Three-peat for cross county, Aggie men run to third-straight title

By now the impression the USU men’s cross country team has made in the Western Athletic Conference is an unmistakably powerful one.

Led by junior Seth Wold, the Aggie men, who have been in the WAC for three years, collected 21 points and won their third-consecutive WAC title Saturday at the American West Heritage Center.

Wold finished first in the 8k run with a time of 23:16.33. His teammates Steve Strickland, Chio Lopez and Nick Bolinder sealed up the third, fourth and fifth places. Both Lopez and Bolinder are freshmen.

“We did what we came here to do – to win the championship,” Aggie Head Coach Gregg Gensel said. “The men dominated in the way they ran. That was the plan all year long – to try and dominate at home.”

For his performance, Wold was named Player of the Year in the WAC and Lopez the Freshman of the Year.

“At the end of last year, (Wold) said, ‘You know coach, I really want to win conference in cross country. I’m going to work hard this summer,” Gensel said.

Wold worked hard throughout the off-season and became a man of his word Saturday.

“I knew a lot of people were graduating and there was definitely an opening for somebody to take the lead,” Wold said. “I was lucky enough to be healthy. That’s what it came down to – I was healthier than other runners.”

Lopez’ experience was slightly different.

In September afternoons with temperatures in the 90s, the team first began practicing on the course at the Heritage Center – a stark contrast from the mid 40s present at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“I hated this course more than anything,” Lopez said. “It was brutal. I knew we were supposed to run conference here. I was discouraged a little bit.”

Others among the top 10 finishers for USU were sophomores Andrew Niccolie, Jason Holt and Hunter Nelson.

Next up are the NCAA Mountain Regionals in Ogden, Nov. 10. The NCAA Championships are Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind.

-samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu