LOGAN, Utah – In the second and final home meet of the season, the 23rd-ranked Utah State men's cross country team defended its home turf with a first-place finish in the Steve T. Reeder Memorial Invitational on Friday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Brennan Benson led the way for the Aggies as he completed the 7-kilometer Steve and Dona Reeder Cross Country Course in 21 minutes, 49.12 seconds. As a team, Utah State finished with 26 points. Salt Lake Community College placed second with 29 points and Northwest Nazarene was third with 74 points.
 
"I just wanted to be as good as I could for the team," Benson said. "I wanted to be in the pack and help people along, and then they helped me along, too. Running as a team is really our focus right now. The course was nice. It was nice weather, a little toasty, but it was just great to be racing. There is nothing better than cross country season in October."
 
On the women's side, the Aggies, who are also ranked 23rd nationally, placed second with 50 points. No. 5 BYU captured the team title with 23 points.
 
"Both teams competed really well today," said Utah State associate head cross country coach Sarah Griggs. "There was some good competition today and I thought both teams did a good job of putting themselves in a position to compete well. Both the men and women had good packs form, and they kept the groups together as long as they could."
 
Only five runners competed for the Aggie men. Following Benson's fourth-place finish, freshman Grady Mylander (22:21.84) and sophomore Ben Berlin (22:26.30) placed 15th and 16th, respectively.
 
Rounding out the five scoring runners for Utah State were freshmen Logan Garnica (22:36.44) in 20th and Eli Gregory (22:49.18) in 23rd.
 
On the women's side, all five of Utah State's scoring runners finished in the top 20, highlighted by sophomore Camilla McKinstry, who placed sixth in the 5K race with a time of 18:30.84.
 
"We did really well as a team," McKinstry said. "We had a race plan that we stuck to. I was also proud of myself, because I PR'd from the last time I raced on this course, so I was happy with it. During the last part of the race when I kept thinking that it was hurting and it was hard, I focused on the race plan and focused on what the coaches wanted me to do, and that was to focus on competing. So, I would pick a girl in front of me and focus on her and try to catch up to her, and that's what got me through the last little bit."
 
Sophomore Madison Strasner placed 12th (18:53.15) for the Aggies, while junior Claire Mantz-Chugg was 17th (19:19.65). The final two scoring runners for Utah State were freshman Morgan Nygren in 18th (19:20.20) and freshman Hazel Baird in 20th (19:28.02).
 
UP NEXT: The Aggies will compete in the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Presented by Under Armour on Friday, Oct. 14, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin.
 
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.
  
STEVE T. REEDER MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL | October 7, 2022 | Logan, Utah
Women's Team Results:
1. BYU – 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, (8), (10) – 23
2. UTAH STATE – 4, 9, 11, 12, 14, (15), (20) – 50
3. UNLV – 1, 18, 22, 24, 29, (30), (33) – 94
4. Salt Lake CC – 13, 16, 19, 21, 26, (27), (32) – 95
5. Northwest Nazarene – 17, 23, 25, 28, 31, (34), (35) – 124

Women's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Billie Hatch (UNA) – 17:42.06; 2. Bailey Wall (UNA) – 18:00.42; 3. Natalia Ruiz Lara (UNLV) – 18:08.37; 4. Haley Johnston (BYU) – 18:25.32; 5. Taylor Lovell (BYU) – 18:26.88.
 
Utah State Women's Results: 6. Camilla McKinstry – 18:30.84; 12. Madison Strasner – 18:53.15; 17. Claire Mantz-Chugg – 19:19.65; 18. Morgan Nygren – 19:20.20; 20. Hazel Baird – 19:28.02; 21. Megan Terry – 19:31.45; 31. Taylia Norris – 20:25.41; 33. Abby Raven – 20:41.21.
 
Men's Team Results:
1. UTAH STATE – 1, 4, 5, 7, 9 – 26
2. Salt Lake CC – 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, (11), (13) – 29
3. Northwest Nazarene – 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 – 74

Men's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Garrett Stanford (UNA) – 21:24.01; 2. Jacob Stanford (UNA) – 21:24.07; 3. Jordan Cross (REP) – 21:46.27; 4. Brennan Benson (USU) – 21:49.12; 5. Mason Braithwaite (UNA) – 21:49.20.
 
Utah State Men's Results: 4. Brennan Benson – 21:49.12; 15. Grady Mylander – 22:21.84; 16. Ben Berlin – 22:26.30; 20. Logan Garnica – 22:36.44; 23. Eli Gregory – 22:49.18.

-USU-