USU cross country begins Saturday
The Utah State men’s and women’s cross country teams take off from their season’s start line this weekend with the annual Aggie Invitational Cross Country meet at the Innovation Campus Wellness Park. The women’s team will begin their race Saturday at 9 a.m. followed by the men’s race at 9:40 a.m.
Both of the Aggie cross country teams are entering their second season competing in the Mountain West Conference, and have been receiving early attention as contenders to fight for the Mountain West Championship. In the preseason voting, the men’s team was picked to finish in sixth place in the conference and the women were picked to finish fifth, while both were voted to finish 11th in the NCAA Mountain Region.
Unlike in high school competition, NCAA cross country races vary in length, usually 5k (3.1 miles) or 6k for the women and anywhere from 8k to 10k (6.2 miles) for men. Cross country is also one of the few sports where the lowest score wins, as the top 7 runners from each team carry with them the same amount of points as their finishing place amongst the pack, meaning a first place finish is worth just one point, second place is two points and continues with that numerical pattern until all seven finishing runners from each team have been added in.
Leading the men’s team this year is returning Mountain West first-teamer Eric Shellhorn, a senior from Montrose, Colo. He finished sixth individually last year at the Mountain West Conference championships and looks to solidify his place both as a leader for Utah State and as a top finisher in the conference. The men’s roster is relatively young and inexperienced. Only six members of the 17-man roster have official collegiate competitive running experience.
Out of the 28 women on the 2014 women’s roster, only two are seniors, leaving the women’s team sparse at the top of the pack but with plenty of opportunities for the younger team members to shine. Sophomore Tori Parkinson from Kaysville, UT enters the season with a strong freshman campaign in 2013, which included two top-10 finishes and a first place finish in her collegiate running debut.
Another name to watch on the roster is Huntington Beach, Calif. native and Golden West College transfer Heather Simpson, who will look to make her presence felt for the Aggies.
—taylor.c.orton@gmail.com