Ute Cross Country Captures Second at USU Aggie Invitational

Saturday, September 5

Logan, Utah

All Day

University of Utah

Utah State Open

Ute Cross Country Captures Second at USU Aggie Invitational

9/5/2015 12:00 AM | Cross Country

Sept. 5, 2015

LOGAN, Utah- Led by the performance of redshirt senior Susannah Hurst (Spencer), the Utah cross country team captured second overall as the Utes kicked off the 2015 season at the Utah State Aggie Invitational.

"It was a very good day," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "I thought that everyone gave great efforts and I think that we will keep getting better and stronger as the season moves forward. We probably had a few kids be a little bit too aggressive at the beginning, but I am not going to fault anybody for being too aggressive and excited."

Leading the charge for the Utes was Hurst, who was competing in her first race after redshirting last season. She finished the five-kilometer course in a time of 18:01.40 to claim third overall. Making her Utah debut, senior transfer Jocelyn Todd finished sixth overall in a time of 18:17.44. Dana Snell earned ninth after recording a time of 18:31.67.

Redshirt freshman Claire MacMillan also made her collegiate debut after redshirting the 2014 season due to injury. MacMillan posted a time of 19:05.05 to claim 16th. Rounding out the top five finishers for the team and competing in her first race in over two years after serving an LDS church mission, Kate Stringfellow finished in a time of 19:34.57 for 19th place.

Overall the Utes finished second. Finishing first was Utah State and Westminster placed third.

The Utes return home next week as they are set to host the Utah Open on Sept. 11 at Murray Park in Salt Lake City. Action will kickoff at 3 p.m. MT.

"I am excited to come back home and run at Murray Park," Kepler stated. "It will be interesting to see how we are able to progress and get better there. We will probably have a few more of our top runners in the lineup, but will still not have everybody. It should be a good race. We are expecting Boise State, UVU and Westminster and will probably have a handful of individual, unattached kids as well. We might have some of our better kids race, but it might just be as a workout instead of an actual race."