Hard work pays off for Utah State’s All-American runner

Caleb Garnica is an All-American and a Mountain West Champion runner, but his success did not come easy. Caleb worked hard for what he wanted and his motivation has rubbed off on his teammates.

Caleb was a decorated runner during his time at Springville High School. He ran there with his twin brother Brandon who now runs at BYU and current USU teammate Devin Pancake. The team secured two state championships in track and field and one in cross country and Caleb was a five-time letter winner in both sports.

Caleb said Brandon was one of his inspirations to start running.

“I saw a lot of his success and I wanted to do that,” Caleb said.

Caleb began running in eighth grade as a sprinter. He said he realized running was difficult but didn’t back down.

“I’m not shy. I don’t run away from hard stuff,” he said.

Caleb kept running and made his transition to long-distance running in high school where he grew to love it and found success.

“The real reason I love running is that it’s just the competition,” he said. “You go out there and see what your body can do at the limit and I like to push myself to the limit at all times.”

Caleb was recruited by Utah State and joined the cross country team his first year in the fall of 2018. He thought that he would make an immediate impact on the team because of his massive success in high school. But he soon realized collegiate running was on another level.

“He came in a little naive. A lot of freshmen think they’re hard workers but don’t really know what hard work is,” coach Artie Gulden said.

“I remember my first race and I got my butt handed to me. I was like, the 10th guy from the team coming in,” Caleb said.

This moment humbled Caleb, and he soon realized he would have to push even harder to be a successful runner at the collegiate level. His competitiveness wouldn’t let a small hiccup stop him from being great. So he began to devote himself to being better and working hard. He had to change his eating, sleeping and his training.

“It has all been fine-tuned now,” he said.

Caleb’s also been motivated by Brandon, who has found tremendous success at BYU.

“There is a competitiveness there,” Caleb said. “BYU is a very good program, but I wanted to show that Utah State has a good enough program as them and we can be just as good as them, only two hours north.”

Now a senior, it’s clear Caleb’s training has paid off. He was a member of the men’s team for the Mountain West championship in 2019 and won an individual champion award in 2020 for cross country.

He was also named an All-American in 2020 for cross country. Particularly memorable was the final stretch of the 2020 NCAA cross country championships. Caleb was in about 40th place, but he was able to push himself down the stretch and passed other runners to finish in 28th place.

The amazing finish, which Gulden credited to his “ability to find that something extra” helped him become an All-American. And extra sweet — because he earned the honors before Brandon did.

“I do have to say he might not like this if he reads it, but I was the first one to get All-American,” Caleb said.

Get to know Caleb Garnica, who captured the men’s 8-kilometer race at the delayed 2020 Mountain West Cross Country Championships earlier this month at the Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas, Nev.#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/GjMW4uqAK7

— USU T&F/XC (@USUTF_XC) March 14, 2021

Gulden said over the years he has seen Caleb’s drive and his ability to work hard grow. But what has grown the most according to Gulden is his confidence and leadership.

“His belief in himself has just increased exponentially over the years since he was a freshman up until now,” Gulden said. “He’s not a super vocal leader, but in turn, he does a great job leading by example.”

Caleb was voted to be a team captain by his fellow teammates. He’s seen as not only a leader by his teammates but also a friend by his teammates.

“All the guys would be able to count on him as somebody that if they needed something, he would be at the top of their list to probably call,” Gulden said.

Devin Pancake said Caleb was one of his first friends when he first moved to Utah and their relationship has been able to grow over the years through competing together.

“There’s nobody who motivates me more to better myself,” Pancake said.

Pancake described a time last year when he was struggling with running and even considered dropping the sport altogether. Pancake witnessed Caleb win a conference title and that was what inspired him to keep running.

“From that moment on, I just thought to myself well if he can do like these great things, so can I,” Pancake said. “And I think that we wouldn’t be as good as we are without each other.”

Caleb feels the same way about his teammates. One of his favorite moments running at USU wasn’t a personal accolade, but when the USU Men’s Cross Country team won the 2019 Mountain West Championship.

“When we see the team succeed, we all succeed,” Caleb said.

Away from running, Caleb has learned how to have a balanced life. Caleb studies mechanical engineering and has learned how to prioritize school and manage his time. When he isn’t training or studying, he enjoys being in the mountains. Two years ago, Caleb picked up rock climbing and he said it has allowed him to reconnect with Utah’s nature.

“I’m born and raised here. So I’ve kind of taken the land for granted,” he said. Caleb’s competitiveness transfers over to rock climbing.

“He’s definitely really competitive at rock climbing,” Brandon said. “If we like something, and we enjoy it, and we’re willing just to pursue it with 100 percent.”

“When we go rock climbing, he’s on all of the hard grades, on all the hard climbs and is trying tolike push his limit,” Pancake added.

Caleb also enjoys playing video games and building things. He built a computer to play video games with his teammates and brother.

“That’s just kind of like my winter things to do because you don’t want to be outside all day and I can’t go out in nature so I just play games,” Caleb said.

Caleb isn’t going to be the last of his family to run at Utah State. His younger brother, Logan, signed last fall to run at Utah State.“I’ll be able to run at least one season with him and I’m excited and looking forward to that and I hope he does well,” Caleb said.