Senior Taylor Stack and junior Charlie Sweeney of Western Colorado, both NCAA Division 2 All-Americans in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, join DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss the school's decision to not have the Mountaineers men's and women's cross country teams travel to compete Nov. 14 at the Division 2 National Invitational at Lubbock Christian in Texas. Stack and Sweeney revisit the runner-up team performance of Western Colorado Oct. 24 at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship meet at Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs, and how they were continuing to train in preparation for the national event at Lubbock Christian, before learning over the weekend they would not be allowed to attend. Stack shares how the emotions were similar to finding out the NCAA Division 2 Indoor Championships were canceled in March and how much the Mountaineers were looking forward to competing at Lubbock Christian. Sweeney speaks about how much Western Colorado was hoping to benefit from racing at sea level after training at 7,700 feet in Gunnison, in addition to the transition from racing 8 kilometers throughout the fall in Colorado to a 10-kilometer event in Texas. Stack examines the benefit of competing against reigning Division 2 national champion Colorado School of Mines in RMAC events and how he hopes that continues to challenge the Mountaineers to improve in the coming years. Sweeney reflects on how significant it was to compete at a home meet Sept. 19 at the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite, and to have a fall schedule with multiple meets in Colorado. Both student-athletes share how impactful Western Colorado coach Jennifer Michel and her staff have been in helping the team not only train and compete during the Coronavirus pandemic, but handling adversity away from the sport. The Mountaineer veterans are hopeful the national invitational meet at Lubbock Christian goes well for the remaining RMAC programs that are scheduled to attend, and remain optimistic there will be opportunities on the track in the months ahead, as well as encouraged there will be an outdoor season that concludes with an NCAA Division 2 national championship next year.