FRESNO, Calif. – Utah State's women's cross country team placed fourth, while the men placed fifth, at the 2025 Mountain West Cross Country Championships in Fresno, California, on Friday. Junior Natalie Swain was the Aggies' top finisher in the women's 6K race, earning second-team All-Mountain West honors. 
 
The USU women earned 104 team points to claim fourth place out of 12 teams in the 6K rance. Swain's 13th-place time of 20:22.4 secured her first career All-MW honors and her fourth top Aggie finish in as many races this season. Senior Sarah Ellis and junior Shelby Jensen finished in 20th and 21st with respective times of 20:40.2 and 20:41.1. Junior Brie Smith, a California native who previously raced at Woodward Park as a high schooler, took 30th place with a time of 21:00.0. Junior Caroline Moon rounded out the Aggie scoring with her 32nd-place time of 21:03.5. No. 9 New Mexico won the women's race with 24 team points, paced by Pamela Kosgei's winning time of 19:20.8. 
 
The Aggie men started off the morning with a fifth-place team finish in the 8K race, earning 117 points. Sophomore Garrett Woodhouse paced the Aggies with a 20th-place finish, clocking in at 23:29.8. Sophomore Joshua Armstrong placed 23rd with a career-best 8K time of 23:39.9. Senior LJ Floyd took 25th with a time of 23:40.9, followed by sophomore Joshua McKee's 28th-place time of 23:47.5. Sophomore Jayden Holdsworth was the Aggies' final scorer, posting a finishing time of 23:56.0 to place 30th. The Aggies' top-five runners finished with a spread of 26.2 seconds. No. 3 New Mexico's Habtom Samuel claimed the individual title with a time of 22:32.0, leading his team to a first-place team finish with 26 points.

Utah State will take a break from competition before heading to Taylorsville, Utah, for the Utah-hosted NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Friday, November 14. The women's 6K race will start at 10:30 AM, to be followed by the men's 10K race at 11:30 AM (MT). 
 
Fans can follow the Utah State cross country programs on X at USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on X at USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

2025 MOUNTAIN WEST CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS | October 31, 2025 | Fresno, California 
Women's 6K Race Team Results 
1. No. 9 New Mexico – 1, 3, 4, 5, 11, (14), (15) – 24 
2. Boise State – 2, 8, 9, 10, 12, (16), (17) – 41 
3. Air Force – 6, 7, 27, 30, 33, (35), (44) – 103 
4. UTAH STATE – 13, 18, 19, 26, 28, (42), (55) – 104 
5. Colorado State – 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, (25), (31) – 110 
 
Women's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Pamela Kosgei (New Mexico) – 19:20.8; 2. Kaiya Robertson (Boise State) – 19:42.3; 3. Judy Rono (New Mexico) – 19:49.7; 4. Jasmine Wood (New Mexico) – 19:56.1; 5. Marion Jepngetich (New Mexico) – 20:02.0. 
 
Utah State Women's Results: 13. Natalie Swain – 20:22.4; 20. Sarah Ellis – 20:40.2; 21. Shelby Jensen – 20:41.1; 30. Brie Smith – 21:00.0. 32. Caroline Moon – 21:03.5; 50. Liz Phillips – 21:35.1; 65. Alayna Wardle – 22:02.1; 66. Ava Trimble – 22:02.9; 69. Taylor Palmer – 22:11.1; 94. Hailey Shakespear – 23:21.3. 
 
Men's 8K Race Team Results 
1. No. 3 New Mexico – 1, 2, 4, 8, 11, (12), (21) – 26 
2. Boise State – 3, 6, 9, 24, 30, (32), (33) – 72 
3. No. 23 Air Force – 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, (18), (19) – 72 
4. Wyoming – 5, 7, 13, 26, 36, (39), (42) – 87 
5. UTAH STATE – 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, (28), (31) – 117 
 
Men's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Habtom Samuel (New Mexico) – 22:32.0; 2. Vincent Chirchir (New Mexico) – 22:56.2; 3. Meshack Kuyo (Boise State) – 22:57.7; 4. Evans Kiplagat (New Mexico) – 22:58.7; 5. Jacob White (Wyoming) – 22:59.4. 
 
Utah State Men's Results: 20. Garrett Woodhouse – 23:29.2; 23. Joshua Armstrong – 23:39.9; 25. LJ Floyd – 23:40.9. 28. Joshua McKee – 23:47.5; 30. Jayden Holdsworth – 23:56.0; 31. Logan Garnica – 23:58.4; 34. Joseph McKee – 24:03.9; 36. Walker Cole – 24:05.8; 43. Bryce Hill – 24:20.2; 60. Drew Hogan – 24:56.7. 
 
-USU-