Upcoming Event: Cross Country versus Big 12 Championships on October 31, 2025 at TBD
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Cross Country
vs Big 12 Championships
The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Cross Country Begins Season At Idaho State Invitational
8/30/1999 12:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 30, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah cross country team opens the 1999 season this Sat., Sept. 4, when it competes in the Idaho State Invitational at Bartz Field in Pocatello, Idaho. The men will run a four mile race and the women two miles. Head Coach Mike Jones says he will use this first meet of the year as a gauge to see who the team's best runners will be.
"We are very pleased with our pre-season practice and feel that on the men's side our depth will be more of a supporting factor that in the past," says Jones. "Our women's team, while few in number, is molding into a competitive group of runners."
Of the returning runners on the men's team, senior Travis Hildebrand was Utah's top finisher at last year's ISU Invitational placing 14th (20:29) and junior Eric Vernon placed 15th (20:39). The men's team finished third overall.
Senior Johanna Nielson, who competed in cross country last year but missed the entire indoor and outdoor track season due to an Achilles injury, is back this season at full force.
"Johanna is still leading the pack," says Jones. Nielson was Utah's top finisher at this meet last season placing fourth (12:21). Juniors Britta Schaer (knee) and Lauren Adams (stress fracture) will not compete due to injury. Besides Nielson, Schaer and Adams, the rest of the women's team consists entirely of freshmen. The women's team placed third last year at the ISU meet.
Up next for the Utes will be the Colorado State Invitational, Sat., Sept. 11, in Fort Collins, Colo.
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