Ags run to first place at Montana

The Utah State Aggies won everything they could on Saturday at the Montana State Cross Country Invitational.

Tiffany Strickland and Trever Ball won the women’s and men’s individual titles with three Aggies placing in the top five in both the men’s and women’s meets.

Ball won by 11 seconds over a runner from Utah Valley State. Clark Bryner took third and Vine Twitchel took fourth for the Aggies who won by 25 points in the men’s finals.

On the women’s side, Strickland won by 14 seconds over her teammate Amy Egan. Ashley Johnson took fourth for the Ags with Caroline Berry and Vanessa Hawkins also finishing in the top ten.

The Ags ran in damp and cold conditions. The weather was a little bit of concern before the race for head coach Gregg Gensel.

“I was wondering before the race if it would affect them or not,” Gensel said, “and it didn’t.”

For their efforts Strickland and Ball were named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Athletes of the Week. It is the second such time this year both runners received the awards.

The Aggies will travel to Notre Dame in two weeks to compete in their first big race.

“Up till now it has been pre-season,” distance coach Steve Redder said. “Now the meets start to count for the possibility of qualifying for the national championships. We’ve geared up our training to reflect that difference from the Notre Dame meet on.”

-krn@cc.usu.edu