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Ball and Byrner Lead USU to Second-Place Finish at the Big West Cross Country Championships
Oct. 30, 2004 LOGAN, Utah- Trevor Ball finished first and led Utah State to a second-place team finish at the Big West Cross Country Championships on Saturday Oct. 30, at Riverside, Calif. "Trevor, Clark (Bryner) and Dave (Danley) ran great for us," Head Coach Gregg Gensel said. Ball, a junior from Hyrum, Utah, finished the 8-kilometer race in 24:08 to capture the men's individual title and was named Big West Cross Country Male Athlete of the Year. Clark, a junior from Logan, Utah, finished eight seconds after Ball to give USU the top two finishes. Danley finished 11th. Utah State has only captured the individual title two other times. Ball, after missing the first of the season due to injury and sickness, was the Aggies top runner by finishing 22nd among the nations top teams at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. The Aggie men have now finished in the top two spots at the Big West Championships 11 of the last 13 years. Cal Poly captured the team title by placing five of its runners in the top ten and eight of its runners in the top twenty. This is the Mustangs second consecutive team title. The Mustangs are ranked sixth in the nation. UC Santa Barbara captured third-place. "The only teams that beat us in both the men's and women's races were nationally ranked teams," said Coach Gensel. Ashley Johnson and Lida Ripplinger finished fifth and seventh respectively to lead Utah State to a third-place team finish. Johnson, a sophomore from Hyrum, Utah, took eighth at last years championships, but improved by finishing in fifth place with a time of 20:56. Ripplinger, a senior from Salt Lake City, Utah, finished in seventh place with a time of 20:59. The Aggie women finished in third-place with 69 points. Twin sisters Lauren and Lindsay Christman finished first and second to lead UC Santa Barbara to a its second consecutive team championship. The Gauchos, ranked 16th nationally, took six of the top twenty spots. Idaho, ranked 23rd nationally, finished in second. The men and women will compete at the NCAA Mountain Regionals on Nov. 13 at Fort Collins, Colo. Men's Team Results 1. Cal Poly SLO 37 2. UTAH STATE 67 3. UC Santa Barbara 73 4. UC Irvine 103 5. CS Fullerton 117
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