LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's 22nd-ranked women's cross country team will wrap up one of its best seasons in school history at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 20, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.

Appearing at the NCAAs for just the second time in school history, the Aggies are set to begin the 6K race at 8:20 a.m. (MT).

Admission to the NCAA Championships is $10 per person. Live results are available here, and the meet will televised live on ESPNU, as well as the ESPN app, beginning at 8 a.m.

"I was thrilled out of my mind last Friday when the regional results came in and we had a good idea that we would be going to the NCAAs; the ladies were excited, as well," said Utah State head coach Artie Gulden. "On Friday, they kind of reserved the jubilation a little bit until it was official on Saturday, but they are super excited.

"We will go and see what happens. The ladies will run the best race that they can and hopefully, follow the race plan well. It will be difficult for them to find each other because there will be so many people around them. Hopefully, we can finish above our ranking."

The Aggies earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships. It is the first time they will be competing as a team at the NCAAs since 2017. Ranked 19th in the nation going into those championships, the USU finished 14th with 395 points in the 6K race at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

"We are looking forward to it," said senior Mica Rivera. "We've gone through a lot of adversity these past few years, and after narrowly missing out on our goal of going to nationals last year, we finally are able to do it this year, so we are super grateful and excited to compete with the best."

Utah State will join two other programs from the Mountain West (No. 2 New Mexico and No. 19 Colorado State) at the national championships. Additionally, No. 4 BYU and No. 7 Utah also earned at-large berths.

"Not only are we excited to go, but we want to be really competitive," said senior Katie Haviland. "We want to try to place higher than the 2017 team, so that will be 13th or better, and then individually, we want to have as many All-Americans as we can."

Scheduled to compete for the Aggies include Haviland and Rivera, juniors Bailey Brinkerhoff, Abigail Gray and Abby Jensen, sophomore Morgan French, and freshman Emma Thornley.

"One reason I came to Utah State is I wanted to be a part of a team that was building and making history," Jensen said. "That's what we've done this year and we intend to do that on Saturday."

Haviland competed as an individual for the Aggies at the 2020 NCAA Championships – delayed until March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she placed 43rd with a time of 21:01.6. She is thrilled to be bringing her teammates along this time around.

"Going as an individual was bittersweet because I wanted to have my team there with me and we were so close to being able to go all together, so to have that be a reality this time is super exciting," she said.

Added Brinkerhoff: "We were all super happy for her, but it made us more excited and drive to try to go together. It's more special when you make it as a team because you're doing it for each other and you are able to run next to each other and for each other."

In Utah State's last outing, Haviland led the Aggies to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. The native of Lehi, Utah, placed 26th overall in the 6K race with a time of 20:55.8 – narrowly missing out on earning all-region honors, awarded to those that finish in the top 25.

After Haviland, Rivera placed 39th with a time of 21:22.7, Thornley finished 43rd with a time of 21:25.4, Jensen and Brinkerhoff placed 44th and 47th with times of 21:27.8 and 21:33.8, respectively. French crossed the line in 52nd with a time of 21:41.1 and Gray was 54th with a time of 21:45.4.

For more information on the Utah State track & field/cross country programs, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC.

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