LOGAN, Utah – Utah State was picked to finish second in the 2022 women's cross country preseason poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches and announced Wednesday by the conference office.
The Aggies garnered 86 points, while 14-time defending MW champion New Mexico was tabbed first with 100 points and 10 of the 11 first-place votes. On the men's side, Utah State received one first-place vote, but was picked tied for third, along with Colorado State, with 49 points each.
Air Force was named the men's preseason favorite to win the MW title with 63 points and seven of the nine first-place votes. Boise State was tabbed second with 51 points and one first-place vote. The Aggies and Rams were followed by Wyoming in fifth (37 points), New Mexico in sixth (27), Nevada in seventh (25), Fresno State in eighth (15) and San José State in ninth (8).
Following the Lobos and Aggies on the women's side, Colorado State was voted to finish third with 83 points and Air Force in fourth with 71 points. Boise State was picked fifth with 68 points and the only other first-place vote, while Wyoming was sixth (55), Nevada was seventh (47) and San Diego State eighth (32). Fresno State (26), San José State (24) and UNLV (13) rounded out the poll in the ninth through 11th spots, respectively.
For the Aggie women, this is the highest they have ever been picked to finish in the MW.
Under the guidance of
Artie Gulden, who is in his sixth season as the head coach of USU's cross country program, the women qualified for the NCAA Championships for just the second time in school history, placing 28th out of 31 teams in 2021. The Aggies received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships after placing seventh at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Provo, Utah.
Utah State also recorded the program's best-ever finish at the Mountain West Cross Country Championships, placing second with a team score of 73. The Aggies were paced by
Katie Haviland and
Mica Rivera, finishing 10th and 12th, respectively, with times of 20:05.1 and 20:07.7. Both Haviland and Rivera were subsequently named to the all-Mountain West second team.
The Aggie men placed third at the Mountain West Championships with a team score of 79 points.
Chase Leach earned MW Freshman of the Year honors at the MW Cross Country Championships as the first freshman across the line, placing 12th with a time of 23:50.2 and also earned all-Mountain West second-team honors in the process.
Caleb Garnica also made the all-MW second team, finishing 14th with a time of 23:54.1. At the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, USU narrowly missed out on a bid to the NCAA Championships as it finished eighth with 177 team points.
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.
Men's Cross Country Predicted Order of Finish
| Team |
Points (First-Place Votes) |
| 1. Air Force |
63 (7) |
| 2. Boise State |
51 (1) |
| T3. UTAH STATE |
49 (1) |
| T3. Colorado State |
49 |
| 5. Wyoming |
37 |
| 6. New Mexico |
27 |
| 7. Nevada |
25 |
| 8. Fresno State |
15 |
| 9. San José State |
8 |
Women's Cross Country Predicted Order of Finish
| Team |
Points (First-Place Votes) |
| 1. New Mexico |
100 (10) |
| 2. UTAH STATE |
86 |
| 3. Colorado State |
83 |
| 4. Air Force |
71 |
| 5. Boise State |
68 (1) |
| 6. Wyoming |
55 |
| 7. Nevada |
47 |
| 8. San Diego State |
32 |
| 9. Fresno State |
26 |
| 10. San José State |
24 |
| 11. UNLV |
13 |
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