Nationally ranked Aggie XC poised for another big season
The Utah State Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams started their 2021 season last week, and both squads are hoping to compete for a conference championship and return to NCAA Nationals.
The Aggies men’s team finished No. 11 in the nation last year, and looks to get into the top 10 this upcoming season. The men are currently ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 4 in the Mountain Division. The women are ranked No. 8 in the division.
They’re off to a hot start this season. At the Montana State Classic on Sept. 18, both the men’s and women’s teams picked up victories over a host of Big Sky schools.
“It’s early in the season,” Head Coach Artie Gulden said, “It is great to have both teams in those positions, the goal is to be higher by the end of the season. We have some meets over the next few weeks and as we perform well … we hope to improve those rankings and put ourselves in a position to qualify for both teams for NCAA championships.”
“We haven’t gotten a lot of recognition the last few years in the Mountain Region or the national polls,” said senior Caleb Garnica. “It’s usually after the first or second, right now it’s really nice.”
Garnica finished No. 28 at the NCAA championships last season, and won the Mountain West individual championship. He hopes to improve this season as a team and as an individual.
“I want to [help the team] win the conference,” he said. “I want to defend my conference championship title, that’s number one to me. I also want to repeat my All-American status at nationals but get higher than 28th in the nation.”
Much of the preparation to reach those goals has already been put in over the summer.
Coach Gulden said off-season training, specifically the summer, isn’t much different than normal training, but more miles.
“Summer is the most important time of training and putting in a lot of miles,” he said. “Collectively they ran thousands of miles this summer, and did very well in terms of keeping up with the work and doing what they need to do to prepare for the season.”
Optimism is high entering the season because, according to Garnica, every guy from last year’s team is back. And there are some big meets on the horizon to help them qualify for nationals.
“The really big one, the most important meet on our schedule for NCAA qualification purposes, other than the Mountain Region meet, will be the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational,” Gulden said. “Right now, I believe there are 35 men’s teams that are supposed to be there and 38 women’s teams. Virtually, all of those teams that go to that meet, their goal is to qualify for NCAAs, so it is super competitive. Our kids will have a great opportunity to beat some teams there and put ourselves in a position for the NCAAs.”
Thirty schools across the country qualify for nationals for both the men’s and women’s teams. The Aggies will continue to work hard throughout the season to solidify their spot at nationals on Nov. 20.
“If you see a lot of shirtless men around town, just give us a honk and please do not get mad at us if we are causing traffic we are just doing our best training and having fun,” Garnica said.
Utah State will travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Oct. 1 to participate in the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. A week later, the Aggies will host the Steve T. Reeder Memorial meet on Oct. 8. They close out the regular season at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 15.