LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's men's and women's cross country teams are wrapping up their regular season competition this weekend at the Utah Open on Thursday, October 24, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at Sugar House Park.
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MEET INFORMATION 
 
Utah Open
Date: Oct. 24, 2024 
Start: Women's 5K @ 1 p.m.; Men's 8K @ 1:45 p.m. (MT) 
Site: Salt Lake City, Utah
Venue: Sugar House Park 
Live Results: Meettrax
Course Map: Course Map
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DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY ARTIE GULDEN 
"This will be the last regular season meet before heading into the championship part of the season, and it is a great opportunity for those racing. We are looking for some kids who are racing tomorrow to step up and show they deserve to race in the postseason."
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AGGIES IN THE POLLS
Utah State men's cross country jumped up this week's NCAA DI Cross Country National Coaches' Poll, rising from No. 30 to No. 19. This is the men's highest national ranking since 2021. The Aggie men are also ranked No. 4 in the Mountain Region rankings, while the women are ranked No. 7 regionally.
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HOW SWEEP IT IS
Aggie runners swept the Mountain West's weekly awards on October 15, with freshman Joshua Armstrong winning Men's Athlete and Freshman of the Week, senior Sammi Lee winning Women's Athlete of the Week, and freshman Ava Trimble winning Women's Freshman of the Week. It was the first time that any school had claimed all four cross country awards since the conference began awarding Freshman of the Week honors in 2021. These individual honors came after Utah State swept the team titles at the USU-hosted Steve T. Reeder Memorial Invitational on October 11.
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YOUTH MOVEMENT
Five Aggies have already claimed Mountain West Men's Freshman of the Week honors this season. Freshman Jedidiah Megargel won the weekly honors following his seventh-place finish in the Utah State Alumni Challenge on August 31, freshman Luke Stockett claimed the award thanks to a 21st-place finish in the BYU Autumn Classic on September 13, freshman Michael Moffat won the award following his seventh-place finish at the UC Riverside Invitational on September 21, freshman Joshua McKee claimed the honors after a 14th-place finish at the Paul Short Run on October 5, and freshman Joshua Armstrong claimed the Freshman and Athlete of the Week honors with his third-place finish at the Steve T. Reeder Memorial Invitational on October 11. Utah State is the first cross country program in Mountain West history to claim a given individual honor five-consecutive times, and the first Mountain West program in any sport to have five different athletes claim the same honor in consecutive weeks.
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LAST WEEK 
Utah State's cross country teams had strong team showings at two separate events last weekend. At the 2024 Wisconsin Pre-Nationals, the Aggie men finished in 11th place out of 32 teams in the men's 8K with 407 points, besting eight nationally-ranked squads. Graduate Camren Todd took 17th place with a time of 23:10.1 to lead USU. The USU women finished in 14th place out of 29 teams in the women's 6K with 376 points, led by sophomore Natalie Swain's 57th-place finishing time of 21:37.6. At the Princeton Fall Classic, the Utah State women's team, led by senior Emma Thornley's 16th place time of 20:09.5, earned 185 points, good for 7th place out of 22 squads.
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FOLLOW ALONG 
Fans can follow the Utah State cross country programs at twitter.com/USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at instagram.com/USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.  
  
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