Complete Results (men) | Complete Results (women)

PROVO, Utah - Friday morning at the Timpanogos Golf Club, the NM State men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up their respective 2021 seasons by taking part in the NCAA Mountain Regional hosted by BYU.

NM State's women's squad posted a 14th-place finish in the 19-team field while the Aggies' men's team also competed.

WOMEN'S RACE
• Four of the six NM State runners who took part in Friday morning's six-kilometer run placed among the top 100 finishers. Leading the way in that group was Emily Stutesman who was clocked in a 61st-place time of 21:53.3.
• Just a few weeks after securing All-WAC Second Team honors, Maggie Gibbs posted a top-80 finish at the NCAA Regional meet. Gibbs' time of 22:23.4 was good for 77th place.
• Behind Gibbs was Thobile Amon who placed 84th in a time of 22:34.9. The Aggies' final top-100 finisher was Richelle Sandin who posted a time of 22:46.0 to cross the line in 90th place.
• Mia Regan checked in just under the top 100 runners, finishing 103rd in a time of 23:15.8. Thulisile Amon's time of 24:29.8 allowed her to round out the NM State contingent in 119th place.
• New Mexico (62 points) won the NCAA Mountain Regional while Colorado (83 points) and host BYU (107 points) placed second and third as a team respectively. New Mexico and Colorado will head to the NCAA Cross Country Championships while the remainder of the teams in the field will have their fate settled at the hands of the NCAA Cross Country selection subcommittee once all the regional meets across the country are in the books.
• NM State's 14th-place finish allowed the Aggies to finish above Idaho State (16th), UTEP (17th), Montana (18th) and Texas Tech (19th).

MEN'S RACE
• Taking part in their first 10-kilometer race of the season, the Aggies did not post a team score as they sent only four runners to the 129-man meet.
• NM State's lone top-100 finisher on the day was Anekin Hetman who led the Aggies' group with a time of 32:12.5.
• Running with only four competitors, NM State was limited in the points it could produce on the day. Micah Too (33:28.9) and Matt Goddard (33:33.6) claimed places 101 and 102
respectively while Cole Shugart's time of 34:16.2 was good for 111th place.
• Host institution BYU claimed the NCAA Mountain Region title by totaling 42 points. Northern Arizona (57 points) and Colorado (83 points) rounded out the top three teams at the regional meet. Both BYU and Northern Arizona receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships next week while the rest of the teams will wait to see who the NCAA Cross Country subcommittee selects to comprise the rest of the field once the regional meets around the country conclude.

QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH JOSEPH RATH
"In the range we found ourselves in on the women's side we knew there were going to be a number of teams who were finishing closely with one another. I was happy to see how we composed ourselves as a team and moved up the field. Emily had a really good performance and kudos to her on being able to bounce back after not performing the way she wanted to at the WAC Championships. With Richelle and Thulisile, I was pleased with the way they composed themselves in a very competitive field. 

For the men, we had a little different mindset and each competitor tried to represent something more than just themselves today. Anekin had a nice race and did a great job of moving up the pack as the race went on. It was good to see each of our runners get better as the race went on. 

As our women's team moves into the indoor track & field season, any time you go up against high-level competition the way they did today it makes everyone realize how much more there really is and what your ceiling can be. The top four teams in the nation in women's cross country run in the Mountain Region and it showed us just how much more there is to it while motivating us to improve at the same time. This is one of the chances we have to see progress on both the men's and women's side as we look to the future."

COMING UP NEXT
• Many of the women's cross country student-athletes for NM State will prepare for the Aggies' 2022 indoor track & field campaign. For NM State men's cross country team, its student-athletes will look ahead to the fall of 2022.

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