Harriers Nielson, Johnson advance to nationals
The NCAA region meet for the cross country team was about as good a season finale as Utah State could have hoped for.
The men came in sixth, beating region rivals Weber State, with a now healthy Mike Nielson leading the way.
Freshman Ashley Johnson had an amazing race, finishing 13th overall and leading the USU women to an eighth-place finish.
“I feel really good about the meet,” said senior runner Ryan Griffeth. “Our team did well, we came out and accomplished what we wanted to.”
Personal goals, as well as team goals, were accomplished.
Dave Danley, who finished 23rd for the men, said, “My goal was to come in in the top 20, which I pretty much accomplished. The top 25 finishers are considered the all-region team, so I feel pretty good about my race.”
Nielson has had a roller-coaster season, but was able to accomplish his goal to run in nationals.
“It has really been a roller-coaster ride for us,” he said. “We took fifth at conference against some not so good teams and then sixth at regionals against these nationally ranked teams. A lot of people really stepped up.”
Nielson led the Aggie men finishing 10th overall with a time of 31:17.4, Danley was next coming in 23rd with a time of 31:30.4, Clark Bryner followed with a time of 32:19.6 for 40th, Trevor Ball ran 32:44.1 for 51st, Ryan Griffeth had a 33:06.5 for 59th and Heath Wing and Carson Campbell came in 74th and 96th with times of 33:44.2 and 39:32.3, respectively.
The women also had a good meet. They were able to come in eighth, which, although not what they were hoping for, is better than their ninth place last year.
“I didn’t have a good race, but it wasn’t a bad race,” said Carol Cabanillas. “We wanted to do better, we should have done better, but overall, it was pretty good.”
Freshman Ashley Johnson led the Aggies in an incredible race, coming in 13th with a time of 21:40.03, good enough to send her to nationals.
Lida Riplinger followed Johnson with a time of 22:37 to finish 40th, next was Emily Prestwich with a time of 23:08.9 and 59th place finish, Tiffany Strickland followed with a 23:11.8 and 60th, Cabanillas had a 23:39.8 for 82nd, Christi Howell ran a 23:50 for 87th and Sara Dimmick came in 94th with a time of 24:09.8.
Johnson blew teammates and coaches out of the water with her performance.
“It was really exciting, especially for Ashley,” Nielson said. “We are super proud of her.”
Johnson and Nielson will head to nationals in Iowa next week. Both are excited for the chance to compete against the fastest runners in the nation and are excited for this opportunity of a lifetime.
“I think that it will be what it is all cracked up to be,” Nielson said. “All the top-quality runners will make it fast and competitive. I just know I will do my best and hopefully that will be good.”
For most of the team, however, this was the last meet of the season. Fortunately though, for the most part the season has been a good one and the regional meet was a positive note to end on.
“Overall, it has been a really good season. The team has become like a family to me and it is kind of sad to see it end,” Cabanillas said. “I am really excited for Mike and Ashley though, I just wish I could go to Iowa and be there to support them.”
Griffeth said, “The season has kind of been up and down. We had injuries and sickness at the beginning and that made it a tough season. I think that we are a really good team, but just had some unfortunate circumstances. Like the fact that we are in such a hard region that it makes it hard for us to go to nationals as a team.”
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu