Garnica grabs men’s 8k title, USU finishes second
As Utah State’s Caleb Garnica desperately sprinted his way down the final stretch of the course on Friday morning in North Las Vegas, he didn’t appear to have enough in the tank to catch Air Force sophomore Sam Gilman and win the Mountain West cross country championship.
But at the last moment, while Gilman’s legs began to give out, Garnica proved he did have enough, surging ahead and claiming victory in the men’s 8k with a time of 24:38.40.
“The race went out really well and in the end, it became a dual against Air Force,” said Garnica. “I just remember thinking how much I have worked to get here and all the sacrifices I’ve made. I thought the Air Force guy had me, but I mustered just enough to outkick him.”
Garnica gutted out an individual title, but it was Air Force that ultimately got the team championship. The No. 22 Falcons edged out the No. 19 Aggies 29 to 33, snatching the automatic big to nationals and ending the USU’s chances at back-to-back conference titles.
“The men really dueled it out with Air Force and they ended up getting us by a small margin, so congrats to them. But, it looks like our men should be good for an NCAA berth. We will find out on Sunday,” said USU head coach Artie Gulden.
Utah State sophomore Camren Todd finished No. 3 overall (23.41.0); senior Haydon Cooper finished No. 4 (23.48.5); sophomore Bridger Altice finished No.8 (23:54.4.); sophomore Spencer Nelson finished No. 17 (24:17.7.)
“To have four guys achieve all-conference and place in the top eight is special,” Gulden said.
The title was anyone’s for the taking most of the race. A group of Boise State runners set the pace while the pack of runners from Colorado State, Air Force, and Utah State closely followed.
At about the 6k point of the race, the Aggies made a move, with Cameron Todd taking the lead and Garnica closely following. As the Bronco and Ram runners began to fade it became clear either AFA or USU was going to win.
With 800 meters to go, Todd, Garnica and Gilman broke away from everyone else. Garnica and Gilman both had strong kicks with 400 meters to go, leaving Todd behind. Gilman passed Garnica with 200 meters to go, but the kick may have been too early. The Falcon ran out of gas just before the finish line, and Garnica passed him.
In the women’s cross country championship, the Aggies finished in fourth-place in the 6k race, while New Mexico claimed the title.
Katie Haviland led the way for USU, finishing No.8 (20:22.1.); Morgan French finished No. 22 (20:58.0); Abby Jensen was No. 24 (21:03.5); Bailey Brinkerhoff was No.26 (21:05.4); Mica Rivera was No. 29 (21:16.0.)
“Overall, it was a tough race with really good competition,” said Haviland. “Our girls fought and I am proud of them. We fell a little short of our goal, which is hard to accept, but we have a very young team in a very good field, and we will use this as fuel for next season. We learned a lot from this race and we will continue to look for opportunities during the outdoor track & field season and next cross country season to prove how good we can be.”
@jacobnielson12
—sports@usustatesman.com