Rebekah Thornley leads women to a second place finish.
Sept. 2, 2000
POCATELLO, Idaho -- -
The Utah State women's cross country team opened the 2000 season by placing second at the annual ISU Invitational, while the men's team took fourth at Bartz Field Saturday morning.
Rebekah Thornley and Beka Leffler finished first and second individually for the Aggies, leaving head coach Greg Gensel pleased with his seniors' performances, as well as the rest of the team.
"We had a good day," Gensel said. "I'm pretty pleased with the things that happened. Rebekah Thornley won the race and Beka Leffler came in second. Our team came in second, which I was very pleased with. We had a lot of good performances by young people."
The USU women had a total four runners finish in the top 20 as junior Shae Messersmith came in 10th and freshman Christi Howell came in 19th.
For the men, senior Brick Bergeson was the top finisher for the Aggies as he finished in 14th place. Other top-20 finishers for Utah State included juniors Demetrios Cabanillas at 17th and Jason Jones at 18th.
"I think our men were probably just a little bit tentative in their first outing," Gensel said. "I think once they gain confidence we'll do a lot better. But, I was excited to see them run and be in action for the first official time.
"All in all, it was a good day. I'm happy to have seen them run."
In-state rival Weber State took first place in both the men's and women's competitions, while host Idaho State took third in both men's and women's, as well.
USU will next see action on Sept. 16 at Montana State.
TEAM SCORES
Men Women
1. Weber State 25 1. Weber State 31
2. Utah 40 2. UTAH STATE 51
3. Idaho State 83 3. Idaho State 74
4. UTAH STATE 97 4. UVSC 105
5. UVSC 131 5. Utah 112
Men's Individual Results Women's Individual Results
1. Teren Jameson, Utah 1. Rebekah Thornley, USU
2. Joe Wilson, Weber State 2. Beka Leffler, USU
3. Jason Schoenfeld, Weber State 3. Rebecca Bennuion, Weber State
4. Joel Atwater, Weber State 4. Sharlyn Geddes, Weber State
5. Corbin Talley, Weber State 5. Jessica Winters, Weber State
USU Men's Finishers Other USU Women's Finishers
14. Brick Bergeson, 20:20.3 10. Shae Messersmith, 12:42.5
17. Demetrios Cabanillas, 20:31.4 19. Christi Howell, 12:57.9
18. Jason Jones, 20:32.1 26. Alycia Boyer, 13:10.9
25. Jesse Hodges, 20:43.5 29. Sharee Hatch, 13:22.3
30. Nick Russell, 21:07.2 39. Carol Cabanillas, 13:38.3
32. David Kunnas, 21:13.9 53. Amber Cruz, 16:49.9
42. Travis Dean, 21:38.9
