No. 20 Utah Cross Country to Toe the Line at John McNichols Invitational Saturday

Saturday, September 19

Terra Haute, IN / LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course

6:30 AM

University of Utah

John McNichols Invitational

No. 20 Utah Cross Country to Toe the Line at John McNichols Invitational Saturday

9/16/2026 3:55 PM | Cross Country

Live Results RunnerSpace+ ($)

Women of Utah set to compete against 10 teams in the USTFCCCA Top-25 Saturday.

SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 20 Utah cross country team heads to Terra Haute, Ind., this weekend to compete in the John McNichols Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19, on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

JOHN MCNICHOLS INVITATIONAL
HOST: Indiana State
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 19
TIME: 6:30 a.m. (MDT) / 8:30 a.m. (EDT) local
LOCATION: Terra Haute, IN
VENUE: LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
LIVE STREAM: RunnerSpace+
LIVE RESULTS: View Live Results
UTAH PARTICIPANTS: Marika Couture, Josie Fale, Tayla Gunton, Kyla Martin, Zoey Nilsson, Annastasia Peters, Bri Rinn, Mackenzie Rogers, Piper Simpson, Erin Vringer, Millie Wilcox
TEAM PARTICIPANTS: Air Force, #28 Boston College, Cal Baptist, #18 Colorado, Earlham, Eastern Kentucky, #14 Florida, Georgia, Harvard, Indiana, Indiana State, IU Indy, Kennesaw State, Lake Land College (Ill.), Lipscomb, Louisville, Michigan State, Montana State, Navy, NJIT, #8 Northern Arizona, #11 Northwestern, Purdue, Rio Grande (Ohio), Rose-Hulman, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Santa Clara, #9 Stanford, #25 Toledo, UIC, UIndy, UT Martin, #20 Utah, Utah Valley, Vincennes, #22 Washington, #21 Washington State, WashU, Weber State, #7 West Virginia, Western Illinois, Wisconsin

FROM THE LINE
The Women of Utah will send 11 runners to compete between the women's 6k championship race and the women's 6k open race this Saturday, Sept. 19, at the John McNichols Invitational. Of the 11, grad transfer Tayla Gunton will be the lone Ute making her debut as a Ute. Meanwhile, Marika Couture, Josie Fale, Kyla Martin, Annastasia Peters, Erin Vringer and Millie Wilcox will be making their season debuts. Of the six making their season debut, five of them ran as part of last year's NCAA Championships squad. Freshmen Zoey Nilsson and Piper Simpson will run in their first 6k meet this weekend as well.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Women of Utah check in at No. 20 in the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings after returning all five of their scorers from last year's NCAA Championships squad that finished 17th-overall. This marks the fifth-consecutive season Utah has been ranked in the preseason poll and seventh time overall. The Utes also returned their sixth finisher from the championships with the addition of a quartet of veterans to their roster in Bri Rinn (returner), Mackenzie Rogers (redshirt), Tayla Gunton (grad transfer) and Maebh Richardson (transfer).

PLOURDE READIES FOR COPENHAGEN
Former Utah All-American Simone Plourde will once again don the Red & White and represent Team Canada this weekend at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Canadian will compete in the 5km race on Saturday, Sept. 19, starting at 6:10am (MDT). She recently competed for Team Canada at the XXIII Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

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VENTERS SET TO COMPETE AT USATF 10KM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Former Utah All-American Emily Venters is scheduled to compete at the USATF 10km Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, Oct. 3. The gun is set to go off at 6:30 a.m. (MDT) / 7:30 a.m. (CDT) and air on USATF.tv. The native Kansan will first get warm-up race in at the Bouldrthon 5k on Sunday, Sept. 27, in Boulder, Colo.

UP NEXT
The Utes will get some time to rest before their next big meet at the Nuttycombe Invitational – which is set to take place on Friday, Oct. 9, at the Zimmer Championship Course starting at 9:30 a.m. (MDT).

For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com, on social media by following on Facebook, X and Instagram or stay connected with Utah360 app.

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