Men’s x-country win BWC title, women finish fourth
Following its narrow defeat to the University of California Santa Barbara at last year’s Big West Conference Championship Meet, the Utah State University men’s cross country team had a bitter-sweet taste in its mouth.
The Aggie men did something about that Saturday in Riverside, Calif., placing six runners in the top 11 en route to their first BWC championship since 1994.
“The whole men’s team ran together the whole race,” said USU Head Coach Gregg Gensel. “We had six people in the top 11. I don’t remember the last time that happened in this conference.”
The USU women also finished in the upper half of the conference, just two points behind third-place finisher University of California Irvine (74-72). The University of Idaho (48 points) captured the women’s title, placing four of its runners in the top 12.
Not only did the Aggie men capture the team title, easily outdistancing second-place Cal Poly by 15 points (25-40), they took home the individual title as well. Senior Mitch Zundel edged out teammate Mike Nielson for the men’s individual title, covering the 8,000-meter course in 24:46.
Coming into the race, Gensel said Zundel and Nielson made a deal with each other that they were going to separate themselves from the field and finish first and second. They weren’t kidding.
“Mitch and Mike were very aggressive today, and just took control late in the race,” he said. “It’s exciting to see us set our goals in a race like that, and have them pan out like we planned.”
While Zundel, Nielson and senior Steve Prescott (5th-place finisher) continued to put up consistent results for the Aggies, Gensel said it was the newcomers who made the difference.
Underclassmen Ryan Griffeth (8th), Clark Bryner (9th) and David Danley (11th) all finished within 40 seconds of Zundel. It was these three runners, Gensel said, that gave the Aggies the breathing room they needed.
“The people that really pulled it together today were our other three runners: Ryan Griffeth, Clark Bryner and David Danley,” he said. “They basically ran out of their heads.”
USU’s ability to pack together allowed it to meet its expectations, and those of the Big West coaches, Gensel said. Heading into the race, the Aggie men were the hands-down favorite to capture the title, having not finished behind a BWC foe the entire season, and being picked to finish first by the BWC coaches in August.
Overcoming the hype was especially satisfying, Gensel said.
“I’m very pleased with this team, especially with the pressure of being expected to win, and actually doing it,” he said.
If USU was the overwhelming favorite coming into the meet, Cal Poly was the overwhelming favorite to play the role of the spoiler, Gensel said. The Mustangs finished in second place behind the Aggies at the UC Riverside Invitational Sept. 21, and Saturday proved to be no different.
Led by third-place finisher Sean Ricketts, Cal Poly placed six of its runners in the top 15 as the Mustangs finished a whopping 55 points ahead of third-place UC Santa Barbara.
While the Mustangs were able to put pressure on the Aggies, USU would respond in the latter stages of the race, Gensel said.
“As the race progressed, it was basically all of Cal Poly’s guys, all of our guys and a few other people,” he said. “As the race started getting further and further along, our guys kept right there, and the other people from Cal Poly started falling off [with about a mile to go].”
Unlike the men’s race, Gensel said the women’s race consisted of a much deeper field.
“The women ran well too,” he said. “The women’s race, overall, was a lot deeper than the men’s race. We had probably five teams who could easily have won it.”
Unfortunately for the Aggies, their squad wasn’t at full strength. Although sophomore Lida Clapier – USU’s top runner in three of its first four races – was able to run, she wasn’t able to regain her form, finishing in 41st place.
Nevertheless, Gensel said it was a pretty gutsy performance by Clapier, considering she hasn’t been able to run for the past four weeks.
“For her to do what she did today, I have great admiration for her,” he said.
On the other hand, Gensel said a healthy Clapier probably would have put the Aggies in first or second place.
“I would have liked to have seen what would have happened if she was healthy,” he said.
Regardless of what could have been, Gensel said he was pleased with the performance of the Aggie women. The Aggies still managed to place five runners in the top 26, including top 10 finishing by Audrey Golightly (6th) and Kristen Coombs (10th).
Idaho’s Letiwe Marakurwa won the individual title, finishing nine seconds ahead of 2001 champion Katie Appenrodt of UCSB. Marakurwa was selected as the women’s Athlete of the Year, with the men’s award going to Zundel.
USU now turns its attention to the Mountain Regional Meet, held Nov. 16 in Albuquerque, N.M.
-jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu