Now sitting on top of the Mountain West Conference, the CSU men’s cross country has attained the No. 15 national ranking, the best position the Rams have been placed in a decade.

CSU is fresh off of its recent success at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday in which it placed fifth overall. The result gained attention from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on the NCAA Division I level. The Rams were able to edge their closest conference opponent, No. 25 New Mexico by just one placement as the Lobos ended up taking sixth overall.

CSU’s individual effort was led by senior Alex Muntefering, who took 20th place with a time of 24:50.4 in the 8-kilometer race. Less than one second behind Muntefering was his teammate Andrew Goodman, taking 23rd after crossing the finish line at 24:51.3. Ben Larson (35th, 25:03.8), Christian Meyer (42nd, 25:10.3) and Jacob Morgn (69th, 25:57.6) also placed for the Rams.

The No. 15 ranking is the highest since the 2003 Rams set a school record with the No. 8 position.

Next up for CSU is the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terra Haute, Ind. on Saturday Oct. 19.

Sports Editor Quentin Sickafoose can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @QSickafoose.