindivilge, Arizona, 31:39; 166. Robert Smitson, Duke, 31:40; 167. Richard Vint, Butler, 31:40; 168. James Osborn, Villanova, 31:41; 169. Paul Wilson, Nebraska, 31:41; 170. Matt McInvale, Arizona, 31:42.

171. Kevin Connolly, Oklahoma St., 31:42; 172. J. Shoemaker, Dartmouth, 31:43; 173. Tyler Kirk, William & Mary, 31:43; 174. Tommy Evans, High Point, 31:43; 175. Brad Bennett, Butler, 31:46; 176. Noel Paulson, Oregon, 31:48; 177. Erik Grumstrup, Minnesota, 31:49; 178. Chris White, UC Santa Barb., 31:49; 179. Patrick Moulton, Providence, 31:50; 180. Pat Gildea, Tennessee, 31:51.

181. T. Greenlees, Michigan, 31:51; 182. Brian Dunn, Butler, 31:52; 183. Ben Lake, Oklahoma St., 31:52; 184. Andrew Alley, Michigan St., 31:53; 185. Pat Dunn, Villanova, 31:53; 186. David Jackson, Cal Poly, 31:53; 187. Jason Tyler, Dartmouth, 31:55; 188. David Alber, Notre Dame, 31:55; 189. Paul Michel, Colorado St., 31:56; 190. Ben Payne, Air Force, 31:57.

191. Sean Nagorny, Wake Forest, 31:59; 192. Sean Zanderson, Notre Dame, 32:00; 193. Eric Rasmussen, Nebraska, 32:01; 194. Kyle Goklish, Arizona, 32:01; 195. Neal Graves, Dartmouth, 32:02; 196. Kyle Morgan, Arizona St., 32:03; 197. Mark Nevers, Brigham Young, 32:03; 198. Andrew Carlson, Minnesota, 32:05; 199. Jason Gould, Texas, 32:06; 200. Scott DeFilippis, Tennessee, 32:06.

201. Brian Turner, Michigan, 32:10; 202. Tom Howell, Georgetown, 32:12; 203. Mike Nicks, Colorado St., 32:14; 204. Matt Legrand, Alabama, 32:15; 205. Juan Reyes, Arizona St., 32:18; 206. Mike Kamm, Nebraska, 32:18; 207. Paul DiGrappa, Colorado St., 32:19; 208. Kim Bergdahl, Florida St., 32:22; 209. Jim Martin, Duke, 32:23; 210. Bryce Lapierre, Dartmouth, 32:24.

211. Tim Kelly, Tennessee, 32:24; 212. Jeff Driscoll, Portland, 32:27; 213. J. McCambridge, Texas, 32:29; 214. Dylan Welsh, Georgetown, 32:30; 215. B. Lamorandier, UC Santa Barb., 32:32; 216. Joshua Dobell, Minnesota, 32:34; 217. Nathansel Usher, Michigan St., 32:35; 218. Cleve Thorson, Michigan St., 32:37; 219. Dylan Wykes, Providence, 32:38; 220. Steve Klein, Tennessee, 32:39.

221. Brian Carpenter, Air Force, 32:39; 222. Jason Woolhouse, Oklahoma St., 32:46; 223. Joseph Herring, Alabama, 32:48; 224. Neil Hanson, Minnesota, 32:49; 225. Troy Henderson, Alabama, 32:50; 226. Todd Fayant, Alabama, 32:55; 227. Chris McWatters, Oklahoma St., 32:56; 228. Luke Garringer, Nebraska, 32:56; 229. Jim Blech, Air Force, 32:57; 230. Rob Cloutier, Tennessee, 32:58.

231. Dan Maher, Arizona St., 33:00; 232. Ryan Hesselink, Michigan, 33:01; 233. Tom Falvey, Villanova, 33:02; 234. Ewen North, Oklahoma St., 33:06; 235. Zach Zeller, Texas, 33:09; 236. Ryan Andrus, Oregon, 33:13; 237. Steve Metting, Texas, 33:16; 238. Jed Barta, Nebraska, 33:22; 239. Matthew Lapp, Tennessee, 33:23; 240. Tyler Bushnell, Brigham Young, 33:28.

241. Tyler McCollum, Texas, 33:37; 242. Brian Dumm, Air Force, 33:44; 243. Pat Conway, Notre Dame, 34:11; 244. Tim Owen, Butler, 35:23.