Runners don’t qualify for finals
The Utah State Cross Country men’s and women’s teams finished their season this past weekend at the NCAA Regionals in Fort Collins, Colo.
The women’s team finished tied for third place, the highest finish ever for the Aggie women. Ashley Johnson, a sophomore from Hyrum, finished 16th in the 5,000-meters to lead the Aggies, who had three runners earn all-region honors.
The women’s team, despite their strong showing, was one point shy of qualifying for Nationals, which will be held this weekend.
Lida Riplinger, a senior, and Tiffany Strickland finished 18th and 23rd respectively to join Johnson with all-region honors.
For the men, Trevor Ball, a junior from Hyrum, finished 23rd in the 10,000-meters as the men’s team was just two points shy of qualifying for Nationals. David Danley and Clark Bryner finished 28th and 32nd respectively.
The six teams that finished ahead of the Aggies are all nationally ranked, Coach Gregg Gensel said.
“We hoped to do better,” Gensel said. “But the other teams ran well.”
The cross country season is over but indoor track will start up and then outdoor track will take place in the spring. Gensel said he is looking forward to the upcoming seasons.
“Both teams exceeded expectations this fall,” Gensel said.
It was unfortunate that neither team qualified for Nationals, Gensel said, however the teams have a lot to look forward to for the rest of the school year as there is still a lot of running to do between now and the end of the school year.
The cross country season was a good experience for both the women’s and men’s teams, Gensel said. He said he is excited to see how well the runner’s will perform in the track season.
-krn@cc.usu.edu