With 56 National Titles and counting, Adams State University Cross Country and Track & Field remains one of the winningest athletic programs in all of collegiate sports. The goal is simple every year: win the national title, and do your best, and anyone from the outside looking in can see the terrific culture bred by Coach Damon Martin. The men's and women's teams are championship contenders, if not favorites, every single year. In our number 5 greatest moment of the year, we talk about the title that the Grizzlies did not win, but a performance that all of Grizzly nation was immensely proud of.
 
The old cliché in sports, "there are no moral victories" is a saying that may be true, but is not always applicable. The Adams State Women's Cross Country team entered the season as head and shoulders favorites to win the national championship, and lived up to every last bit of the hype and should go down as one of the greatest teams in the history of the sport. They tore through the season demolishing the competition, and were the number one-ranked team in the country the entire way. The men, however, had some work to do in order to not be overshadowed by their counterparts.
 
The Adams State Men's Cross Country team lost a ton of key performers from years past, and there was quite a bit of uncertainty as to who would be the top dogs on the 2019 team. They battled all summer, and for the majority of the season, and hung around in the top five rankings fluctuating up and down between two and five all year. At one point, they were behind both conference rivals Colorado Mines and Western Colorado in the national polls, but their tunnel vision that focused on being the best they could be by the time the national meet came around, never wavered.
 
In the conference meet, the Grizzlies finished second to Colorado Mines who sat atop the national rankings as the best team in the country, and for the moment, put an end to the rumors that they may be topped by Western. The following week at regionals, it was a different story, as the Grizzlies took third, this time falling behind Western as Mines took home the regional crown.
 
With the national meet looming, the men dropped to number five in the national polls. They knew that in order to prove to themselves that they remained one of the best two teams in the country, they would have to run a great performance at nationals, and they did.
 
Led by senior Kale Adams, the Grizzlies ran their best team performance of the entire season. Adams finished second overall, with a time of 29:43.9 to cap off what had been a major bounce back year for him. Also in the top-10 with a great performance was Carson Bix, who helped the Grizzlies' team score immensely, taking 10^th with a time of 30:05.8.
 
In the end, Colorado Mines, as expected, ran away with the title, and although the Grizzlies ended up in second, they ran like champions. If nothing else, the performance further-cemented the culture of effort and dedication that this team embodies year after year. No Adams State Cross Country team is ever used to being the underdog, but when they are, they still race with the passion and train with the dedication that it takes to be a champion. If nothing else, the 2019 Men's team set a great example for future generations of Adams State runners, and no doubt, they will come back for their title very soon.
 
For me, covering the Adams State Cross Country program is an experience like no other. This year's team was a blast to write about and follow, and I'm sure you, the fans, can't wait until they hit the green again next September. Tune in tomorrow for number 4 on our week of greatness countdown, and we hope you are enjoying reliving some of the great moments of our proud athletic program throughout the 2019-2020 season.