Harriers successful at Notre Dame Invitational
The Utah State University men’s and women’s cross country teams earned fourth and ninth place respectively Friday at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
The men finished with 137 team points while the women tallied 317.
Heading into the meet, the Aggie men had a goal of defeating a ranked team, said freshman runner Clark Bryner. While the Aggie men were able to do just that by finishing ahead of No. 10 Wisconsin, Bryner said neither the men’s or women’s team was completely satisfied with the result.
“Nobody was really satisfied because we didn’t run as well as we felt we should have,” he said. “However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because last year at this point of the season we had peaked, but we have not this year.
“We can improve, so that’s good,” he said.
Junior Mike Nielsen, who placed 15th with a time of 24:53, led the men, with teammate Mitch Zundel finishing five seconds behind Nielsen in 18th place.
As a team, the USU male harriers finished fourth behind No. 1 Stanford, No. 25 Michigan and No. 23 Notre Dame.
On the women’s side, sophomore Lida Clapier placed 33rd for Utah State with a time of 18:25. Junior Audrey Golighty finished 58th with a time of 18:41, and Carol Cabanillas placed 71st with a time of 18:50.
Stanford, ranked No. 2 behind defending national champion BYU, also took first place in the women’s race. Wisconsin (No. 18) and No. 3 Notre Dame capturing second and third place, respectively.
Stanford was able to dominate both races, finishing more than 40 points ahead of its closest competitor in both races.
Ryan Hall led the charge for the Cardinal men, taking first place with a time of 24:10 as four Stanford runners finished in the top 10. Like the men, the Stanford women enjoyed an easy victory, with Sara Bei, Lauren Fleshman and Alicia Carey taking the top three spots.
“They [Stanford] pretty much trash everybody,” Bryner said. “Stanford deserves to be [ranked] No. 1.”
Both the Aggie men and women were able to compete with their entire squads for the first time this season with Kristen Coombs, Dusan Hlubocky and Trevor Ball running in their first races.
“It was a nice boost to have those guys back,” Bryner said. “Kristen ran really well on the women’s side. As far as Dusan and Trevor go, I thought they ran well for it being their first race.”
Not only did Friday’s meet give USU valuable experience heading into the Pre-Nationals Invitational, it gave the Aggies a chance to compete against some of the top teams in the country, Bryner said.
“I think it helped us a lot to see the level of competition we will go up against [at Pre-Nationals],” he said. “It definitely showed us it’s not going to be easy to show other teams the quality of team we are.”
Utah State returns to action Oct. 19 as it travels to Terre Haute, Ind. to compete in the Pre-Nationals Invitational.
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