The Utah Valley men’s and women’s cross country teams each placed second at the Run Elite Program Cross Classic invitational in Taylorsville, Utah on Friday, Sep. 9. The women’s team competed in the 5-kilometer race while the men competed in the 7.5k. The women’s team had seven runners accumulate a score of 50 while the men had all five runners score 62 points.
Both teams competed against the Brigham Young University Cougars (who won the invitational in each race), the Salt Lake Community College Bruins, and unattached runners. The men additionally competed with the Westminster Griffins.
Even though UVU and BYU didn’t race their top runners, the Wolverines’ young talent still ranked high.
While BYU took first place through 13th in the women’s race, Wolverine freshmen Elizabeth Zwahlen and Kate Heywood led the Wolverines in fourteenth and fifteenth place with times of 18:30 and 18:32.3 respectively. Six more runners from BYU finished right behind them before UVU sophomores Agnieszka Lubowska and Hailey Odekirk took 22nd and 23rd with times of 18:46.0 and 18:50.7.
Following three more Cougars were freshmen Abby Linford and Emily Morden in 27th and 28th place with times of 19:16.3 and 19:27.0. In 31st place for UVU was Adelle Boxberger with a time of 19:42.2. Boxberger was follwed by Kelsi Lindley with a time of 19:50.9. Kate Richardson was the last Wolverine to finish, ending in 34th place and with a time of 19:56.2.
On the men’s team, BYU and numerous unattached runners took the first 17 slots, but four Wolverines placed consecutively in place 18-21. Josh Peters was the first Wolverine to finish with a time of 23:44.8. Adrian Jones finished right behind him with a time of 23:47.6, followed by freshman Andrew Blackham with a time of 23:49.8 and Thomas Pickford with a time of 23:59.1. Jacob Egan was the final Wolverine to finish the race with a time of 24:50.9.
For their next competition,the Wolverines will compete in the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Oklahoma at the Oklahoma State University Cross Country Course on Saturday, Sep. 24. BYU is also expected to compete in the meet among several other perennial cross country NCAA Division I schools.
The Oklahoma State’s men’s cross country team is ranked second in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) coaches poll. The women are ranked fourth in the nation by the poll.
