TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Utah State concluded one of its best seasons in school history by placing 28th at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.
Ranked 27th heading into the finals, the Aggies finished with 638 points, beating No. 20 Syracuse in the process. The Orange placed 30th with 768 points.
"Our ladies ran tough," said Utah State head coach
Artie Gulden. "We didn't get out well at the start, but they fought and kept moving up. We didn't place like we had hoped, but the great effort was there.
"Hopefully, this can be a learning experience for them and we will be super motivated to get back here next year. The ladies had a tremendous season and should be incredibly proud of themselves."
No. 1 North Carolina State captured the team title with 84 points. The Wolfpack placed four of their five scoring runners in the top 20.
BYU's Whittni Orton won the individual title as she crossed the finish line in 19:25.4, helping the fourth-ranked Cougars take second as a team with 122 points.
Competing in her final cross country race for Utah State, senior
Katie Haviland was the Aggies' top placer as she finished 81st with a time of 20:23.9.
Mica Rivera was the second Aggie to cross the finish line as the senior placed 135th with a time of 20:44.2, while juniors
Abby Jensen and
Bailey Brinkerhoff finished 185th and 188th with times of 21:00.7 and 21:06.3, respectively.
Rounding out the Aggie placers was sophomore
Morgan French in 192nd with a time of 21:08.8, freshman
Emma Thornley in 218th with a time of 21:23.6 and junior
Abigail Gray in 228th with a time of 21:42.1.
Besides Haviland, this was the first time any of the Aggies had raced at the NCAA Championships.
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.
NCAA DIVISION I CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Apalachee Regional Park | Tallahassee, Florida | November 20, 2021
Women's 6K Team Results (31 Teams)
1. No. 1 North Carolina State – 6, 14, 18, 20, 26, (75), (122) – 84
2. No. 4 BYU – 1, 11, 30, 37, 43, (131), (135) – 122
3. No. 2 New Mexico – 15, 17, 28, 32, 38, (46), (113) – 130
4. No. 3 Colorado – 8, 25, 44, 48, 62, (68), (76) – 187
5. No. 10 Notre Dame – 9, 10, 51, 65, 80, (152), (182) – 215
5. Utah – 15, 23, 30, 32, 46, (66), (107) – 146
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28. No. 27 Utah State – 66, 109, 151, 154, 158, (184), (193) – 638
Women's Individual Top-Five Finishers: 1. Whittni Orton (BYU) – 19:25.4; 2. Mercy Chelangat (ALA) – 19:29.3; 3. Ceili McCabe (WVU) – 19:29.5; 4. Caili Logue (ISU) – 19:29.8; 5. Taylor Roe (OSU) – 19:33.5.
Utah State Women's Results: 81.
Katie Haviland – 20:23.9; 135.
Mica Rivera – 20:44.2; 185.
Abby Jensen – 21:00.7; 188.
Bailey Brinkerhoff – 21:06.3; 192.
Morgan French – 21:08.8; 218.
Emma Thornley – 21:23.6; 228.
Abigail Gray – 21:42.1.
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