Aggie runners compete tough at Notre Dame Invitational meet
The Utah State men and women’s cross country teams traveled to South Bend, Ind. over the weekend as they competed in the 55th annual Notre Dame Invitational. The Aggies finished with a strong overall showing.
For the third time this year, the men were led by junior Brian McKenna, who finished 10th overall with a time of 24 minutes, nine seconds. Junior Daniel Howell also cracked the top 50 after running his fastest time on a five-mile course this season, finishing 26th with a time of 24:29. Aaron Clements and Eric Larson finished third and fourth, respectively, for the Aggie men, both landing themselves inside the top 100. Overall the men finished 14th in a meet that included several top 25 schools, such as third-ranked Oregon.
On the men’s side we saw improvement from several of our runners,” said Aggie head coach Gregg Gensel, who added that “Brian (McKenna) finished in the top ten of this race. I think that says a lot about him.”
On the women’s side, Jessie Chugg once again finished ifrst for the Aggies with a time of 18:03, a mark good for 95th place. Chugg was followed closely by Ruth Hilton and Kim Quinn as they both clocked in with an identical time of 18:07. The Aggie Women finished with 574 points as the team placed 21st overall. Despite the relatively low finish as a team, coach Gensel said that he saw improvement from his team, and was happy with the individual finishes.
“Our women’s team ran really well and showed a lot of improvement,” Gensel said. “They were solid in everything. The problem was that the competition was a lot better. There were 11 teams in that field that were ranked in the top 30 in the nation. It was tough competition for us…but what a coach looks for is what his individual runners did, and I thought we showed improvement.”
The Notre Dame Invitational is one of the largest collegiate cross country meets in the nation and provided the Aggies with an insight as to how they match up with the rest of the nation. Gensel said he’s pleased with the improvement of both the men’s and women’s teams, and is ready to see continued improvement as the season rolls on.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with what I saw. The training is starting to take effect, and I think they will continue to improve.”
Utah State Cross Country competes at the pre-national meet in Terre Haute, Ind. on Oct. 16.
– jordan.allred@aggiemail.usu.edu
RESULTS
Women’s Team Scores (24 teams)
1. Villanova 64
2. Oregon – 118
3. Florida State 129
4. New Mexico 143
5. Stony Brook 153
21. Utah State 574
USU Women’s Finishers
95. Jessie Chugg 18:03
100. Ruth Hilton 18:07
101. Kim Quinn 18:07
132. Alex Litzsinger 18:29 146. Kaylee Campbell 18:46 154. Ashley Robison 19:02 156. Stephanie Burt 19:10 182. Brittany Fisher 19:18
187. Cherise Chugg 19:31
Men’s Team Scores (21 Teams) 1. Oregon – 69
2. New Mexico – 78
3. Florida State University – 99 4. Tulsa – 196
5. Penn State – 205
14. Utah State – 326
USU Men’s Finishers
10. Brian McKenna 24:09 26. Daniel Howell 24:29
85. Aaron Clements 25:22
99. Eric Larson 25:41
106. Hunter Nelson 25:48 112. Jacob Barton 25:57
115. Steve Atkinson 26:04
131. Chio Lopez 26:14
136. Kyle McKenna 26:16