Utah State Men Conclude Season With 26th-Place Finish at NCAA XC Championships - Utah State Aggies

STILLWATER, Okla. – Utah State's men's cross country team concluded its 2022 season by placing 26th at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course.

The only team not ranked heading into the finals, the Aggies finished with 618 points, beating five ranked squads in the process to finish with 618 points.

"I am really proud of the men," said Utah State head cross country coach Artie Gulden. "They responded well and fought hard, and overcame a lot of adversity this season. They executed the race plan really well and drove hard the last half of the race.

"The men came into the meet as the only team not nationally ranked, so I am very proud that we responded well and beat a handful of teams."

The Aggies defeated both Alabama (27th; 683 points) and Michigan (29th, 708 points), which were tied for 25th coming into Saturday's finals, along with No. 22 Georgetown (31st; 752 points), No. 24 Princeton (30th; 712 points) and No. 27 Colorado State (28th; 704 points).

"We ran tough and patient against the best teams in the nation," said Utah State senior Camren Todd, who was the second Aggie to cross the finish line as he placed 125th overall in the 10-kilometer race with a time of 30 minutes, 25.6 seconds. "We showed we can run with them and we will build from here."

After the closest finish in the 85-year history of the NCAA Cross Country Championships, No. 2 Northern Arizona won the men's title. The Lumberjacks and No. 4 Oklahoma State both scored 83 points, which meant that, for the first time ever, the national champion would be crowned by tiebreaker: a head-to-head matchup of each team's scorers, one through five.

No. 3 BYU took third with 132 points, while Utah State's counterpart in the Mountain West, No. 8 Air Force, captured seventh place with 264 points.

Stanford's Charles Hicks captured the individual title as he completed the course in 28:43.6, edging NAU's Nico Young (28:44.5) and Drew Bosley (28:55.9), who finished second and third, respectively.

Junior Yonas Mogos led the Aggies with an 85th-place finish, clocking 30:06.3 over the 10K course.
"The course was really hard, but coach had a really good race plan for us," Mogos said. "We did well as a team."

Mogos and Todd were followed by junior Max Wehrli in 147th (30:35.7), senior Mark Crandall in 158th (30:40.6) and sophomore Brennan Benson in 213th (31:13.1).

"Yonas had another really good race and Camren bounced back well after a tough regional race," Gulden said. "I am very proud of all of them and grateful for their toughness and commitment to each other."

Other Aggie finishers included senior Caleb Garnica in 214th (31:17.3) and grad senior Darren Harman in 218th (31:21.0).

Senior Mica Rivera and sophomore Ana Weaver represented Utah State on the women's side as individual competitors. Weaver placed 53rd with a time of 20:17.5 on the 6K course, while Rivera finished 201st with a time of 21:21.4.

"It was a good first showing for me at the NCAAs," Weaver said. "Mica and I were focused on enjoying every moment of the whole experience and taking advantage of racking on such a big stage. We couldn't have been here without our coaches and they really have given me a new perspective about running in college this year."

Gulden was pleased with what he saw out of Weaver and Rivera.

"Ana ran super," he said. "She followed the race plan and was in a great position. She fought hard and ran really strong. I am very proud of Mica. Ending her cross country career at the national championships is fantastic. I am super grateful for everything she has given to our program."

No. 1 North Carolina State captured the team title with 114 points. No. 2 New Mexico placed second with 140 points. Katelyn Tuohy led the Wolfpack as she placed first with a time of 19:27.7.

This was just the fourth time in program history, and first since 2020, that the Aggie men have participated in the NCAA Championships. They earned an at-large bid this year after finishing seventh in the Mountain Region Championships last weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championships, the Aggies, ranked No. 27 at the time, took 27th out of 31 teams with 603 points – despite having three runners go down early in the 10k race – in 2017, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Two years later, Utah State scored 428 points to place 16th overall and finish ahead of five teams that entered the race ranked above it (No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 11 Washington, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 18 Syracuse and No. 13 Middle Tennessee State).

The Aggies notched their best-ever finish at the 2020 NCAA Championships, which also took place in Stillwater. Ranked No. 21 coming in, USU scored 351 points to place 11th overall, surpassing its previous best championship finish of 16th in 2019. Utah State beat 15 ranked teams, including 10 that were ranked ahead of them.

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.

NCAA DIVISION I CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course | Stillwater, Oklahoma | November 19, 2022

Men's 10K Team Results (31 Teams)
1. No. 2 Northern Arizona – 2, 3, 18, 24, 36, (79), (NAU) (127) – 83
2. No. 4 Oklahoma State – 5, 8, 11, 29, 30, (50), (117) – 83
3. No. 3 BYU – 7, 20, 28, 33, 44, (45), (49) – 132
4. No. 1 Stanford – 1, 10, 48, 67, 69, (101), (162) – 195
5. No. 12 Wake Forest – 19, 21, 25, 53, 86, (99), (144) – 204
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26. Utah State – 77, 105, 124, 133, 179, (180), (184) – 618

Men's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Charles Hicks (SU) – 28:43.6; 2. Nico Young (NAU) – 28:44.5; 3. Drew Bosley (NAU) – 28:55.9; 4. Dylan Jacobs (Tenn.) – 28:58.0; 5. Alex Maier (OSU) – 28:58.2.

Utah State Men's Results: 85. Yonas Mogos – 30:06.3; 125. Camren Todd – 30:25.6; 147. Max Wehrli – 30:35.7; 158. Mark Crandall – 30:40.6; 213. Brennan Benson – 31:13.1; 214. Caleb Garnica – 31:17.3; 218. Darren Harman – 31:21.0.

Women's 6K Team Results (31 Teams)
1. No. 1 North Carolina State – 1, 2, 13, 24, 74, (80), (98) – 114
2. No. 2 New Mexico – 20, 23, 31, 32, 34, (89), (118) – 140
3. No. 5 Alabama – 5, 8, 12, 14, 127, (185), (211) – 166
4. No. 3 Oklahoma State – 6, 11, 47, 62, 75, (123), (183) – 211
5. No. 13 North Carolina – 15, 35, 50, 54, 88, (106), (125) – 242

Women's Top-Five Finishers: 1. Katelyn Tuohy (NCSU) – 19:27.7; 2. Parker Valby (UF) – 19:30.9; 3. Kelsey Chmiel (NCSU) – 19:37.1; 4. Elise Stearns (NAU) – 19:43.9; 5. Bailey Hertenstein (CU) – 19:45.1.

Utah State Women's Results: 53. Ana Weaver – 20:17.5; 201. Mica Rivera – 21:21.4.

-USU-