A Look Back at the 1991-1999 Adams State Women's Cross Country RMAC Hall of Fame Teams
by Holly Kellner
This is part of a series of profiles of the RMAC Hall of Fame class of 2015. Six Hall of Famers have been profiled, the last one will be Tuesday, July 21.
Showing up to national competitions with new uniforms and black lipstick, the Women’s Cross Country Team of Adams State were unbeatable for nine years. They were a vocal, hard working group of women where the tradition of playing hard and working hard was passed down each year.
Throughout these years, excellence was expected for the cross country team. According to one runner on the team, Sarah Parkey-Meyer: “you didn’t want to be the one [team] to break the streak.” Even though winning was an expectation, every year was different. “It was still like the first time because every time we went in there was Western State right on our tail or Grand Valley was right on our tail and there was always that chance that it was going to be taken away. None of us ever got comfortable and felt like, ‘we won last year, and it’s no big deal.’ Every year was such a celebration…it was always special,” Parkey- Meyer’s remembers.
Parky-Meyer says part of what made each year so special was the head coach, Damon Martin. He made each runner feel essential to the team. Even individuals who weren’t set on going to Adams State, like Kim Bosen (also being inducted in the Hall of Fame this year) were convinced after a visit and a long conversation with Coach Martin. “He made us believe that was the absolute best place in the world and that the people you were with, you wouldn’t meet anybody better than those people,” Parkey-Meyer stated, “He was very good at making us think it was our idea when really it was his plan all along,” and his plan was to produce a close knit, winning team and he accomplished just that.
One thing that stood out about the Adams State cross country team was the comradery. “The older girls who were there kind of had that taste of success and they had a drive to continue to get it,” Parkey-Meyer recalls. Looking back she remembers the races where they would yell to each other across the course. “We never ran a race quiet, we were always calling out to each other and throwing our hands back and encouraging each other and trying to get that team cohesiveness together. It was never for yourself ever. It was always how could we do better and how can we get that girl to go better beside you.”
Parkey-Meyer, along with dozens of other women that wore the green uniforms and black war paint to competitions, will always remember competing with their team as “definitely the best memories of college.” Runners of the 1991-1999 will have another opportunity to look back on these happy memories as they are inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame on July 24
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1991-1999 Adams State Women’s Cross Country Teams: A Recap of all the years
The 1991 Adams State women’s cross country team started a run of nine straight national championships for ASC, that morphed into 19 straight titles for RMAC schools (Western State 2000-2002, Adams State 2003-2009) perhaps the longest dynasty for any conference in any division in any sport in NCAA history.
1991 - Adams State gets their second national team title in three years with 66 team points at the NAIA championships in Kenosha, Wisc. RMAC Hall of Famer Amy Giblin is the national champion and Damon Martin is named national coach of the year for the second time. ASC is the RMAC champion for the fifth year in a row with 29 points led by Giblin (1st), Kristen Shern (2nd) Ronda Leyba (3rd) and Audrey Romer (9th). Martin is the RMAC Coach of the Year in the meet at Colorado Mines.
1992 - Competing for the first time in NCAA Division II, Adams State goes back to back winning with a score of 64. Led by top 20 performances from: Leyba (7), Laura Romero (13), Kristen Schwartz (14) and Giblin (18). Stacey Beacham rounded out the scoring at the meet in Slippery Rock, Pa. ASC is the RMAC champion for sixth year in a row with 19 team points. Beacham is RMAC champ in conference record time of 17:20. Leyba (3), Amy Cooper (4), Romero (5), Giblin (6), Schwartz (8) also finish in the top 10. Martin named RMAC Coach of the Year.
1993 - It’s three national titles in a row for the ASC women with 75 team points. Schwartz takes second to future Olympian and RMAC Hall of Famer Elva Dryer. Karen Talamantes is fifth, Leyba 14th, Heather Gilbert 30th and Norma Gonzales 33rd at the meet in Riverside, Calif. ASC wins the RMAC championship for the seventh year in a row with 29 points. Leyba (2), Schwartz (3), Talamantes (7), Gilbert (8), White (9) finish in the top 10. Martin is RMAC Coach of the Year. Adams State is also NCAA DII South Central Regional champions.
1994 - The Grizzlies four-peat at the NCAA DII nationals with 47 team points in Kearney, Nebraska. The RMAC championship streak is snapped, as ASC takes second. Top 10 performances by Nikole Sterling (3), Pamela White (5), Talamantes (6), Gonzales (8), Janelle Olson (9), Nara Hawker (10).
1995 - We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of this NCAA DII championship at South Carolina Upstate. ASC wins with 62 points, a 79-point margin over Abilene Christian. Sterling is 5th, Denise Summers 12th, Olson 15th, Kim Bugg 16th, and Hawker 23rd. ASC regains the RMAC championship with a 20 point team performance at Colorado Mines. Sterling (2), Summers (3), Bugg (4), Olson (5), Esther Tillman (6), Kris Veltri (7) and Hawker (8) all place in the top 10. Martin is RMAC Coach of the Year and the Grizzlies are the South Central Regional Champs.
1996 - For the first time in NCAA DII, Adams State has the individual national champion as Denise Summers crosses the tape at 17:46.8, leading the way for a sixth straight national team title at Humboldt State in California. A 35-point team performace that included Bugg in seventh, Sterling 12th, Hawker 14th, and Ruby Failing 16th. ASC is RMAC champion for ninth time in 10 years as they host the meet in Alamosa. An impressive 16-point performance led by Summers (1), Bugg (2), Sterling (3), Olson (4), Failing (6) and Stephanie Milam (8). Martin is RMAC Coach of the Year. ASC wins the NCAA DII South Central Regional championship at West Texas A&M.
1997 - It’s lucky number seven in a row as Adams State wins the NCAA DII national title at Wisconsin-Parkside. A very balanced effort lands four runners in the top 10: Olson (4), Bugg (6) Summers (7). Freshman and future RMAC Hall of Famer Sarah Parkey (8)k Milam is 13th with Hawker 17th and Failing 27th. They are RMAC champions for the 10th time in 11 years with 18 points. Olson (1), Bugg (2), Summers (4), Parkey (5), Milam (6) and Hawker (7) lead the way at Fort Hays State. Martin is named RMAC Coach of the Year. ASC is once again NCAA DII South Central Regional champs.
1998 - The race is now a 6K (was a 5K previously) and Bugg is national champion with a time of 21:43.0 in the meet at the University of Kansas. Parkey takes third with Milam 11th and Melissa Bouren 23rd. Freshman Kimberly Bosen (who is being inducted this year as an individual) makes her national debut in 34th. The Grizzlies are the RMAC champs for the fourth year in a row in the meet at Fort Lewis. Bosen (1), Parkey (2), Bugg (3), Stephanie Milam (4), Melissa Bouren (6), Jinny Mortensen (7) and Jenny McQuitty (10) are all-conference.
1999 - The final national title in this run might be the best team as Adams State scores an NCAA DII record 23 team points en route to winning their ninth straight championship. In the meet at Missouri Southern, Bosen leads the way with a second place finish. Parkey is fourth, Cory Chastain is seventh, Bouren is ninth, Esther Hartsky 13th and Mortensen 16th. Adams State captures their fifth straight RMAC championship with 29 points in the meet at Mesa. Bosen is the individual champion with Bouren (2), Chastain (5) and Mortensen (10) getting all-conference. Adams State is also the NCAA DII South Central regional champion.