Kidus Begashaw has come a long way in a short amount of time as a cross country runner. On Saturday the senior runner led Adams State to the men’s RMAC cross country title, the Grizzlies first team conference championship since 2018.

Adams State, with Begashaw finishing second, and teammates Nathan Scherbarth (4th), Max Aldrich (5th), Julian Campos (8th), and Jack Gumm (13th) all finishing in the top 13 in a field of 125 runners, won the RMAC crown with 32 points. Colorado Mines had the individual winner in Paul Knight and finished runner-up in the team standings with 41 points.

Adams State junior Tristian Spence finished runner-up to Grace Strongman of Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC Women’s 6K championship race. Strongman’s winning time was 20:06.67 and Spence finished in 20:14.85.

Elizabeth McQuitty, a graduate of Alamosa High, finished sixth running for UC-Colorado Springs. Her time was 21:01.55.

Colorado Mines won the women’s team title and snapped a streak of four consecutive team titles by Adams State. The Grizzlies finished third in the 2025 RMAC team standings, their lowest finish since 2020.

In fact it’s rare for any team other than Adams State to win the RMAC women’s crown. Going back to 1981, Western Colorado is the only other team besides Adams State to win an RMAC team title before Mines did it on Saturday. Adams State has won 35 RMAC cross country women’s titles since 1981; Western Colorado has won 8; and now Mines with 1.

The last six RMAC men’s team titles had gone to Colorado School of Mines. But on this Saturday in Colorado Springs, it was Begashaw and his Grizzlies teammates who had the hunger to outscore Mines.

two panels: left, a two runners catch their breath after a race; right, two runners hug
Left, Kidus Begashaw with teammate David Millan; right, Begashaw hugs a teammate after leading Adams State’s to the RMAC men’s cross country title. Credit: Adams State

Knight won the race in 23:50.43, with Begashaw runner-up in 23.55.94. Then came the tight finish by Scherbarth, Aldrich and Campos, all finishing within 3 seconds of each other. Grumm rounded out the top 5 runners for Adams with his 13th place finish.

Begashaw didn’t start running cross country until just before his senior year in high school at Lotus School of Excellence in Aurora. He won the Colorado Class 2A Boys Cross Country title his senior year in 2020, then came to Adams State at a time when the men’s team was looking to regain its own dominance in NCAA Division II cross country.

Now the senior runner from Aurora will be powering Adams State into the NCAA regional and national championship races here in the month of November.

The Grizzlies men and women’s teams will compete in the NCAA South-Central Regional race being held at CSU-Pueblo on Nov. 8. Qualifiers will then compete in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 22.

Men’s Team Scores: Adams State 32, Colorado Mines 41, Western Colorado 58, UC-Colorado Springs 122, Fort Lewis 173, MSU Denver 199, CSU-Pueblo 230, Colo. Christian 242, Black Hill St. 282, South Dakota Mines 287, Colorado Mesa 301, New Mexico Highlands 339, Chadron State 357, Regis 439, Westminster, Utah 443

Men’s 8K Top 20

1. Paul Knight, Colorado Mines, 23:50.43
2. Kidus Begashaw, Adams State, 23.55.94
3. Jeremiah Vaille, Colorado Mines, 24:22.27
4. Nathan Scherbarth, Adams State, 24:30.95
5. Max Aldrich, Adams State, 24:31.13
6. Branden Davis, Western Colorado, 24:31.82
7. Weldon Chebon, N.M. Highlands, 24:32.68
8. Julian Campos, Adams State, 24:33.06
9. Daniel Appleford, Colorado Mines, 24:33.21
10. Oliver Diaz, Western Colorado, 24:34.41
11. Max Bonenberger, Colorado Mines, 24:36.37
12. Jan Thewes, Western Colorado, 24:37.40
13. Jack Gumm, Adams State, 24:37.46
14. Tyler Nord, Western Colorado, 24:41.11
15. Houseum Hrabi, Adams State, 24:44.74
16. Esteban Reyes, Western Colorado, 24:50.98 
17. Ethan Grolnic, Colorado Mines, 24:52.18
18. David Millan, Adams State, 24:52.9
19. Charlie Welch, Colorado Mines, 24:58.89
20. Cody Wyman, Colorado Mines, 25:00.54

• Full men’s results here.

Women’s Team Scores: Colorado School of Mines 28, UC-Colorado Springs 68, Adams State 84, Western Colorado 92, Fort Lewis 161, Colorado Mesa 179, CSU-Pueblo 186, MSU Denver 230, Black Hills State 256, Colorado Christian 280, New Mexico Highlands 338, Chadron St. 386, Regis 399, South Dakota Mines 416, Westminster, Utah 417.

Women’s 6K Top 20

1. Grace Strongman, Colorado Mines, 20:06.67
2. Tristian Spence, Adams State, 20:14.85 
3. Emily Lamena, Colorado Mines, 20:19.27
4. Hannah Hartwell, Fort Lewis, 20:45.47
5. Allison Beasley, Western Colorado, 20:55.04
6 Elizabeth McQuitty, UC-Colorado Springs, 21:01.55
7. Margaux Basart, Colorado Mines, 21:07.51
8. Callen Nash, Colorado Mines, 21:09.76
9. Sierra Wall, Colorado Mines, 21:14.21
10. Kseniya Nikanorov, UC-Colorado Springs, 21:20.82
11. Peyton Weiss, Western Colorado, 21:24.81
12. Gabriela Boeckman, Colorado Mines, 21:30.75
13. Megan Hodges, Colorado Mesa, 21:31.62
14. Maggie McCleskey, Adams State, 21:35.46
15. Maddie Ruszkiewicz, UC-Colorado Springs, 21:38.80
16. Alliyah Molina, Fort Lewis, 21:39.46
17. Madison Brosig, UC-Colorado Springs, 21:43.82
18. Keira Damron, Adams State, 21:45.03
19. Claragh Keane. Adams State, 21:45.11
20. Allie Grahn, UC-Colorado Springs, 21:46.01

• Full women’s results here.