Upcoming Event: Cross Country versus Steve T. Reeder Memorial Invitational on October 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
3:45 PM
Cross Country
vs Steve T. Reeder Memorial Invitational
Merkeley Earns All-American Status
11/23/1999 12:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 23, 1999
BLOOMINGTON, IND. - University of Utah harrier Chris Merkely earned All-American honors, finishing 11th with a time of 30:45 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships hosted by the University of Indiana.
Merkely's teammate Travis Hildebrand missed All-American status by a mere 10 spots, finishing in 31:30 and garnering 54th place, the top 44 were selected as All-Americans. Hildebrand followed with Merkely in the pack of top-30 runners until he was bumped and stumbled out of contention in the last mile. Both runners finished in the top quarter of the elite 255 runners.
Johanna Nielsen competed in the women's field of 255 runners, placing 71st and crossing the finish line in 17:40. Nielsen unfortunately didn't have an aggressive start, dropping her to 180th in the first half-mile, but did, however, recover to surpass 109 runners for a strong finish.
"Both Chris and Travis ran good races. Travis just had the misfortune of bumping and shoving in the last mile, taking him out of the running for All-American," said coach Mike Jones. "Johanna has All-American potential. She just needs to learn how to be more aggressive."
Out of the four Western Mountain Region spots available to qualify for nationals, the Utes earned three of them.
Merkely capped his Ute career on a very positive note with his performance at the NCAAs. He was able to finish ahead of all six runners who placed higher than him at the district championships.
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