COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Utah State's men's and women's cross country teams finished in sixth place at the 2024 Mountain West Cross Country Championships on Friday. Junior Logan Garnica paced the Aggie men with a 13th-place finish and earned second-team all-Mountain West honors.  
"Both of our teams really fought hard and ran gritty," said Artie Gulden, USU's director of track & field and cross country.  
 
The USU women led off the championships with a sixth-place team performance in the 6K, tallying 176 points. Sophomore Brianne Smith led the Aggies with a time of 21:26.2, good for 21st place. Senior Ana Weaver and sophomore Natalie Swain finished back-to-back in 38th and 39th place, clocking in at 22:15.3 and 22:17.6, respectively. Senior Mimi Miyazawa finished in 42nd place with a time of 22:24.0, and sophomore Shelby Jensen took 44th place with a time of 22:26.6 to secure the sixth-place team finish.
 
No. 8 New Mexico won their 16th team title in 17 years with a team score of 32 points. UNM's Pamela Kosgei topped the field with a time of 19:36.2, finishing 46.8 seconds ahead of second-place Yasmin Marghini of Boise State.
 
The Aggie men took sixth in the 8K team competition with 137 points. Garnica's time of 24:47.5 led the way for USU, followed by senior Caleb Armstrong's 27th-place time of 25:25.6. Sophomore Drew Hogan was Utah State's third scorer, finishing in 29th place with a time of 25:29.2. Senior Eric Nelson finished in 32nd place with a time of 25:31.7, and freshman Joshua Armstrong rounded out the Aggie scoring with a 36th-place finish, clocking in at 25:36.2.  
 
No. 6 New Mexico swept the top-five spots on the leaderboard, becoming the first school in Mountain West Championships history to score a best-possible 15 points. Habtom Samuel pulled away from his Lobo teammates over the last half of the race to claim the individual title with a time of 23:20.7.

 "Sixth place for both the men and women is certainly not where we expected to be at the conference championships," said Gulden. "We've had a stomach virus hit our team over the last 24 hours and we were only able to race five women and six men, some of whom were sick themselves. I'm grateful for their grit and how they fought to represent our team."  
 
Utah State returns to action on Friday, Nov. 15, when the Aggies travel to Reno, Nevada, for the 2024 NCAA Mountain Regionals. 
 
For more information on the Utah State cross country programs, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC.

2024 MOUNTAIN WEST CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS | November 1, 2024 | Colorado Springs, Colorado
Women's 6K Team Results
1. New Mexico – 1, 4, 6, 10, 11, (12), (28) – 32
2. Boise State – 2, 3, 13, 16, 20, (24), (41) – 54
3. Colorado State – 7, 8, 14, 19, 31, (32), (39) – 79
4. Air Force – 9, 15, 17, 18, 25, (35), (38) – 84
5. Wyoming – 5, 22, 23, 26, 27, (29), (30) – 103
6. UTAH STATE – 21, 36, 37, 40, 42 – 176
7. Nevada – 33, 34, 43, 44, 45, (49), (52) – 199
8. Fresno State – 46, 48, 51, 54, 56, (57), (60) – 255
9. San Diego State – 50, 53, 58, 62, 66, (67) – 289
10. San José State – 47, 55, 65, 70, 72, (73), (74) – 309
11. UNLV – 59, 61, 63, 64, 68, (69), (71) – 315
 
Women's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Pamela Kosgei (UNM) – 19:36.2; 2. Yasmin Marghini (BSU) – 20:23.0; 3. Kaiya Robertson (BSU) – 20:24.7; 4. Mercy Kirarei (UNM) – 20:27.5; 5. Kylie Simshauser (Wyoming) – 20:34.5.
 
Utah State Women's Results: 21. Brianne Smith – 21:26.2; 38. Ana Weaver – 22:15.3; 39. Natalie Swain – 22:17.6; 42. Mimi Miyazawa – 22:24.0; 44. Shelby Jensen – 22:26.6.
 
Men's 8K Team Results
1. New Mexico – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (12), (34) – 15
2. Colorado State – 7, 8, 10, 21, 24, (30), (38) – 70
3. Wyoming – 11, 14, 17, 18, 20, (31), (33) – 80
4. Boise State – 6, 15, 19, 22, 23, (37), (40) – 85
5. Air Force – 9, 16, 28, 35, 39, (41), (42) – 127
6. UTAH STATE – 13, 27, 29, 32, 36, (46) – 137
7. Nevada – 25, 26, 43, 44, 45, (47), (48) – 183
8. San José State – 49, 51, 52, 53, 56, (57), (62) – 261
9. Fresno State – 50, 54, 55, 58, 59, (60), (61) – 276
 
Men's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Habtom Samuel (UNM) – 23:20.7; 2. Vincent Chirchir (UNM) – 23:41.5; 3. Collins Kiprotich (UNM) – 23:52.6; 4. Evans Kiplagat (UNM) – 24:09.9; 5. Lukas Kiprop (UNM) – 24:16.6.
 
Utah State Men's Results: 13. Logan Garnica – 24:47.5; 27. Caleb Armstrong – 25:25.6; 29. Drew Hogan – 25:29.2; 32. Eric Nelson – 25:31.7; 36. Joshua Armstrong – 25:36.2; 53. Michael Moffat – 27:04.5.
 
-USU-