Men’s and Women’s cross country compete in Nuttycombe Invitational
Habtamu Cheney, Joel Mendez, and Everlyn Kemboi each placed top-15 in their races contributing significantly to their teams.
Utah Valley University’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams places fifth and twentieth respectivly in the Nuttycombe Invitational held in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday. The teams’ success was boosted by three individual runners who placed in the top 15.
Habtammu Cheney finished seventh in the men’s race with a time of 24:21.8 for the Wolverines, Joel Mendez finished seconds after Cheney placing tenth with a time of 24:23.3, and Everylyn Kemboi finished thirteenth in the women’s race with a time of 20:09.2 leading the women’s team.
The men’s team placed fifth in the fifteen team pool with 132 points. Colorado State University won the event as a team with 68 points, and the host school Wisconsin University finished tenth with 231 points.
Other top performing runners included Austin Horne, who placed 20th with a time of 24:33.1, followed by Max Mahon with a time of 24:56.5 placing 50th. Adrian Jones rounded out the Wolverines top five runners with a 25:12.3 time, placing 75th.
The Women’s race featured 24 of the top 30 teams in the USTFCCCA National Top 30 Poll. The women placed 20th in the race as a team with 544 points. North Carolina State University won the event as a team with a 80 point performance, and the host school, Wisconsin University, placed 14th with 506 points.
A pair of seniors led the way for the Wolverines, Everlyn Kemboi finished 13th and Mazzie Melaney finished 19th with a time of 20:50.0. Madison Flippense finished 136th with a time of 21:05.5 and Ari Trimble finished half a second later placing 138th. Maggie Zwahlen took the last spot worth points for the Wolverines with a time of 21:24.0 landing 174th place.
Both Wolverine squads will participate in the Utah Open on Oct. 20 for their next event.
For a full schedule and more information visit gouvu.com.
Josh is a senior at UVU, studying Communications and graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Communications in Spring 2023. Along with writing for the Review, Josh is a member of UVU’s PRSSA Chapter. Josh will be pursuing sports media after his time at UVU is complete.