Kyle McDonald, Sports Writer, @kylesportsbias
On a beautiful day is Albuquerque, NM the UVU Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams season came to a close as they both finished 13th at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship. Seth Gutzwiller was the top finisher for the Wolverine men in the 10K race as he finished in a time of just over 31 minutes to take 43rd. Logan Petty was the next highest finisher for the men in 57th with a time of just under 32 minutes. Ivie Gonsalves was the high finisher for the women on the 6K course as she finished in a time of 22:23.45, good enough for 45th place. Junior Darian Sharp followed close behind finishing in 22:40.06 for a 61st place finish. WAC Freshman of the Year Makayla Morgan finished 80th for the Wolverines with a time of 23:00.74.
“It was a fun meet and the athletes competed well,” head coach Scott Houle said. The Cross Country team gave a valiant effort in hopes to continue the success they were having throughout the year but it was not meant to be.
Colorado won the Men’s division to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Nationals on November 22. Northern Arizona was a distant second and they also earned a bid to the Cross Country Nationals. Anthony Rotich of UTEP was the top runner in the Men’s race finishing in a time of 29:38.61. Colorado also won the women’s race to earn their trip to the NCAA Cross Country Nationals. They were followed by New Mexico who cashed in on their ticket to compete for a national title. Freshman Alice Wright of New Mexico took the individual title in the women’s race and was followed closely by Sophomore Erin Clark of Colorado who came in second by a mere 5 seconds.
The overall season of the UVU Cross Country teams was a great success. The men brought home their second straight WAC Championship as well as having a 2-time WAC Athlete of the Week in Tyson Lambert and having WAC Freshman of the Year Makayla Morgan. With only 5 seniors combined on both teams, the future is very bright for these young Wolverines.
